September WIPocalypse

 Question of the Month:  Do you have any sort of record for your finished pieces? Tell us how you record their information.

I have an excel spreadsheet where there is a tab for all of my finishes.  When I finally frame a piece I also write the info on the back.  My excel spreadsheet also has a tab for wips, projects ready to start and project to kit up.

This month I participated in ABCingo with the Magazine Monthly Challenge facebook group.  I worked on alot of projects and made some good progress.

Suncatchers.  I worked on this one 3 times

 

Gnomes was worked on once.  I finished backstitching the second gnome.

Autumn Sampler was on my board the most times.  I added alot of the smaller repetitive motifs.  Even started backstitching in an area that has all of the cross stitching done.

Princess & the Dragon was worked on twice.

Hello Autumn was called once.

 

Queen of the  Sea was called twice.  Love the bright colors in this one.

Funky Cat was worked on one day.

 

Butterfly Fairy Night was worked on twice.  This one will be a focus piece in October.  Hoping to finish it before the end of the year.

Owl Faces was worked on once.  I will also take this one with me to Florida to work on.

 

Jolly Snowman saw one day of work. This one will go on the to be finished in 2026 list.

 Homestead Harvest was worked on one day.  More white house.  I am using a laying tool trying to get my white stitches to look nice.

Then I had a new start on my board.  Raccoon Tea Pot from Cross Country Stitching 2012.  Here is what it will look like when done and how much progress I made with one day of stitching.

 

QS Magic Island was called twice and I also work on it daily during the week.  I am halfway done with page 6.

 QS Portal of Fantasy was called once and I continued to work on it on the weekends.  I finished page 1.

I had a random new start Stock Car #3.  Here is what it will look like when finished and where I got to.

This is being stitched on 18ct Joy Lynn fabric from Rogue Stitching 1x1 full cross.  It is very soft and a loose weave.  I am having to use magnifying glasses to stitch it.

I also worked on Owl #9 and finished it.  In October I want to fully finish Owl #8 and Owl #9 that means adding the babies names and birth dates.

I found some stash while out going to Antique Malls.  2 floss boxes full of DMC, some Aida and a Mill Hill Kit for $3.50.  I am thinking about starting that kit in October.

 

October looks to be a busy month with travel and lots of stitching goals. 

 

 

August WIPocalypse

 This month's question is: Which retired designer would you love to have back designing? Teresa Wentsler, Black Swan Designs, Dimples, Jennifer Aikman Smith (Dragon Dreams).  I do have their patterns in my stash.

 Here is what I stitched on this month:

Butterfly Fairy Night.  I stitched quite a bit on this one.  I am now working on the pink of her dress and her feet.  I feel I am getting closer to finishing this one.

 Homestead Harvest added more white to the house.

Gnomes. I finished the second Gnome and I am working on the backstitching.

 

Pulled out Queen of the Sea and added more stitches

QS Magic Island I finished page 5 so the top row is complete.  Only 15 more pages to go.

And I got a good start on page 6 of QS Magic Island

 

I worked on Owl #9.  I still need to fully finish Owl #8.  And baby #10 was announced.  Due date is February 2026 so I need to get this one done and begin on #10.

 QS Porthole of Fantasy I work on this one on the weekends.  I am closing in on a page finish.  16ct white aida and it is stiff.  2x1 full cross.

And I had a finish this month.  Jolly Jingle Bell Pal Elf.  This set of 3 ornaments is now complete and I just need to fully finish them.

I have a large under the bed box full of finished projects.  I have been buying frames and trying my hand at framing.  Here is the latest one I have framed.  It came out ok a little to high but it is out of the under the bed box.

Autumn Angel by Joan Elliot.  I finished this one in 2012.

In September I will be doing ABCingo with the Magazine Monthly Challenge Facebook Group.  35 squares on the board but only 25 will get called.  I have all of my projects on there - some multiple times.  I also have 2 new starts on there.

In August we had to say goodbye to my husband's cat Callie.  She was a fully clawed calico cat who did not like to be held or picked up.  She was loosing weight and I was able to pick her up so we knew something was wrong.  The vet confirmed it.  She crossed the rainbow bridge on 8/26/25.

2013-2025 

 

 

 

July WIPocalypse

 Question of the Month:  What are the fully finished pieces (framed or other finish style) that you are most satisfied that you have done?

The piece I am most satisfied with is Angel of Cross Stitch by Joan Elliott.  It was in a magazine and used all of the DMC colors that were out at that time.  381 I think.  I finished it in 2004 and had it framed.  My mother had watched me working on it as I visited her and she got to see it finished before she died.  She was my biggest cheer leader.

I also FFO my Hedge Hog finish.  I bought a frame from Michaels and framed it myself.  It did not come out too bad.  I have been back to Michaels and picked up 2 more frames.  I have a full box of finished projects that I need to FFO. 

This month I worked on the following projects for the July Magazine Monthly Challenge:

 

Jolly Snowman added 186 stitches

 

Princess & Dragon I added 237 stitches

Owl #9 I added a total of 411 stitches as I also worked on it while we were camping.  I also found out that another baby is due in March 2026.  

Owl Faces I started the next owl and put in 224 stitches

Jolly Jingle Bell Pal Elf added 221 stitches

 

Suncatchers added 281 stitches

QS Magic Island finished page 4 and halfway done with page 5.  I also stitched on this one for Tour de France with the Full Coverage Fanatics group.  Total of 3,320 stitches added.

I worked on Crane Paradise for the Acrostic and kept it out and finished it.  

I also worked on the following projects this month:

QS Porthole of Fantasy

 

 Autumn Sampler

I finished Country Crow Teapot 7/27/25 during our camping trip.

We went camping twice this month, went to a car museum and several antique malls.  At the Maumee Antique Mall in Maumee OH I did get some stash - 2 kits, a chart and a big bag of floss.

  

 

 

June WIPocalypse

 Half-year recap:  How are you doing with your goals so far this year?

I didn't set too many goals but there were certain projects I did want to finish this year.  So far I have finished 5 pieces one of which I had wanted to finish this year.

This month I had my 5th finish.  Hedge Hogs by Riolos.  

Here is where it was at the end of 2024 and here it is now finished

I enjoyed stitching on this one.  It did have the wool acrylic threads.  I didn't mind those as I did alot of crewl embroidery in the 70's.  My biggest concern was that I would run out of thread.  I finished with plenty of left over threads:

 

Snowflake was a small start and finish for a challenge prompt.

 

Owl #8 was finished in February

Unplug & Go Outside was finished in May

 

Dandelion Fairy Kingdom was on my list to finish this year.  It was finished in April.

I also want to finish this year Crane Paradise.  Here is the progress I have made so far this year.

Progress as of 12/31/24

 

And here is where Crane Paradise is now.

The next project I want to finish is Butterfly Fairy Night

Butterfly Fairy Night as it started out in 2025

 

And here is where it is at now. Slow progress

Here is the progress on my other projects:

Jolly Snowman at the start of 2025 and now

 

Homestead Harvest at the start of 2025 and now:

 

Princess & Dragon at the end of 2024 and now:

 

Gnomes at the end of 2024 and now:

 

Hello Autumn at the end of 2024 and now:

 

Autumn Sampler at the end of 2024 and now:

 Funky Cats at the end of 2024 and now:

 

Jolly Jingle Bell Pals Elf was a new start in January 2025 and here it is now:

 

Suncatchers was a new start in January 2025 and here it is now:

 

Queen of the Seas was a new start in February 2025 and here it is now:

 

Owl Faces was a new start in March 2025 and here is how it looks now:

Country Crow Teapot was a new start in April 2025 and here it is now:

 

Owl #9 was a new start in May 2025 and I have not worked on it since.

 

QS Magic Island at the end of 2024 and now:

 

QS Porthole of Fantasy by HAED was my new start for June.  Here is my progress:

It looks all black but there is some dark blues and greys.

I did get some stash in June:

I found this kit at Cracker Barrel 70% off.

 

Got these patterns from a destash group.

 

For the first 6 months I have done a total of 60,583 stitches about a 100 stitches less than last June.

For July I will be participating in  Tour De France with the Full Coverage Fanatics Facebook Group and the July Acrostic with the Magazine Monthly Challenge Group.