Time Marches on, and so does the month of March - time to check in

 Dear Blog

How are you doing?  Life has been Ok this month, busy at work, but all deadlines met, so can't complain.  Now time to move to April and see what that month brings.  During these busy months I so enjoy my few hours a day to stitch.  I think I stitched about 28 days this month, which is great.  

So it's time to check in with WIPocalypse, which is hosted by Measi Musings.  Each month we post what we've done and answer the question of the month.  If you want to see/learn more go here:

WIPocalypse

So the question this month is what color or brand of floss do we love and what is our favourite color.  

I'm not a brand snob, I will use anything BUT rayon, really don't like rayon hence the angel that has been in process for about 20 years now.  If you look at what I'm stitching you'd think I love muted colors, the warm browns and tans because I've been doing a lot of reproduction samplers lately, but in all reality I love bright colors - reds, blues and purples are my favourite.  I do have charts that use those colors, I just haven't started them yet.  maybe one year I'll have a bright color year.  I do love to stitch with silk threads, it feels like butter, so when given the option to use silks I will (ok when the budget allows), but otherwise I use DMC, anchor, Weeks, Gentle Arts and others.  There are some I would love to try, but they aren't carried by my local shop, so haven't tried them YET, but I will.

So what have I done this month?

First up is a Summer's Basket by Symbolic Gestures.  It is an old kit that I go maybe 20 years ago and decided it really need to get stitched.  its about 1/2 done now and if it comes out again it can be a finish.  

I'm not crazy about the colors on the linen, but it's in process so it will be finished at somepoint and then we'll see if it gets framed or not.

Next up is All Creatures Great and Small by Barbara Ana Design.  

I really love this one and I'm thinking I have a page finish and the start of the next page.  I love the pigs.  

I saw this one at a shop and decided I had to have it, but they were out of the charts, so I got another one - Eye of the Sparrow instead and at the time thought it just wasn't meant to be, but then I saw this chart at another shop and decided I really like it, so I got it, and now both of these BAP on in works.  It will be several years before they are done, but that's OK I'm a process stitcher, I love the journey and the end is just icing on the cake.

The next one is a finish - it's Vexation Sampler by Plum Street.  I started out using the colors called for, but then decided to go for it and added other colors. 

They don't all melt together real well, but I'm OK with that, I love it just the same.  It has many personal changes (AKA frog visits that didn't get ripppppp out), but in the end the corners met up somewhat.  

I'm hoping to take this one to be framed in April and then it will go to live with my granddaughter in KY.  Never too young to learn your time-tables!!   This was my second multiplication table, and I have a third one in my stash to start....I love math what can I saw, every room needs to have the table so visitors can practice .

Next up is All things Unseen by Lizzy Kate.  This was a mystery - 3 parts, but in my true fashion I waited for all parts to be released so I could see the end results and decide if I liked it enough to stitch.  

Obviously I did because here it is.  I'm working on pages one and two together.  Again it is personalized by me with using the wrong colors in the wrong places and some counting mishaps, but unless you had the original next to it, I don't think you can really tell where all the mistakes are, so I'm letting it go!!  I love the saying on this one.  I would like to have this one done this year, but most likely it will be a 2025 finish.

The last one I worked on in March is Coming to America by With Thy Needle & Thread.  It was originally a market exclusive release in 2020, I got the kit from my LNS, but didn't start it right away.  When I did, I tried out several different linens in different counts and finally settled on this one.  The creams and whites don't show up too well, but decided I just wanted it done, so there it is.  

I'm ready to start the section with all the names, which I'm hoping will go faster than the rest has gone.  Don't know anyone who came over on the Mayflower, my ancestors all came afterwards, some through Ellis Island, others through Canada.  But I like the chart and though it would be fun to do.  I liked the middle section, but not real thrilled with her rest of it.  It will get done, but it's not a top priority on my list.

I have one more that I've been stitching on, but no pictures yet, I only take pictures when I'm ready to put it away so I can post my progress on my WIP Warrior FB album.   I will show off that one next month.  I've put in a lot of stitches, but it really doesn't look like it because I'm working on a house, which is on the biggish side, but not as large as some I've seen.  I think I figured it will about about 4,200 stitches, on 40 ct.  Will be glad when the house is done - two more days and it goes back in its project bag for another day.  The house won't be done.

Leaving you with a little smile and hope for summer to arrive and this year not be full of rain like last year.  My granddaughter is learning how to swim.  She loves the water and looks forward to her lessons each week.  This summer should be fun in our pool with her and I'm sure she will love the parks with the sprinklers.   I grew up spending weekends at some beach with my family as my Dad was a scuba diver and they scheduled dives in different lakes around Michigan all summer long.  

Hope you all have a wonderful stitchy month and made great progress.  I love seeing what others are doing.  I so envy all the full coverage people.  I would love to do one, but given my epic failure on a chart that was about 60% full cover, not sure I'd ever get through the confetti stitches that really make it look so great.  Maybe when I retire I will venture with a small one.

See you all in April :).  for those in the path of the eclipse would love to see pictures posted - maybe I need to pull out one of my charts with plants or moons on it to work on that day.  We aren't in the path in MI, but our house in KY will have 98% totality, unfortunately we won't make it down there to see.

Sandy  

Another Month almost over - time for WIPocalypse check in

 Each month we post what we've done and the progress we've made, this group is the brain child for Measi at WIPocalpse which can be found here

WIPocalypse

The question this month is about SAL - Stitch A-Longs. and if we are participating in any this year.  I am not, they look like fun, but I don't do well with expectations in my stitching.  I normally don't put any deadlines on myself - the only exception would be for Christmas Stocking for new family members, which I will have one this year, just don't know if it's a boy or girl yet.   while a lot of people to Start A-Longs, where they start, but then work at their own pace, I've not joined any of those.  Maybe when my WIP's are lower, or if I see something that I know I want to stitch.  But until then I just do my own thing.

So what did I accomplish this month?

Glendon Place - WITCH, I'm not quite 1/2 done with this one.  I ran out of thread on the H- in my mind while stitching the H I was signing - I fought the thread and the thread won, I fought the thread and the thread won.  If you are old like me, you know the song - I fought the law and the law won......  Wish you could see the sparkle in WITCH - it looks great.

Next up are more words - and then the top border repeated at the bottom.  Not sure if this one will be finished this year or not, but will give it a go.

Next up is Mary Ann Aldred Sampler by Needlework Press.  

There are two pictures, the first one is the top part of the chart.  I finished up the border on the right and the rest of the words and the tree on the right.  

Then moved the q-snaps down and finished the border on the left, rounded the corner and start the border on the bottom.  Next worked on the tree and got it completed and started on the house.  

That's when the frogs from WITCH decided to come and visit.....The house had to be taken out once because part of the tree wasn't done correctly.  I didn't go back and fix the tree, but did get the house in the right spot, so the house is done on that page, working on the bottom border and need to get the rest of the over one words in and Mary's name.  

The last page of the chart isn't a full page, so hoping it will go fast.  This one could be finished this year if it comes back out again.  I really love it so would like to see it finished.  

Next up is Nevermore by Lila Studios, I worked on the right side of the chart - and got page 2 finished, so it is half done.   I'm not sure if I have enough thread to repeat the top border at the bottom.  I used up one skein already and I'm pulling form the second skein.  I might get another skein and just keep it for the bottom so if there are differences in the dye lots it won't be noticeable because all of the colors will be from the same skein at the bottom.

I can't wait to finish up the little grave yard.  I think I'm going to put my initials on one of the tombstones with the date it was finished.

The last one is my Hawk Run Hallow - Halloween.  My original goal was to frame in each box, but I found myself adding a few stitches in each box.  so I decided that I really wanted to work on the boxes as they were more fun than just doing the frame.  So did I go back and work on box 1???  Heck NO, I started working on box two.  This one won't be done for years at the rate I'm working on it, so will revise my goal and try to get one block done a year and another one started, that way it will be about 6 or 7 years before it's done.  OK it will probably get done sooner than that but for now, I'll just bring it out and touch it once or twice a year.

I'm loving my new rotation, I work on a project for about a week and then put it away.  The goal is to touch all of my WIP's this year and bring as many as possible to a finish or close to a finish.  I have several new starts planned during the year, but will only start them when the mood hits for a new start.  If it doesn't this year, that is OK.

Hope you all have had a wonderful stitching month and made great progress.  Not sure how March will go, big deadlines at work and hubby had surgery on the 1st.  My stitching is my zen moments, so hope I can keep going.

Sandy

End of January - can December be far behind?

 No I'm not wishing away the year, but it seems like I'm in January and then all of a sudden the year is over and it's time to start again!!  But until then I will do monthly updates of my stitching progress as part of the WIPocalypse, which is hosted by

https://measi.net

The January question is to tell you all about my oldest WIP -  if you are talking about actual projects that are in process the oldest would have to be my owls, these were started in 1973 or maybe it was 1974 as a present for my Mom who loves owls.  There were two in the kits, the covered bridge and the owls.  I knew nothing about needlepoint except that all my stitches needed to go in the same direction - too bad I didn't realize that when I started to cross-stitch.  I need to finish this one up one day, just have the background left to do, the covered bridge is complete.  I will put them in small frames or maybe make small pillows out of them.

Now if you are talking actual WIPS that I'm working on and will touch this year, then it would have to be my Lavender & Lace Ice Angel.  My daughter was into purple and wanted a purple angel.  At the time she wasn't planning on having any kids, so it seemed appropriate to stitch her an angel.  So I went to the local shop and pulled the called for colors and then replaced them with purples, it seems like every color was changed when I was done.  So I started to stitch it, but soon found that I really didn't like working with rayon threads :(.  Many a time I really wish I had switched to silks, but I never did, also not too happy with the linen, but back in the day we didn't have many options of what we used, we were happy if we found anything that wasn't white or cream Aida.  

Stitchers today have so many more options and wonderful dyers making those options hard to make because they all look so lushes.  

So here is my Angel, the one picture is what she should look like the second picture is where I am today, although I thought I had more done.  I've got a long way to go, but there is no hurry anymore - I might re-purpose this angel as there are a couple of people who have expressed interest in it.  My daughter's daughter has her own angel, which was stitched after she was born.   But before I actually find it a new home, I really need to get it finished.  My goal this year is to assign April and August to working on my 4 angels and see if I can't get them all a little bit closer to a finish.

So how old is this WIP?  Problem about 20 years old now - I know a lot of you are saying - why are you still working on this one, to be honest it was put aside for many years because I just couldn't work on it, if you've read my blog you've all heard the story, but we lost our daughter to cancer 9 years ago this month.   I can work on it now and will eventually get it done and it will find a happy home.

OK now on to what I've been working on in January.  I decided that I have less than 40 active WIPs, so I would give each one a week.  I've been just pulling them out without really looking to see what is in the project bag.   Some will get a full week, others maybe only a couple of days, some more than a week, but in the end I can get about 10-20 hours of stitching done in that week, so good progress will be made.  This month I've worked on the following:

Awake my Soul - is a new start.  It's a relatively small design so I'm hoping I can get it finished this year.  It's by La-D-Da.  I love the material that I started it on.

Next picture is my Shepherd Bush stocking - Peter - figured I should get two stocking going so when the great grandchild arrives in July I can put on name on the appropriate stocking and get it to the new parents in time for Christmas.  

I started this one when my daughter was expecting, but I had a feeling she was having a girl - so this one was put away and the girl stocking got most of my attention.  No feelings one way or another on this wee-one, but just thought I would get it done anyways.  The Shepherd is almost done, this is an older stocking so didn't call for any fancy threads.

Next up that I worked on is Peola's angel, she is turning 3 so I really should get going on this one.  I usually do the faces over one, but this time I just couldn't get it work right so opted for the over two face, it still looks nice.  When this comes out in April I plan on getting the hair done and the sleeve so I can get the back stitching done.  Again this is an older angel so there are no beads on it, but I might find something special to add before it is framed.  

I've done 3 angels for the first 3 grandchildren, number 4's is still in process and she is now 10 :( so to be 11.  It will be worked on at least twice this year and maybe 3 times, so should get some nice progress done on it as well.  I think I burned myself out on angels, I love them, but they are a lot of work.

The last WIP that I worked on was a Dog's Last Will and Testimony by Heartstring Samplery.    It is about 66% done, so I'm hoping for a finish this year.  It is a long sampler - over 300 stitches long,  with lots of words!!  The last time it was out I did about 6 lines of words.  I have 8 more lines of works, a line of dogs and then the bottom border.  The words do go quickly, but they are boring to do.  I decided to heck with the color changes in them, I just stitch one strand of thread in one color and then pull the other color.  they are so close that you really can't see much of a difference.  I'm sure when it was designed there was more contrast between the two colors, but like all hand dyed threads each dye run is a little bit different.  I pulled what I had in my stash and I'm happy with it.

No picture from my current stitching session - it will stay out throughout today, I'm hoping for a page finish on it.  then I will move the q-snaps and take a picture.  I thought I was about 1/2 done with it, but looking at the chart I'm only about 1/3 of the way done.  I really love it!!

Can't wait to see what others are doing.  I'm loving this group, it is keeping me on task :)

Sandy

time for an updated introduction to me

 I just looked back and this will be my 12th year participating in WIPocalypse - you'd think by now I'd learn how to spell it, but alas, spelling has always been a challenge for me.  

This group is the brain child of Measi Musings who for the past 13 years has been inspiring us all to work on our WIPs.  I wanted to join the first year, but didn't know how to create a blog, still not very good at it, but at least I'm trying - maybe an old dog can learn new tricks.  So the first year I just read people's blogs and enjoyed their journey.

Back when I joined (not going to say started) this group my goal was to work on my WIP's and eventually get them down to where I was a one at a timer again, but like spelling that just doesn't seem to be my thing.  I love having different things going, lots of large projects with a few smaller ones sprinkled in so when I have a need for a finish, I can get one.  And I LOVE people who have more WIPS than me and especially love their WIP Parades on Floss tube.  So you will never hear a negative comment from me about the number of WIPS you have, or if you UFO any of them - totally understand and I've got your back :) 

So who am I?  I'm old enough to be retired, but decided to work a few more years because we decided to add a room on to our house and I want it paid off so I can enjoy retirement and not have to work.  (my space!). I've been married for almost 40 years and we have 4 kids, all over the age of 40 (I call it the new math).  We have 5 grandchildren and soon to be great-grandparents in July.  I get to work from home and have been since before the big shut-down, which meant I never got to enjoy any actual time off - just more work.  I can set my own hours as long as my work gets done, which is nice as I'm also a caregiver for my folks.  I was an avid reader when I use to commute to an actual office since I rode a bus, but since working from home and not traveling like I had been, my reading has been almost non-existent anymore - I loved mysteries and if I'm going to read, that is what I'll grab.

I love to stitch BAP, which is like my quilting - if I'm making a quilt it's a king size quilt, hence not finishing many of them - my Quilt kits would rival my stitching projects all kitted up.  the last couple of years I've been obsessed with Samplers - before that it was L&L Angels.  I love the full coverage pieces people do, but know it's not for me, I've tried it and it was an epic failure on my part.  My lovely friend finished the piece for me and it hangs on my walls and I love it.

I currently have 37 WIPS that are active (if you count there are more than 37, but I count the Noah's Ark as one since they are all on the same piece)- there are a few that have been abandon for longer than many of you have been breathing on this earth, but here is my list.  There are only 2 on this list that may never get finished, one I just plan don't find any joy in stitching and the other has been pledged with frequent visits from a frog.  We will see what happens to them this year.

Designer	Chart Name	Theme	Started
Heartstring Samplery	His Eye is on the Sparrow	Antique Sampler	Yes
Plum Street	Vexation Sampler	Sampler	yes
With Thy Needle & Thread	Coming to America - The Women of the Mayflower	Sampler	Yes
Scarlet Letter	Elizabeth Eyles	Antique Sampler	yes
Heartstring Samplery	A Dog's Last Will and Testament	Sampler	yes
Lavender & Lace	Peace Angel	Angel	yes
Curtis Boehringer	Noah's Ark	Urial
Curtis Boehringer	Noah's Ark	Vicuna
Curtis Boehringer	Noah's Ark	Wolf
Curtis Boehringer	Noah's Ark	X-tra Large Hippos
Curtis Boehringer	Noah's Ark	Yak
Curtis Boehringer	Noah's Ark	Zebra
Curtis Boehringer	Noah's Ark	Noah
Curtis Boehringer	Noah's Ark	Yesah, Noah's wife
Needle Work Press	The Mary Ann Aldred Sampler	Antique Sampler	Yes
Dragon Fire Designs	Family	Sampler	yes
Carriage House	A Mind Independent & Free	Sampler	Yes
Tempting Tangles Designs	Arc of White	sampler	yes
Glendon Place	WITCH	Halloween	Yes
AuryTM Desing	Alice	Quaker	yes
Lila's Studio	Nevermore	Halloween	Yes
Heartstring Samplery	Winter Comes	Sampler	yes
Symbolic Gestures	Summer Basket Sampler	Sampler	yes
Needlwork Press	Ann Kirby 1845	Sampler	yes
Heart's Content	Wicket Was Here	Halloween	yes
Stitchy Posel	Frankenstein Sampler	Halloween	yes
Rosewood Manor	O'Santa	Christmas	Yes
Lavender & Lace	Ice Angel	Angel	yes
Indigo Rose	Walking to St. Ives	sampler	yes
Barbara Ana Designs	All Creatures Great & Small	Sampler	yes
Lavender & Lace	Earthdancer	Angel	yes
Rosewood Manor	American Flag	Sampler	yes
Heart's Content	Inspire Others	Sampler	yes
Scarlet Letter	the Four Angels Mouring Sampler	Sampler	yes
Rosewood Manor	Autum Quaker	Sampler	yes
Shepherd's Bush	Peter's Stocking	Christmas	yes
Lizzy Kate	Things Unseen	Christmas	Yes
Thistles	Family Tree	Sampler	yes
Lavender & Lace	Guardian Angel	Angel	yes
Courtney Collections	PeliCan 9	animal	yes
Carriage House	Halloween @ Hawk Run Hallows	Halloween	yes
PraiseWorthy Stitches	Simple Gifts - Courage	Quarter	yes
Whilst Iris Naps Design	Mary Gypsoon 1828	Sampler	yes
La-D-Da	Awake my Soul	Sampler	yes

I have plans to add more, and this list doesn't include any needlepoint that I have going - this is just cross stitch.  My goal for this year is to complete one angel and to touch all of my WIPS at least once.  I think there was only 2 or 3 that didn't get touched in 2023, so I was happy with my results.    This is the angel I hope to finish, so we'll see if it gets done.  April and August will be Angel months for me.

I also participate in WIP Warriors and hope to do some of the challenges this year - need to figure them out and then actually do them.  I also do WIPGO, which this year isn't too specific on what I need to work on as I find that I stitch what I want and don't like being told what I need to stitch on.  Since it's my board and my rules, I'm going with the way I have it this year and see if I can't get a black out - came close last year.

If you want to see pictures, please scroll through the past year, you'll see where I was on each of them with the exception of Awake My Soul, that one was a new start the end December and will be photoed before I put it away.

Sandy