WIPocalyse January Check-In

January has been a strange month for me, stitching wise. I know I have made a little bit of progress, but I don't feel as if I have, if that makes any sense. I find that I can't stitch for very long periods of time because my fingers and hands get sore, and my eyes get tired. I feel like I spend more time thinking about stitching, than actually doing it!

Anyway, the question for the month is ...What SALs are you participating in this year?
I am trying very hard not to join any SALs, but I don't think I am really succeeding! Besides this one, I also continue with TUSAL (the Totally Useless SAL, where we post our monthly orts). I am also doing a sampler SAL with the Little House/Country Cottage Facebook group, where we are stitching any sampler from those designers on Sundays. Mainly though, I am trying to work through my too large collection of WIPs, and that is what I am going to concentrate on for the year. I am in a group called What WIP?? and we are buddying up in groups to encourage some finishes. I made a starting list of 43 WIPs, and then found about a dozen more when looking through my stash...ugh! I am trying so hard not to delve into my kitted  (and not kitted) projects for new starts...but it gets harder every day!

In my last WIPocalypse post, I listed 12 projects to concentrate on for this group, and I have made a little progress on a few of them this month. I showed my progress on the January Quilt, Alice, and Deers Among Wood in my last blog post.

I also made a little progress on Strawberry Fields Forever:

and Grace Quaker Sampler:

Hopefully, there will be more progress next month! Until then, happy stitching!

TUSAL and Catching Up

Hello again, friends!

These last few weeks have been a mix for sure. My mother's husband passed away rather suddenly. He fell on his way to the bathroom and hit his head, and when they took him to the hospital they found that he had cancer throughout his body. They were treating him, but then he developed pneumonia and that was just too much. He was 90 years old, and wasn't in any pain, but it was still very sad, especially since he was really in such good shape, always taking good care of himself. My mother is actually doing better than we thought she would. They had only been married a year and a half, but had been together for nearly 20 years. She is (thankfully) much stronger than she looks, and I trust that she will be ok. With her living in Florida and us in Oregon (my sister is in New Jersey, so she is closer), it is not the easiest situation, but we will all be ok.

Then my husband was knocked in the back of the knee by a ski lift and was out of commission for some weeks. He seems to be nearly healed (and can't wait to get back on the slopes). I'm not sure about that! Last year around the same time, he broke his shoulder. Maybe November, December and January are just not his months!

We've also been busy taking care of our grand-doggies when my daughter has to travel for work. She lives right downtown, so either they come to our house or I go there, so it is not inconvenient. She used to live 6 hours away! And they are both really good dogs, so I don't mind. When I stay at her apartment I tend to get much more stitching done too, so that's what I'm doing next trip. When they are here it is harder with our two dogs as well.  Here is a pic of her boys, Clarence and Coda. You should hear Clarence snore...

I have managed to get some stitching done, but not as much as I would have liked. I did pick up my two oldest WIPs and did a small amount on each. It has taken me a little while to get used to stitching on Aida again, especially since these are so old and the fabric is so much stiffer than what we can find today.

Alice      

January Quilt for All Seasons

And I also made some progress on a few other pieces,

  Deers Among Wood

 Through the Storms

 Strawberry Fields Forever

and a small start on something new...The Needlework Shop from Country Cottage Needleworks

I almost forgot to post my TUSAL - Totally Useless SAL - the first post of the new year. This is the one SAL I usually always manage to keep up with! Here is my (friendly) Froggy with this month's orts...

It started out sunny today, but is starting to get soupy now, so I think I will get some stitching done. I hope you are all having a great weekend (is anyone doing the 24 Hours of Cross-Stitch Marathon??)

Until next time, be kind and happy stitching!

WIPocalypse 2020

This isn't the first time I have attempted to participate in this event! Usually, I have great hopes for the year, but my WIPs tend to linger while my new starts multiply. This year, however, I am making a really concerted effort to work through all my WIPs (with the help of other groups and challenges) so I feel much more confident about making a go of WIPocalypse this year..

At present, I have over 40 WIPs, and I do plan on touching all of them at some point during the year. But I think I will choose 12 to start with as (hopefully) achievable goals:

1. Quilts for All Seasons - January (Paula Vaughn): This is my oldest WIP and it is at least 20 years old! I love this piece, but I think I made an error somewhere along the way on the quilt, and with all the 1/4 stitches on Aida, I just gave up. Here is where it is now:

2. Alice (Lynne Nicoletti): My second oldest WIP (around the same time as the first), also on Aida. Here is where it is now:

3. A Good Marriage (Lizzie Kate): Started in January 2017. It was meant to be an anniversary gift for my husband that year...maybe this year? Here is where it is now:

4. Queen of the Needle (Just Nan): I love this design, and was fortunate enough to be able to borrow the pattern from a very generous fellow stitcher. But I have been very neglectful with my stitching of it, and I really want to make it a priority this year, so I can return the pattern. Here is where it is now:

5. Grace Quaker Sampler (Sampler Cove): This was started as a SAL in December of 2018. I love Quaker designs and really enjoy stitching this one. I am going to try and alternate it with three other monochromatic stitches until they are all done. Here is where it is now:

6. Another monochromatic piece...this is Dreidel Dreidel (Ink Circles) started in January 2018. Here is where it is now:

7. The third monochromatic piece is called Deers Among Wood (Dessins DHC). I can't remember when I started this. I do remember seeing it stitched over one at my LNS many years ago and I fell in love with it. I bought the pattern then, but didn't start it until only a few years ago when I found a thread through Stitchy Box that I thought would be perfect for the piece.  I am not stitching it over one however! Here is where it is now:

8. The fourth piece is a new WIP, started Jan 1 this year. It is called Quaker Street (Marjorie Massey).

Just barely a WIP, but I really love it and would love to see it completed this year. Here is my little start:

9. Music Amongst the Trees (Rosewood Manor). This was my January 1, 2019 start. I would love to finish it this year. Here is where it is now:

10. Strawberry Fields Forever (Blackbird Designs) This one has been hanging around since April of 2016. I don't know why, because I really love it. It just keeps getting pushed aside, I guess! Here is where it is now:

11. Celtic Autumn (Lavender and Lace) I was really surprised when I pulled this out and saw how far I had stitched on this piece. I do not remember when I started this, but it was many years go. I remember that I got the color conversion from one of the old Yahoo stitching groups. Here is where it is now:

12. Olde Shaker Tune (Homespun Elegance). This is another very old piece and again, I can't remember when I started it. This is one of my very favorite hymns and I hope to finally finish it this year. Here is where it is now:

So...whew! Sorry for such a long post! Like I said before, these are only about 1/4 of my WIPs total, but if I can get these finished this year, I will be very happy!

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else is planning for the year and stitching together to get our WIPs done!

From the "What Dogs Teach Us" calendar for January: 

Being kind is more important than being important

Hope everyone has a great stitchy day!

How can it be 2020???

Another year has passed, and once again I am left wondering how it passed so quickly!
All in all, it was a pretty good year, with mostly good things happening and only a few really low points.

My older daughter moved back here to Portland and it has been really nice having her close by again. So now all the chicks are back and we are able to have more family time together.

Jeff and I were able to take a wonderful week in northern Idaho, where we stayed in a cottage on the river and were able to visit Glacier National Park as well

On the sad side, we had to send our beloved dog Eros over the Rainbow Bridge. He was 16 years old and live with us that whole time, so it was a very difficult time for everyone. But, it was his time, and even though we didn't want to say goodbye, we had to think of what was best for him and let him go.

I've been having some problems with my hands which makes stitching for long periods difficult at times, but somehow I still managed to get 19 pieces finished this year. The last two were done last minute for Christmas gifts for my girls.

 This is "I Do", an older design from Bent Creek that I stitched as a belated wedding sampler.

This is called "Take Time to Heal". My daughter and I saw it at a craft fair and she really liked it, so I went home and found the pattern on line and stitched it up for her. The flowers were supposed to be french knots, but since I don't do those well, I used some rainbow gallery thread instead and it turned out really cool and sparkly.

For the coming year, my plan is to work on my WIPs (of which there are many!) No more "start too many projects in January" and then never finish most of them for me. I am keeping myself to no more than 3 new starts at most each month...still probably more than I should, but there are so many projects calling to me from my stash that I can't help myself! I've joined a sort of support group for WIP stitchers, and we have vowed to keep each other motivated!

For January, I am going to try to finally finish my two oldest WIPs. Since they are 20 years old, it seems like the right time!

The first one is called "Alice" and it by Lynne Niccoletti.

This second one is the January quilt from Paula Vaughn's book "Quilts for All Seasons". It is my oldest WIP.

And my January 1st start is Quaker Street by Marjorie Massey. I made a small start on it today, while watching the Oregon Ducks win the Rose Bowl...quite a fun game to watch!

I've made a few resolutions, but I'll talk about them next time. Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful 2020 to look forward to.

Please remember to always be kind to yourself and others.

Happy stitching!
lynda

Autumn Equinox 2019

It's hard to believe that fall is already upon us...it's my favorite season, so I am one happy camper, but once again the year is flying by. And once again, there is the hope that I will have the ability to stick to posting to this blog on a regular basis...the desire is there, but the days just seem to go by too fast.

I have been stitching, in part due to some monthly challenges that are keeping me focused. I am also doing Stitch from Stash this year, and I'm doing pretty well (even though I am still adding to my stash from time to time!) I got through the first 6 months with money to spare...not doing as well this half, but I think I will catch up soon.

One of the challenges I decided to try was the Stitch 9 Challenge. This was started by Farmgirl on Instagram. You choose 9 projects to complete before the end of the year. So far, I have 5 of the 9 completed. I'm hopeful that I will be able to finish the other 4. 

Here are some pics of 4 of the ones I have completed:

The first is Spell of the Moon from Blackbird Designs:

Next is Coming to Town from Prairie Schooler. I used the 2011 date because that was the year it was released as an annual piece. I'd like to find the other yearly designs to do someday as well.

This is Mansfield Park from The Sampler Girl. This was a WIP for a long time. I decided to restart it because I didn't like the original fabric I had chosen.

Last is Quaker Gone Poe from Michelle Ink. I love Quakers, and I love Edgar Allen Poe, so this was a no brainer for me to want to stitch, and it was really a pleasure to do. I enjoyed it so much!

I have lots of other projects on the go, many as a result of pulling out WIPs for the monthly challenges with the 24 Hours of Cross Stitch facebook group. I have been encouraged to make progress each month and I see some more finishes coming before the end of the year.

I'll share some more pictures next time, but until then, I hope that maybe I still have some readers left, and if you're one of them, thank you!

"Till next time, please be kind to yourself and others.
xoxo lynda (cozysitcherpdx)

Nancy has done it again!!!

Nancy Turner is again offering a set of her beautiful threads to a lucky winner. These are the gorgeous purple shades, and if you are a purple lover like I am, you must be drooling already! The drawing ends March 1st, so hurry on over to Nancy's blog to enter.

If you have never tried her threads, you are in for a real treat! Good luck!!

Be kind!
lynda

More wonderful giveaways!

Hello stitchy friends!

Please head over to the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe blog where Nancy is so generously offering two wonderful thread giveaways...the flower collection and the autumn collection. Both sets are gorgeous!

Good luck!

March WIPocalypse update

I have been a pretty lazy stitcher (and poster) these past weeks, but I have managed to get a little bit done.

Since I missed last month's check-in, I'll show a picture of what I accomplished on Light of Peace first. This was my Olympic challenge piece. It's my first full coverage and really slow going for me. And, to be honest, I paid much more attention to what I was watching than to my stitching! I love the winter Olympics!

Also, to answer last month's question, I have lots of gadgets, but the three things I absolutely need to stitch with are a good light (either natural or lamp), a magnifier of some kind and my needle threader (can't live without that!)

I have stitched a little on some of my Year of WIPs pieces, but the only WIPocalyse piece that I worked on was Strawberry Fields Forever from Blackbird Designs. I was able to finish the stitching on the upper left corner of the piece.

To answer this month's question, the one new to me dyer that I love is Colour and Cotton. Her fabrics are lovely, and her threads are gorgeous! Other dyers that I have used for some time that I would recommend are Victorian Motto Sampler and Carrie's Creations for threads, and Chromatic Alchemy and Under the Sea Fabrics for fabrics. They all have outstanding products and amazing colors. As far as designers, I am always discovering new designs thanks to Facebook groups and Flosstube. I think Stone Street Stitchworks has some really cool designs, and I love Madame Chantilly and Lili Violette. I also always seem to be drawn back to Barbara Ana Designs, Ink Circles, Kathy Barrick, Jardin  Prive and Silver Creek Samplers.

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has stitched this past month. 'Till next time, please take time to be kind to yourself and others.

March

Hello again friends!

It's hard to believe that it is already March! And even harder to believe that the month is nearly half over! Yesterday, our temps were up to 70 and today it is way cooler and rainy  - typical PNW weather! I was going to try to make March a "Stitch Every Day" month, but that just didn't happen. I really don't think I was meant to "plan".... other than to just pick up whatever I feel like stitching on any given day. I guess that could be called a plan...maybe!

I also meant to blog way more often this year, but February went by in a blur. Technology and I were not friends and I couldn't get my computer and camera to cooperate with each other at all. I missed all my SAL posts for the month so I will have to catch up next month. I did post my TUSAL on the Facebook group though.

And my stitching bug decided to take a vacation as well...wanted to get out of the cold, I guess! I did have a finish, and did a bit on my full coverage piece, but I really do not like the fabric I am using for that. It is a Monaco (Charles Craft, I think) but it feels a little stiff. Is there anything I can do about that, I wonder? My finish was one of my YOWs pieces from this year. It is To Be Thankful from Country Cottage Needleworks ... I changed the fllowers from white to yellow... sorry for the wrinkles

Most of the month was taken up with watching the Olympics, which I really enjoyed; doing our taxes, (which I didn't enjoy at all!), spending lots of time with my husband because he was off for a week (and talking about his maybe retiring this summer - YAY!) and paying off our mortgage (triple YAY!!!) Oh...and I also made a cannoli cake for my daughter for her birthday cake, which was a big hit! So the month flew by and we are well into the Year of the Dog.

So far this month, I've worked some on Light of Peace and Strawberry Fields, but I don't have pictures I can share here yet. I also had a fun time at Acorns and Threads at their Market Day. Jeanine was kind enought to bring back a bunch of things for me and I added to my bag when I was there. There were so many great designs at Market this year. Here is a pic of what I got that day:

I just want to start them all right away!

The birds are singing, the doggies are all sleeping...seems like a perfect time to stitch, so that is what I am going to do! Thank you to everyone who takes the time to still read my blog, and for your comments. It really means a lot. Please remember to be kind to yourself and to others, and to be grateful for every day.

'Til next time,
lynda
















































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WIPocalypse Update

Hello, friends! Sorry to be a day late for this check-in. The weekend just flew by and before I realized it, it was gone!

I have been feeling kind of out of sorts for awhile, but I have been stitching, and I was able to make good progress on some of the pieces I chose for this year.

Two of these are carryover pieces from last year's Year of WIPs. This first one is from The Cricket Collection. It is called Dickens' Mittens - The Last Word (Book #288). This piece was started in January of 2011 in one of those Crazy January Challenges. It is stitched on a very pale greenish/gray 28 ct. jobelan with the called for DMC. 

The second piece that didn't get finished last year is a sampler from primitiveBettys. I love her samplers and this is one of my favorites. It is called Live Laugh Love and was also started in January 2011. It is stitched on a piece of 28 ct. opalescent jobelan from Silkweavers called Chocolate Vanilla Swirl, with the called for DMC. You can't really see it, but in real life, it looks very sparkly!

One of my plans for this year was to stitch Light of Peace, and I did make a very small start on it. It is stitched on 28 ct. antique white Monaco with the called for DMC.

Questions for this month: What other SALs are you participating in? Do you plan on joining the Olympics Challenge and what are your goals?

Full disclosure, I don't do very well keeping up with designer SALs...you know, the ones with a new part every month or so. I start out ok with part one and print out the parts, but then I fall away. I do have a few of these from Tempting Tangles designs that I hope to finish someday because I do love the designs.

For this year, I hope to join in on some of the SALs from the different Facebook groups I belong to, like Stitch from Stash, Stitch Maynia, and Soulful Stitching. I am also doing a year-long Sampler SAL a mitten SAL, and a year-long Little House Needleworks/Country Cottage Needleworks SAL.

I do plan on joining the Olympic Challenge. I am opting for the Endurance Run...not because I am a one at a time stitcher, but I would really like to make some headway on Light of Peace. It is my first full coverage piece and I think if I dedicate myself to putting stitches in it every day during the Olympics I will see progress. Since this type of design is new for me, I am hoping to finish page one (there are 4 pages, the design is divided into quadrants)

So, until next time, please remember to be kind to yourself and others and to be grateful for every day.

Thanks for visiting!

A Busy Stitchy Weekend!

This past weekend was both International Hermit and Stitch Weekend as well as WIP It Weekend with the Little House/Country Cottage group. Since I have a few Little House pieces in my Year of WIPs, I decided to concentrate on one of those.

This is Necessities Sampler. It is stitched on a neutral colored 28 ct. jobelan with the called for DMC threads. I started it in January 2015 as part of one of those Crazy January Challenges.

This next piece is from The Cricket Collection Book #328 (the one with Playing with Jax). It is called Little Boo and is stitched on a 32ct. Lugana from Picture this Plus - Chrysalis (a very very pale green),with mostly the called for DMC threads. I did not use the Kreinik and also subbed an Anchor thread for the eggplant color.  I love stitching these little mittens and hope to finish them all one of these days!

It's a gray and rainy day here in Oregon, perfect for curling up by the fire and attacking those WIPs, so until next time, remember to be kind to yourself and others and to be grateful for every day.

Thanks for visiting!

A Wonderful Giveaway

If you have used Victorian Motto Sampler Threads, you know how beautiful they are. If you haven't tried them yet, you should!

Nancy is having another wonderful giveaway of a set of her threads. Stop by here to see how you can enter!

Good Luck!

YOW 2018

Hello friends, today is the official start of Soulful Stitching's Year of WIPs (YOW) 2018! Soulful Stitching is a Facebook group run by Melanie Watkins. Last year, I finished 12 out of 16 projects and I feel pretty good about that. Some of them were WIPs that were around for years. So this year, I have chosen 20 projects to work on for this SAL. 

Project #1: This is Dreidel, Dreidel from Ink Circles. This was my January 1 start this year (barely!)

Project #2: This is Carve Blessings from Count Your Blessings. Started in January 2017... this was supposed to be a 10 stitches per day project, but I found that hard to do, so here it is!

Project #3: This is Thread Gathering from Little House Needleworks. This was the original kit, and I started it soon after it came out, but I can't remember when that was, sometime in 2006 though.

Project #4: This is Olde Shaker Tune from Homespun Elegance. This was started January 2011, s part of  Crazy January Challenge.

Project #5: This is Hawaiian Mandala from Ink Circles. This was started in July 2016. I've had to buy threads for this 3 times because I kept losing them!

Project #6:This is Coffee Quaker from Heartstring Samplery. This was started in September 2017, a SAL I didn't keep up with.

Project #7: This is Mansfield Park from The Sampler Girl. I started this many years ago, but didn't like the fabric, so I restarted it again in November 2017. (this was one of my original pieces from last year but I misplaced the pattern and had to replace it with a different project.)

Project #8: This is Thirty Birds from Hands to Work. I started this in January 2011, another Crazy January Challenge start.

Project #9: This is The Bookshelf from Little House Needleworks. I started this in June 2006. (another piece from last year that I lost the pattern for...do you see a trend here?)

Project #10: This is A Good Marriage from Lizzie Kate. I started this in January 2017 (again, barely!) I had hoped to finish this for our wedding anniversary last year...maybe this year?

Project #11: This is My To Do List from Lizzie Kate. I started this in January 2017.

Project #12: This is Necessities Sampler from Little House Needleworks, I started this in January 2015, another Crazy January Challenge start.

Project #13: This is Ocean Daughter from Who Knows? I started this in January 2017. I started this as pasrt of a monochrome challenge SAL but didn't get very far.

Project #14: This is Deers Among Wood from Dessins DHC. I started this in December 2017. I've had this in my stash for so long and I'm glad to finally have started it!

Project #15: This is To Be Thankful from Country Cottage Needleworks. I started this in September 2017, another birthday SAL piece.

Project #16: This is Warm Winter Woolens from Little House Needleworks. I started this in January 2012, another Crazy January Challenge piece.

Project #17: This is Gina, Queen of the Sea from Ink Circles. I started this in September 2017, as part of a birthday SAL.

Project #18: This is 47 Hearts from Silver Creek Samplers. i started this in February 2015.

Project #19: This is Quaker Gone Poe from Mchelle Ink. I started this in November 2017.

Project #20: This is Cinnamon Stars from Plum Street Samplers. I started this in November 2017.

Whew! So that's quite a lot! I think I have my work cut out for me. No real plan...I thought about doing a rotation, but I think I am more likely to just stitch what I feel like each day. I'll post my progress here, so I hope you'll follow me on this journey.

Until next time, please remember to be kind to yourself and others and to be grateful very day!
Thanks for visiting!