WIPocalypse Wrap Up

I did have a finish this year.  Garden of Faith Hope and Love.  My first finish since 2015.

I had one WIP that I did not work on at all this year- Freedom by Joan Elliott.  It remains looking like this last worked on in December 2016.

Faces of Faery 90 and Butterfly Fairy Night were worked on but only at the beginning of 2017 so not alot of progress was made.

 Faces of Faery 90

Butterfly Fairy Night

I did work on Little Fairies at Play quite a bit.  I finished page 10 and made it half way thru page 11. In 2018 I signed up to stitch 1200 stitches a month and hope to keep up which will be significant progress.  I have been working on this one since 2011 and would like to get it finished in my lifetime.

After I finished Garden of Faith Hope and Love, I made Summer Sensation my main project to work on while watching TV in the bedroom.  I made alot of progress on this one and thought I might get it finished in 2017.  I will definitely finish it in 2018.

Because I didn't stitch as much in 2017 as in previous years my Ort jar was a little skimpy.  I also put my orts in an ornament for 2017.

I am looking forward to 2018 and making progress on the projects I have started and the projects  waiting in the wings.

WIPocalypse November

I think I managed a good amount of progress this month.  It helps having the yardwork slow down.  Here are the 2 projects I worked on:

 Little Fairies at Play.  Getting ready to work on the bottom of page 11.

Summer Sensation.  I think I am 2/3 done.  Will push to see if I can finish this one before the end of the year.


This month's question is what finishing technique would you like to learn or haven't done.  So far I have only framed completed pieces.  I did make a few christmas ornaments too.  I would like to learn to do a bell pull as I have a piece finished that would look good with that finishing.

WIPocalypse October

This month I did work on 2 projects - Little Fairies at Play and Summer Sensation.  Not alot of progress but some is better than none.

 Little Fairies at Play

Summer Sensation

One of the questions for this month is what will become of my stash when I die.  I belong to a local stitching group - Hoosier Stitchers.   I plan to put in my will that they will be notified and given all of my stash that my family does not want.  As of today I do not have a will but in 2018 I need to get one done.  Being re-married and being older I need to get this done so everything is spelled out and official.

The second topic was how did you get started stitching.  My mother taught me embroidery when I was 8.  I did alot of stamped cross stitch and embroidered pieces.  I did not move on to counted cross stitch until the late eighties when one of my co-workers was looking at a cross stitch magazine and a piece caught my eye.  I couldn't stop thinking about it and went out and bought the magazine and dove right in.

 These are pictures of my first counted cross stitch projects from Cross Country Stitching from Better Homes and Gardens. 

 They are still unframed.

I did not leave enough material to frame them.  Even when I first started stitching I was drawn to large full coverage projects.

WIPocalypse September

I did manage to work on 2 of my projects this month.  Again not much done.

 A little more done on Little Fairies at Play in the beginning of the month.

And Summer Sensation received the most attention.

This month's question is what color of floss is my favorite.  I like the bright colors - red, peacock blue, bright yellow.  I tend to pick designs that use bright colors.

September was a busy month - bridal shower for my neice, travel for work and a week of vacation.  We were going to Florida but Hurricane Irma changed our travel plans.  We went to Michigan and went to the Binder Park Zoo, spent a day at the Gilmore Car Museum, went to Antique Malls, Warren Dunes, Potato Creek State Park and Duck Tales Car Show.  Of course I managed to have a cold during vacation which did slow me down.  Back to work on Monday.

 Gilmore Car Museum

 One of the bridal shower center pieces my Sister and I made - 6 brides and 6 grooms

 Shower Cake

 Warren Dunes

Binder Park Zoo

WIPocalypse August

I have only stitched on one project this month - Summer Sensation.  I stitch  for about an hour each night before bed.  I thought I didn't make very much progress until I compared it with last month's picture.

 Last month's picture

This month's progress

I feel pretty good about the progress.

This month's question is what do you do to get out of a stitching slump.  Sometimes I go thru my stash looking at all of the patterns I have/want to do.  Other times I look at other people's progress on their projects.

WIPocalypse July

Again not alot of stitching got done this month. 

 Summer Sensation I work on in my bedroom.  A little more progress since last month.  Most nights I seem to be reading lately.

Little Fairies at Play.  A few more stitches put in.  Usually on stitch for about an hour on Saturdays on this piece.

This month we are to talk about our oldest WIP and newest WIP.  Well my oldest WIP that I do work on is Little Fairies at Play.  I started this on in November of 2011.

My newest WIP is Freedom by Joan Elliott a kit I purchased on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  I started this one in August of 2015.  Here is the last progress picture I have of it.

Looks like I last worked on it in December 2016.

What do I do with my time if I am not stitching?  Work takes up the biggest chunk  then I did the following in July:

 Marched in the Three Rivers Festival parade carrying the banner for the Motoring Mini's Car Club that my Daughter and Son-In-Law belong to

 Watched my daughter race in an SCCA timed course race.

 My son is also now racing in SCCA.

 My back fence has had 30 years of grapevine growing on it.  Our goal for this summer was to cut it down.  We just have this little bit to go.  We have filled 11 bags so far.  The end is in site.

 Back yard display that is on top of where my tulips grow in the spring.

 Planted lots of flowers in the front yard that I water daily.

And spending time with my father, sister, brother and lots of nieces and nephews.  We have a wedding coming up in November the first of my neices getting married.

WIPocalypse June

I feel that I got to stitch quite a  bit this month.   I finished Garden of Faith Hope and Love.

I then pulled out Summer Sensation to work on.  Before I could get started I had to rip out a flower that was not in the correct spot by one or two stitches.  It took me a week to get it ripped out.  I think I am stitching on 18 ct and I ended up just cutting the stitches out.  Then I could get back to working on it and re-stitched the flower completely.  I will keep working on this project and maybe I will get it finished before the end of the year.

Whenever I had some time to my self and could stitch in the living room I continued to work on page 11 of Little Fairies at Play.

This month we are to talk about and show where we stitch.  I normally stitch in the living room while watching tv.  This area is big enough for me to work on my projects that are in frames - my two HAEDs. 

But since I have gotten married my husband sits in this chair to watch tv because the couch only has two legs and eats people.  A new couch is in the plan.  So I stitch on my HAEDs here when he is at work.  Then I stitch on my other smaller projects in bed while watching tv at night.

Finish!

My first finish of 2017 and my first finish since 2015.

Garden of Faith Hope and Love Started 8/30/15 and finished 6/9/17.  This is from Cross Country Stitching June 1999.

I have picked another project from my WIPs to work on while watching tv. Maybe I will have another finish in 2017.

WIPocalypse May

Another slow stitching month for me.  I am turning into a one at a time person again.  And I have the desire to start another project that is not a HAED.   I don't know how I will ever get the two HAED's I have started done let alone the other 10 or more in my stash.

Here is the progress for this month:

 Little Fairies at Play page 11.  Not even close to half way after 2 months (almost 3)  Still only stitching on this one on Saturdays for an hour if I am lucky.

Garden of Faith Hope and Love.  Almost done with the backstitching.  Then a few beads and it will be finished.  I do work on this one daily for at least an hour.  It should be done before the end of June.

The question this month is what designer do you love but are too intimated to try.  Martina Rosenburg and her Chatelanes.  Before I found HAED these were the designs I was drawn to.  I have Knotgarden in my stash.  But have not had the courage to start it.  And now with limited stitching time I hate to start something that large/complicated.

WIPocalpse April

 Little Fairies at Play.  Page 11.  Slow progress as I am now only working on this one on Saturdays for a couple of hours when I am done with all of my work.

Garden of Faith Hope and Love.  This one has become my project in the bedroom.  I now have a tv in the bedroom along with a new husband.  We retreat back there at night to watch movies.  So I needed a small project to work on while watching tv in bed.  This one is almost done.  I am just doing the back stitching.

Little Fairies at Play is too big to do in bed.

This month we are to talk about what projects in our UFO pile.  I am taking that to mean started stitching and not stitched on for a while.  I only have one - Gaithering Pine Cones by Hillside Samplers.

It is stitched on Reflections linen (first time and only time stitching on linen) and it has alot of specialty stitches.  Mine looks nothing like the pattern.  Last time I worked on this was 2009.

WIPocalypse March

This month I only worked on two projects.

 Little Fairies at Play I started on page 11.

Butterfly Fairies Night.  More progress was made.  I am having a hard time finding time to stitch!

This month's question is:  Question of the Month – What stitchy blogs, groups, or flosstubes do you follow and why?  I have quite a few stitching blogs in my favorites that I read.  I have watched one flosstube but just do not have time to watch them. On Facebook I am part of the Heaven  and Earth Design Group.  I love watching everyone's progress and seeing new patterns.  Also on Facebook I am part of the Hoosier Stitchers Group which is for stitchers from Indiana.

February WIPocalypse

This month I only stitched on one project, Little Fairies at Play.  I was so close to finishing page 10 at the end of January that I kept working on this project.  I thought I would finish page 10 earlier in the month of February.  But the number of days I am actually stitching keeps getting smaller.  My goal for 2017 was to stitch every day.  But I blew that the first week of January.

I did manage to finish page 10 on February 23.

This puts me at 50% done. 

I am moving on to another project in my rotation for a week.  Then back to this one as it is my focus piece.  I don't know why HAED's are so addictive but they are.

This month we are to talk about what other stitches we enjoy besides the basic cross stitch.  I do enjoy back stitching because it tends to bring the project to life.  And I do save it to the end so it also  signals I am almost done with project.  No back stitching on  HAEDs.

With the last week of warm weather my tulips are up (no buds yet) and my tree buds have opened.  It is now cold again.  Waiting to see what affect this will have on the flowers and trees.

January WIPocalypse

 This month I worked on 3 of my projects Faces of Faery 90.Almost have page 1 done.

 Little Fairies at Play.  Close to finishing page 10.  I had hoped to have it done before the end of January but that is not going to happen.  Maybe I will get it finished in February.

Garden of Faith Hope and Love.  I took this one to Rochester NY earlier in the month.  I got alot done on it during my hotel stay.


This month we are to talk about the SAL's we participate in.  WIPocalypse is the only stitch along I participate in.  I am a slow stitcher and doubt I could keep up on any other stitch alongs.