WIPocalypse May

 This month the WIP I was to work on during the week was Freedom by Joan Elliott.  This was last stitched on during December 2016.  This month I was on vacation for 10 days and I took this project with me to work on.  I think I stitched on it 3 days.  So not much more progress.

Each month I  am to get 1200 stitches in on Little Fairies at Play.  I missed 2 weekends while I was on vacation and I have been stitching on this one every day since I returned trying to get my 1200 in.  I think I still need 600 more before the month ends.

We drove to Florida to visit my husbands family.  We had a good time.  The weather was cloudy and it rained a bit each day.  But we went to the beach 2 days, a car museum and just hung out.  We have decided that we will not drive again.  Next time we fly.

Question of the month - favorite place to buy stash.  I am lucky to have a local lns - Stitch N Frame.  Patterns, material, floss, beads and framing  they have it all.  I usually stop in to get needed floss or material and come out with more.

Here are a few vacation snaps.

 Fort Myers Beach one sunny morning before it got to hot and rained

 This is us on Fort Myers beach

Sanibel Island on Mothers Day.  We walked thru a nature preserve with lots of alligators and birds.  This big boy was bellowing.

April WIPocalypse

My new rotation seems to be working.  I am working on Little Fairies at  Play on the weekends until I get my 1,200 stitches in.  During the week I have picked a WIP to work on.  Last month I worked on Faces of Fairie 90 and made some good progress.

Then for April I switched to Butterfly Fairy Night.  I last worked on this one in March 2017.  I feel I did make good progress on it but it is going slow as it is on evenweave which I am not used to.  So I stitch some and pick some out as the X's get out of alignment.  Here is my progress at the end of the month:

On Little Fairies at Play I got my required stitches in 1,435.  And here is where I am at now.

This is page 12 and it is moving right along.

Here is my orts.  I tamped them down after this picture.

Question of the Month - What is your oldest WIP.  It is Little Fairies at Play started back in 2011.

For May I will be stitching on Freedom by Joan Elliott.  I haven't worked on this one since Dec 2016.  Hoping to make good progress.  I am going on vacation for 10 days and will take this project with me.  Since I will be gone for 2 weekends and not able to work on Little Fairies at Play I am going to work on that one during the first week of May to get a good start on my 1,200 stitches.

March WIPocalypse

I think I have found my grove and have my stitching set up where I can stitch every night while watching tv.

 I continued working on Faces of Faery 90.

And Little Fairies at Play I have finished page 11 and started page 12.  I am still short some stitches for my monthly 1,200 goal.  Hope to reach 1,200 by the end of tonight.

I have decided on a rotation for 2018.  I will stitch on the weekends Little Fairies at Play to get my 1,200 stitches in a month.  If I am short the last week of the month I will continue stitching on Little Fairies at Play.  Then during the week I will stitch on my monthly project.  In April I am going to switch to Butterfly Fairy Night with the hopes of making good progress.  Then Freedom will be up in May.  We are traveling to Florida in May and Freedom is more portable.  Then in June I might do a new start.

This month's question is what new designers or stitching tools/gadgets have you discovered.  I just stitch what catches my eye and I am mostly  stitching from the patterns/magazines I have in my stash.  Just buying the supplies needed to stitch already owned patterns.   I did just buy a needle threader (basic one from Meijers).  I am really enjoying having help threading my needles.

WIPocalypse February

I know I am a few days early but I don't have as much time during the week.

I have made some good progress since last month.

 I finished Summer Sensation on 1/30/18 just days after the January WIPocalpse. My first finish of 2018.

 After finishing Summer Sensation I picked Faces of Faery 90 to work on.  I finished page 1 and am working on page 2.  I hope to get this one done before the end of 2018.

Little Faires at Play I did another 1,287 stitches.  I am participating with the Facebook group Full Coverage Fanatics 1200 stitches a month challenge.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to keep up but I have been able to work on this project just on the weekends in the evenings and get my stiches in.  That leaves me evenings during the week to work on other projects.

I did watch the Olympics on and off but did not participate in any Olympic stitch alongs.

Finish!

I have my first finish of 2018.  Summer Sensation from Cross Stitch Gold August 2009.  I started it 6/14/15 and finished it last night 1/30/18.

I have kitted up two more projects and now have 3 ready to start.  I think I will finish one more project before starting a new one.

WIPocalypse January

This month was a very productive stitching month.  I think I have found a way to stitch on my projects even the ones on scroll rods.  I have moved my current projects and my ott lamp into the bedroom.  I stitch most evenings back here while watching tv with the husband.  Here is the progress I have made this month:

 Little Fairies at Play - I did 1,255 stitches on it this month.

Summer Sensation  All of the cross stitching is done and I have started on the back stitching.  I hope to get all of the backstitching done before the end of January. 

While doing the backstitching I ran out of 413.  I hunted thru my stash and could not find any.  So I stopped at Michaels.  Bought 5 other skeins of floss I needed but they did not have any 413.  So I stopped at Walmart.  Their DMC was pitiful.  Not even 50 colors and no 413.  So I had to go to my LNS on Saturday.  While there I bought fabric for 2 more projects that have been on my list to start sometime but have now moved up closer to the top.  And of course I did find the much needed 413.

I picked up 16 ct black and 14ct Platinum.  My pattern called for Clay which my LNS didn't have so platinum looked to be a close match.  I just need to pull the floss for each of the designs and they will be ready to go.  They are not HAED's.   I have one other HAED completely kitted and ready to start.

This month's question is what other stitch alongs are you participating in.  Besides Wipocalypse I am only participating in one other - Facebook Group Full Coverage and the 1200 stitches a month.  I did  successfully meet that challenge for January (as noted above on Little Fairies at Play). 

WIPocalypse Intro 2018

Hi I am Cathy from Ft Wayne IN.  I have been doing counted cross stitch since the late 1980's. I have been participating in WIPocalypse since 2012.  I am attracted to full coverage pieces.  I am not the fastest stitcher but do keep plugging.  I do like finishes so I try to keep some smaller pieces in my WIP pile.  I am currently not doing a rotation.

The projects I will be working on for 2018 are listed on the WIPocalypse 2018 tab. 

My goals for 2018 are to:

1) Finish Summer Sensation.  I am really close on this one.  A few more leaves to stitch and alot of back stitching and it will be done.  I do stitch on this one almost every night for at least an hour.

2) I have joined the Full Coverage Facebook group and their challenge of doing 1200 stitches a month.  I am doing this on Little Fairies at Play.  I have never counted my daily stitches before.  Progress always looks slim.  I figured I needed 40 stitches a day which didn't seem bad as long as I stitch on this one every day.  Well life happens and I do not get to it every day.  But I have had some long stitching sessions on it this year and I am halfway to 1200 stitches for the month of January.  I hope to keep this up all year so I can see some real progress on this one.

3)While digging thru my stash I found some cute small owls to stitch.  I am going to try stitching one for each family group and make them into ornaments for Christmas 2018.

4) Once Summer Sensation is done I will focus on Faces of Faery 90 and hope to get that one completed or close to done by the end of the year.