July WIPcolaypse

 This month's question is:  Which are your favorite and least favorite fabrics to stitch on?

My favorite fabric to stitch on is Aida.  I am an Aida stitcher.  My least favorite is linen.  I have 2 WIPs that are not on Aida - Butterfly Fairy Night being stitched on 28 ct even weave and Gathering Pinecones being stitched on R&R Linen.  And I am struggling with each of them.

Here is what I stitched on in July:

Abominable Bundle.  This is being stitched on 14ct Lavender Mist.  I picked it thinking the which would show up good.  The white blends in.  So I am adding blending filament to the main Abominable Snowman.  Hoping this helps him show up.  I want it to look like ice particles on his fur.

 

Bigfoot Bunch.  I finished this one 7/4/23.  Took him camping and got alot done.  It is also stitched on 14ct Lavender Mist.  Does not show up well in the picture.

Crane Paradise got worked on for a day as part of my Magazine Monthly Challenge Acrostic.

Bigfoot Bunch and Abominable Bundle were also part of the Magazine Monthly Challenge Acrostic

Dandelion Fairy Kingdom.  Still on my scroll rods.  I did stitch on this one every day thru 7/23 as part of the Full Coverage Fanatics Tour De France. I completed the Yellow Jacket for 3,404 stitches.  I continued to stitch on this one each day.  Alot of confetti left to finish up page 16.  I am behind as normally  by this time I would be working on my 3rd page of the year.  This is my first page I am trying to finish for 2023.

Put another 100 stitches in What a Hoot Owl Teapot.

Possum Song.  After I finished Big Foot Bundle I picked this one to work on at night while watching tv.  I was able to finish it on 7/14/23.

Princess & the Dragon got worked on one night.

Give Thanks to God sampler got some more work done on it.

Hello Autumn.  I was going to pick out what I had done and start over moving it over.  But I decided to keep going.

July was a good stitching month.  I retired 6/30.  I had 2 finishes in July which brings my finishes total to 5 for the year.   I try to stitch on Dandelion Fairy Kingdom every afternoon.  Then in the evenings I pick other pieces to work on.  For August I will continue working on Dandelion Fairy Kingdom in the afternoons.  I will work on projects on my August Magazine Monthly Acrostic and then when those goals are met I will work on Butterfly Fairy Night with the hopes of finishing it this year.

June WIPocalypse

 June halfway thru the year.  This month we are to recap our progress.  I am not on schedule as I am still dealing with sciatica.  All of my large projects are on scoll rods and have not been touched since I broke my wrist in January.  I am hoping to get back to them in July.  I have had 2 small finishes this year and one medium finish.  Here is what I have been working on this month:

Bigfoot Bunch I worked on this one alot in June  Nice large blocks of color.  Not alot of confetti.  I think I will get this one finished in July.

Garden Girl a Mill Hill kit.  I finished this one on 6/17/23.  3rd finish for the year.

What a Hoot Owl Teapot.  I got the missing floss and put some more stitches in this one.

Possum Song.  This one is also close to a finish.

Princess and the Dragon got a few more stitches put in.  I spend more time trying to find my place on the pattern.

So what is the plan for July?  I am going to try participating in the Tour De France challenge with the Full Coverage Fanatics group.  I am going to use Dandelion Fairy Kingdom (my only full coverage piece at this point)  I will be missing the first 3 days as we will be camping.  I will try and make up those days.  I might have to take it off the scroll rods as I tend to balance them on my legs.  I will see how it goes as I do not want to hurt my back any more than it is.

Next I will be doing the July Acrostic with the Magazine Monthly Challenge Group.

June was a stressful month as I prepared for retirement, turned 60 and finally retired.  Starting July retired and ready to begin a new routine which will include more stitching, walking and camping/traveling.

 

May WIPocalypse

 Here is this month's question:

Question of the Month: What project brings you the most joy and why?

Of the projects I am currently stitching I would say I enjoy the Princess and the Dragon the most.  I have a collection of  Teresa Wentzler patterns and this one does not have any over one stitching.  I am an aida stitcher so over one is just not doable.  I love the colors Teresa Wentzler uses and I enjoy the blends.

Stitching was limited again this month.  I am still struggling with Sciatica.  I normally  stitch in bed at night while watching tv.  I cannot sit like that in bed any more.  And I can only stitch for about an hour and half at a time.  So I have been working on my smaller projects.  This will be the start of week nine for Sciatica.  If this continues on into July I will take my large projects off my scroll rods and stitch them either using a hoop or in hand.  Here is what I worked on this month:

Abominable Bundle I worked on this one for 2 days

Bee Gnome by Mill Hill  I finished this one on 5/4/23.  Just needs made into an ornament

Bigfoot Bundle this one got one day of work

Dandelion Fairy Kingdom I only stitched on this one for one day.  I have fallen behind on my schedule for this one.  I guess I will have to take it off the scroll rods if I want to continue working on it.

I took What a Hoot with us camping.  I managed 3 days on this one.

And the last project I worked on was Possum Song.  I made some good progress on this one.

I stitched for 17days in May.  

June will be another busy month.  We are finishing up our kitchen remodel and I retire the end of the month.

April WIPocalypse

 April has been another slow stitching month. My right hand was still swollen and stiff as I am still recovering from a broken wrist.  Then the first week of April I developed Sciatica .  It is extremely painful to lay in bed or sit.  I usually stitch at night in bed with my frame leaning on my bent knees.  That is a big no no.  I was only getting about 3 hrs of sleep a night because of the pain. So here are the projects that I did stitch a bit on.

Crane Paradise still plugging away on the middle crane

Dandelion Fairy Kingdom still working on page 16.

Freedom by Joan Elliott is finished!  I could do the backstitching without too much concentration.

Homestead Harvest I got a few more stitches in.

Princess & the Dragon.  I did work on this one a bit.  But I just could not concentrate enough to keep track of where I was to stitch next.

To Everything there is a Season  I did stitch on this one for 3 days and finished the first peacock.

This month's question was what 5 projects would you like to start.  I remember this question from last year so I looked back to see what my 5 projects were last year.  Of the 5 I picked I started 4 of them last year.  So here are 5 new ones I picked for this year:

Stony Creek Teddy Bear Afghan.  I have had this one in my stash for a long time.  I even have the afghan to stitch it on.  It is time to get it going.

Owl Faces.  This is a pdf I purchased from an Etsy site.  My Dad loved Owls and since losing him I find myself drawn to owls.

Queen of the Sea.  I think this is a Stony Creek.  I have had this one a long time also. I bought it to stitch for my sister who loves fish.

QS Magic Island by HAED.  Even though it is a quick stitch it is still 30pages or so.  I need to get it started to have it finished in my lifetime.

Unplug &Go Outside by Emma Congdon.  There are so many projects in this book that I want to stitch so I need to get going.

I hope my May stitching picks up.  I only got 2,597 stitches in April.  May has to be better.

 

WIPocalypse March

 I stitched on two projects this month.  I was actually able to start stitching on 3/19/23.  My wrist is healed.  I still do not have full use of my fingers and my wrist cannot bend all the different directions.  But I can stitch!  Slowly and not for long. I continue to go to physical therapy and let them work their torture on my hand. But therapy is helping.  I can type with both hands again.  So I will continue to go.  They want me to be able to make a fist and I am getting closer.

Here is my progress for the month:

Crane Paradise.  I stitched on this one quite a bit.  It is on scroll rods and I can rest my right hand on top.

Freedom I finished back stitching the D and I am about halfway done back stitching the O.  One more letter to go.  I will keep this one out and keep plugging away on it.

This month's question: Tell us about your favorite places to buy stitching supplies.

I like to shop at my local needlework shop Stitch N Frame.  I have been going there for more than 30 years. I occasionally buy something on line if I cant find the pattern at Stitch N Frame.  I usually use 123 Stitch for my on line purchases.

 

Hope to be back next month with more projects to show.

 

WIPocalypse January

 This month i participated in Brringo with the Magazine Monthly Challenge Group .  I completed all of the challenge prompts for a blackout.  Here is what i stitched

To Every There is a Season  149 stitches added

 

Garden Girl Gnome from Mill Hill was a new start with 100 stitches put in

Give Thanks to God was worked on twice for a total of 228 stitches

Jolly Snowman was worked on three times for a total of 747 stitches

 

What a Hoot from Cross Country Stitching October 2012 was started with 157 stitches

I put in 200 stitches on Homestead Harvest

Abominable Bundle had 171 stitches added

Crane Paradise was worked on twice for 426 stitches

Princess and the Dragon was worked on 3 times for a total of 493 stitches

Bigfoot Bundle had 216 stitches added

Possum Song 108 stitches added

Freedom i almost finished back stitching the D

 

Autumn Sampler by Sandy Orton a Janlynn kit was started with 110 stitches

Butterfly Fairy Night 136stitches added

Gathering Pinecones my oldest WIP  I put in 136 stitches avoiding the specialty stitches

Bee Gnome by Mill Hill 265 more stitches

Hedge Hog the brown blob grows with 145 more stitches

Dandelion Fairy Kingdom total of 1,301  My goal was 2,000 stitches.  Even though there are still a few days left in January I will not meet that goal

Saturday morning (1/28) as I left to go grocery shopping i slipped on ice on my driveway and broke my right wrist.  Currently i cannot move the fingers of my right hand.  So even though I am left handed I cannot thread my needle one handed.  So I will not be able to stitch for a while.   I am not sure what i will do to fill the time i usually spend stitching