August WIPocalypse

I had the perfect opportunity for lots of stitching this week.  We were encouraged to telework on Tuesday and Wednesday this week due a summit in DC and all the associated extra traffic and closed roads and with Thursday my usual telework day I had an almost normal life - work, home at a decent hour, fix dinner, clean up and still plenty of time to stitch - instead my summer stitching slump made its appearance.  I had no desire to stitch.  Didn't look at it, didn't think about it, didn't read any blogs, and didn't really miss it.  I did read and comment on some blogs this weekend and managed to switch pieces on the frame so maybe it will be a short slump this year.  I do have some pre-slump stitching to show and will do that as part of my August  post.  WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings and is a WIP reduction SAL.  You make a list of projects you would like to complete, stitch and do a post on the full moon each month.  Easy?  Yes it is (unless, of course, you're in a stitching slump and there isn't too much to post about.  Thankfully, this year Melissa posted prompts for each month and this month's is "Tell us about your oldest newest WIP". 

Newest is easy!   It's Just Nan's Spring in the Air.  I posted a photo of my progress in my last post but I did some stitching on it before the slump hit.  Here's where I left off Saturday evening a week:

This is done on a 28-count Antique Ivory evenweave with DMC fibers.  The pansies are over-1 so a little slow to stitch but the results are well worth the time.

Oldest is a little harder.  It's either Crossed Wing Collection's Flower Power or Cross My Heart's Floral Welcome.  I started Flower Power on New Year's Day 1996 or 1997 as a SAL on RCTN and I think I started Floral Welcome in 1996 to go over the door of our new house in New Hampshire.  There was a major family medical issue around this time and stitching fell by the wayside while dealing with it, so there isn't a ton of progress on either of these despite them being so old.

Here's my progress on Floral Welcome:

It's stitched on 18-count White Aida with DMC and Kreinik.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it as the New Hampshire house was sold seven years ago and I'm not sure it really fits the house here in Virginia.  I suppose if it takes me as long to stitch the C, O, M, and E as it has to do the W, E and L, this house could be sold and it will fit perfectly in the next!!

Here's where I stopped with Flower Power:

 

I think this is a 28-count evenweave but other than "blue" I don't know the color.  It's stitched with DMC.  The insects are all over-1 and I believe I did the hummingbird beaks over-1 also.  The hummingbird heads and throats use Krienik blending filament to give them a bit of shimmer.  I recall that I didn't do any of the backstitching as everything seemed to stand out quite well without it, but will revisit that decision once it's back in the rotation.  

 

Secret Victorian Garden made it onto the frame for its time in the rotation, but I am not sure how much stitching will actually happen.