April WIPocalypse

 It is time for another monthly update for WIPocalypse which is hosted by Measi at:

https://measi.net/measiblog/2021/04/25/april-2021-wipocalypse-check-in/#more-7534

I continue to plug along with my rotation and I do feel like I am making progress.  Here is what I worked on this month:

 Dandelion Fairy Kingdom is my weekend project.  Goal is at least 21,000 stitches this year as part of the Full Coverage Fanatics challenge.  I am now at half way on page 7.  Hope to finish this page before the end of May.

Faces of Faery 90 I finished page 5.  Just a small partial page 6 left.  I do not think this piece will come up again until June.  But this one will be a finish for 2021.

Freedom halfway done with this E.  Then just 2 more letters and a ton of backstitching.

After the March posting I did work on Mingle.  This is the last of the words and then just gnomes.

Butterfly Fairy Night.  This is my only piece on evenweave and it has been a struggle.  But I think I am finally getting the hang of it and if I go slow progress is being made.

We took a small overnight trip in April so I needed a project to work on in the hotel.  I started the scissor fob for Toadilly Romantic.  This is the front of the scissor fob.

Question of the Month: Have you found yourself to be more or less productive in your stitching during the Covid-19 pandemic?  I think I have been more productive as I no longer have a commute and do housework when work is slow.

We have been working hard on our house update.  We now have a guest room and are expecting my husband's mom to arrive soon for a visit.

I did get some stash in April

I saw this one at my LNS when I went in to get floss.  This reminds me of my grandparents farmhouse.

A cute Gnome kit from Mill Hill.

I had to get these two.  My sister is a big Abominable snow man fan.  And her husband likes Bigfoot.

I have so many new patterns that I want to stitch which keeps changing what I will start when I finish one of my projects in rotation.  I am still thinking about doing Maynia for the first time with maybe one start a week.  But then I feel they will not get worked on until something in my rotation finishes up.

We will see what May brings.  With good weather and possibly a mother in law staying I may not get much stitching time at all.

 

March WIPocalypse

 Even though this was a longer month, I got off my rotation.  I had all of the cross stitching done on Harvest and thought I could get it finished if I gave it extra stitching time in March.  But it is still not done.  I did not take a picture as it is hard to see the back stitching on the black.  When it is truly finished I will post a picture..

Dandelion Fairy Kingdom gets the most attention each month.  I finished page 6 on 3/9/12 and started working on page 7.

I worked on Freedom at the beginning of the Month and started on the next letter E.

I also worked on Crane Paradise.  Finishing up page 5 and six and moving over to page 2.

Question of the Month: What is your process for working on WIPs? Are you a one-at-a-time stitcher, a rotation stitcher, or something else? I started out stitching as a one at a time stitcher.  I have always liked large projects and would get bored and put down my stitching for months.  Since finding the stitching world on the internet I changed to a rotation stitcher.  It helps me keep from being bored with a project.  I have changed how I handle my rotation and now work on my focus piece - Dandelion Fairy Kingdom on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as I usually get more stitching time on those days.  Then Monday - Thursday I work on a different piece each week.  I only have 7 wips so they get touched quite a few times with this rotation.

February WIPocalypse

 This month's question is what SAL's are you participating in.  I am doing the 21,000 in 2021 with Full Coverage Fanatics and the Stitch around Iceland challenge also with Full Coverage Fanatics.  So far this year I have completed stage 10 stitching around Iceland and 6,713 stitches towards the 21,000.  I am using my Dandelion Fairy Kingdom piece for both of these stitch alongs.

So here is my progress on Dandelion Fairy Kingdom.  I am close to a page finish.

I also stitched on the following projects this month:

Faces of Faery 90.  So close to finishing page 5.  I missed one day of stitching this month and it was during the rotation for this piece.

Crane Paradise.  Lots of white and grey in this one.

Mingle and Jingle.  Finished one gnome and started on the next one.

Put 4 days into Butterfly Fairy Night.  I stitched the right hand corner which looks like it is not lining up with the left corner.  Hoping it is just the picture.  I will check and hopefully it is ok and will not need ripped out.  As that would probably banish this one for quite some time.

I also got some stash in February:

I got this chart from stash unloading.  I think the colors appealed to me. 

I have joined a fabric of the month club at Rogue Stitching.  I chose only the even months so every other month starting in February and this is the piece I received  It is a beautiful color. 18ct 

We have been working on re-doing the living room.  New paint and curtains.  We just need new flooring and this room will be done and on to the Kitchen.

Looking forward to March as it is a longer month and full of family birthdays.

January WIPocalypse

 It is the end of January already  and time for a stitching update.

This month's question is:

Tell us about a WIP on which you’ve really struggled to make progress. Explain its history. What appears to be the reason you’re struggling?

 Butterfly Fairy Night.  I struggle on this one as it is my only project on even weave and I got off in places and have to adjust certain areas.  I always dread working on it but once I get going I do make some progress.  I did stitch Butterfly Fairy Day (companion piece) also on even weave and finished it. I did work on Butterfly Fair Night this month and worked on the upper right corner. 

I also worked on Faces of Faery 90 and I am close to finishing page 5.

I worked on Freedom by Joan Elliott and finished the M.

There will be alot of back stitching on this one.  I work using a hoop so I usually leave the back stitching to last.

Bless our Harvest.  I finished all the cross stitching and I have started on the back stitching.  I did modify this design leaving out the words and some background stitching.  I will continue with the back stitching when I am working with nothing to do. (still working at home so I can do this)

And as always I continue to work on Dandelion Fairy Kingdom on the weekends.  I am using this project for 21,000 stitches in 2021 and stitching around Iceland both with Full Coverage Fanatics.  In January I completed 4,010 stitches and I am more than halfway done with page 6.  I will move the scroll rods before this weekend's stitching. I stitched alot of winter white for the dandelions so it is not showing up good. For some reason the top part of the dandelion stitched on previous pages looks thicker and whiter.  It is the same skein of floss. 

Keeping with my weekly rotation so this week I will work on Crane Paradise.

WIPocalypse 2021

 Once again I am participating in the WIPocalypse stitch along.  Goal is to finish (or make progress) on your projects before the end of time.  I have been participating since the beginning but my 2012 page somehow got deleted.  You can find information on WIPocalypse here:https://measi.net/measiblog/wipocalypse_main/2021-wipocalypse-info/

For this post we are to introduce ourselves, our projects and goals for 2021.

I am Cathy living in North East Indiana, married with 2 grown children and  cats.  I am still working from home which is giving me more stitching time.

I currently have 7 active WIPs and one UFO that I cannot locate.  Pine Cone Sampler was put aside as I struggled with the specialty stitches on Linen.  I currently do not know where it is hiding.  But if it re-appears I will put some more stitches in it and get a picture.

Dandelion Fairy Kingdom is a long term project.  For 2021 I am using this project for the 21,000 in 2021 challenge in Full Coverage Stitchers and Stitching Around Iceland.  I hope to finish another 5 pages which would be another row.

 

Faces of Faery 90 I need to complete page 5 and page 6 which is a partial page.  I plan on finishing this in 2021.  This will be my second HAED finish.

 

Bless our Harvest is almost completed and I hope to finish in 2021.

 

Butterfly Fairy Night my goal is just to make more progress on this one.  It is a struggle as it is on evenweave and I got off with my stitches in places so I have to compensate as I go.

 

Freedom I would like to finish 2 letters in 2021.

 

Crane Paradise my goal is just to make progress

 

Lets Mingle & Jingle which I just started in December 2020 I want to make progress on.

Possible new starts in 2021 (and this list keeps changing )

Cat's Paw from Treasures in Needlework.  This is a companion piece to Cowslip.  There is a third piece with a horse but I won't be doing that one  I still have enough material left from Cowslip to stitch Cats  Paw and it is kitted and ready to go.  If we get to travel this year, I will take this with me as a travel project.

Hodgepodge Soup from Cross Country Stitching October 2013. I like the bright colors in this one.

 

QS Red Maple Fairy by Jasmine Becket-Griffith and HAED.   I need to kit this one up to take the place of Faces of Faery 90 when I finish.  While looking for my next HAED I had to dig thru 3 tubs of patterns, magazines and kits.  Oh my.  I really did not know I had that much.  I have about 10 more HAED patterns.

 

Storybook Animals from Treasures in Needlework Fall 1992 and Winter 1992.  Eventually I want to stitch all 4.  I just need to pick one and get it kitted up.

Romantic Toad Scissor Fob.  I finished the main piece and just need to do the scissor fob.

I also have several kitted projects and a box of kits.  And I flagged other projects to be kitted while looking for my HAED patterns.

Here are my orts for the end of 2020.  I have emptied my jar and put them in an ornament.

I think I got a lot of stitching done in 2020.  I lost my father in April and I had time on my hands that used to be spent with him.  Staying home and working from home because of COVID again gave me more time.  I hope things get back to normal in 2021 even if that means less stitching time.

Hope everyone has a great 2021 and I look forward to seeing everyone's stitching progress/plans.

Cathy

 

December WIPocalypse

As part of the WIPocalypse group it is time for another monthly update.  Here is this month's prompt:

 

Question of the Month: Recap your accomplishments for the year! (Your finishes, your final before/after photos, etc).

 

2020 was a good stitching year.  Working from home gave me more time to stitch because of no commute and getting my housework done during breaks in my work.  I had 5 finishes this year:

 

 

From the Home for the Holidays leaflet by Sue Hillis I stitched this.

Toadally Romantic stitched on a pink fabric that is not showing up good.  I really enjoyed this one.

A Christmas Ornament Jingle Bell Santa from a magazine

My big finish my first finished HAED Little Fairies at Play framed and hanging in my bedroom.

And my last finish for the year Cowslip finished on 12/22/20.

This month I also stitched on:

Butterfly Fairy Night.  I made a small amount of progress this year.  It is my only project on evenweave and in spots my stitches are out of alignment which means adjusting the new stitches I put in.

Harvest Blessing.   I have made alot of progress on this one.  I did get off count in the beginning.  But when I got new glasses late last year I now have no problem seeing to stitch this one.  Again I have to make adjustments for being off in the beginning.

Freedom by Joan Elliott.  I finished the O and made good progress on the M this year.

Faces of Faery 90 another HAED.  This became my weekend project once I had made my goal on Dandelion Fairy Kingdom.  Page 5 is half done and then only a partial page 6.

I had a new start on 12/23/20.  I started Mingle & Jingle by Ursula Michael on 18ct Opalescent.  Here is what it will look like when done:

I also fully finished an ornament I stitched last year - Bumble.  My finishing skills need worked on.

Here are my other WIPs that were worked on during the year:

Crane Paradise finished one page and working on the second page

Dandelion Fairy Kingdom. I stitched pages 2-4 and page 5 which was a partial page.  Top row finished.  I used this piece for the 20,000 in 2020 challenge in Full Coverage Fanatics.

I did get some stash this month also:

A piece of 16 count fabric.  It is a pretty light green.

And from Stash Unloading this magazine.  There a few projects in here for my future plans

I have enjoyed participating in WIPocalypse this year.  I enjoy seeing everyone's progress.  I will be participating in 2021 and will share my plans in that first post.