December WIPocalypse

It's a few days late, but as the topic for this  check-in is to recap our 2015 stitching accomplishments, it gave me a few extra days to stitch - which didn't happen but it was a good thought.

2015 was a good stitching year.  I had 18 finishes, mostly smalls, but given the limited stitching time I have, it is quite a lot.  All of my finishes can be seen in the tab above titled Finishes (catchy isn't it?).  I put a list of WIPocalypse projects together about this time last year, unfortunately, there will not be much difference in my 2016 list. From the list, I had two finishes:

Holly and Hearts Sampler by Lizzie*Kate

and Spring in the Air by Just Nan

I had some progress on all the others on my list:

Mirabilia's Santa's Magic went from here:



 to here: 

Elegant Doily by Kayann's Kreations was here on January 1st:



and here when I put it up last: 

Secret Victorian Garden started the year here:

 and ended it here:



Shakespearean Fantasy and Christmas Presence from Heaven and Earth Designs were blank pieces of fabric the beginning of the year and are here today:

 

I kept up with my rotation fairly well this year.  The last couple of months have been "stitch what I want when I want" and very relaxing, but I can feel the rotation calling again, so will most likely start it up after the first of the year.  I also did better than expected with my SALs and checking in - well I did until the end of August when they started to get away from me.  I have pared back the SALs for 2016 to a much more manageable three (if you are interested in participating in any of them, the badges at the top of the page should be clickable and will take you to the respective pages). 

I have this week off from work and have a stitching plan worked out (which I have already deviated from) which could have me finishing one or two more smalls and making some progress on Secret Victorian Garden; however, I will not be too upset if I don't. I do have a new start planned for January 1st, Just Nan's Christmas Soldiers stocking, and have several other pieces that I will be starting throughout the year, or I may start them all in January and create a rotation around them, or something else will come to me in the next couple of days and throw this all out the window.  This is the first year in a long time that I have not had a solid stitching plan in place this close to the new year and I am not sure if that is good or bad.  I suppose as long as I am stitching it doesn't really matter. 

I hope you all had an enjoyable and productive stitching year and that 2016 will bring more of the same.

A small WIPocalypse

The house is full of the scent of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg - I do wish I liked pumpkin pie as it smells so good.  I normally host Thanksgiving, but this year DMIL didn't feel up to the drive over, so they are hosting and I am bringing the pie.  It does feel strange not to be spending the day in the kitchen prepping but I did buy a turkey that I will cook this weekend as we like the leftovers so will still get to cook the big meal.

As we're getting towards the end of the year, I am deep in the planning stage for next year's stitching - yes, I do go into each year with a plan, I just tend to get waylaid - and was pretty happy with what I had come up with, when I got a text from DNephew's girlfriend showing a very pretty engagement ring.  No date set, but do have to get started on some sort of wedding sampler and a Christmas stocking.  I also expect that DNiece will be engaged in the not so distant future so another stocking is in the works. I already purchased the materials and pattern for her sampler (we all thought she'd be engaged long before her brother worked up the nerve).  So while my original plans are out the window, I'm not terribly upset.  I will use the rest of this year to try to finish up the things I'm close to finishing and next year will be primarily stitching for the soon-to-be families.

But all of that is in the future and right now, I have stitching and SALs to post about.  While it has been cancelled, a quick Stitch From Stash update, I spent $7.64 for floss to finish kitting Its About Time this month. That keeps me in the black, but as I will be purchasing fabric and floss for stockings before the end of the year, my budget will be completely blown.

One I have done a little better with is .  The Smalls SAL is hosted by Heather at Stitching Lotus and is an incentive to give some of those smaller projects some love.  I am using The Sampler Life's SAL as my smalls piece each month. This month's is Sampler Motif from Wendy KC Designs:

and here is the entire piece:

I also jumped onto the Plum Street Samplers 2015 Sunday Mystery SAL and they are smalls if stitched individually, so I am counting each finish as a small finish.  As of today, it is here:

Stitched on 40-count Vintage Autumn Gold from Lakeside Linen with Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe threads

I am having a terrible time getting a good picture of this one but will keep trying.

Assuming Heather continues hosting this SAL, I will definitely continue with it into 2016.

The next SAL that I will continue into 2016, again assuming hosting continuation, is   WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings and reminds us to love the projects we've already started before we start a new one - that is really so much harder than it sounds. While my 2016 will have several new starts, I will also keep working on those WIPs.  Melissa provides us with topics or questions each month and this month's is: Which designer has inspired you to stitch the greatest number of designs and why do you think that is?   That isn't as easy an answer as I first thought and it really depends on when in my stitching journey you look.  If you look at completed and kitted/stashed, it would be Just Nan. I enjoy her use of color and her designs but I haven't bought a new design in 15 years, so she isn't my current muse. My current inspiration is Chatelaine.  I also enjoy her use of color, but where Just Nan stayed within a certain palette, Chatelaine changes hers to best reflect the theme of the design. Her designs are still very unique in the market.  I have seen a few mandala style pieces, but none with the amount of detail, specialty stitches or beading that Martina puts into hers. Finally, it is a thrill to finish one of her pieces.  With Just Nan or others, it's more "I'm done" and on to the next. With a Chatelaine it's "I did it" and you just sit and look at it for days.

Since my last WIPocalypse post, I have had progress on all three pieces that I showed in October. First up is Shakespearean Fantasy.  In October it was here:

and today it is here:

I am thinking of putting this on the frame and finishing that column of black this afternoon.

Christmas Presence has been the most problematic WIP for me this month. It was here when I showed it in October:

and today it is here:

Yes, rather than throw it out, I finished the page! I downloaded EZPdf reader and spent several hours, highlighting all the stitches that were missing and then filling them in. It proved MUCH easier digitally than on paper. I will most likely go back to paper for the rest of the design, but will keep the digital option open. I do hope to finish the bottom page this week.

And my final WIPocalypse is Secret Victorian Garden by Chatelaine,  In October, it was here:

And today it is here:

I need to get this one back on the frame and really make a push to finish it.  I am off today and tomorrow, working a half day on Friday and off next week. In between Christmas baking for DSon and card making, I hope to make good progress on this.

Happy stitching.

WIPocalypse and Smalls Check-in

Today has not gone as planned. I normally telework on Thursdays but my work laptop (we have a ton of firewalls and protection so we can't remotely access our work files or network) decided to act up this morning. Tech support tells me that they can't do the updates remotely, so instead of being off tomorrow, I took today off and will be dragging the computer back into the office tomorrow to get it fixed. I would normally have just taken today off as a vacation day, but I have three things that have to be completed this week.  I am a bit out of sorts as I am having trouble switching my brain from work to off, but it is giving me a chance to catch up with my blogging and check-ins and hopefully some stitching.

Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED) had their anniversary sale last week and there were RAKs flying around their Facebook page and I was the lucky recipient of one!!  Thank you, Kate.

This is "It's About Time" by Ciro Marchetti. I have a piece of fabric in my stash that is large enough, have pulled threads (I need to buy a few), and just need to decide how I am going to grid the fabric before I start. I don't really *need* another WIP, but this one is really hard to resist! and I've got most of the supplies, so I'm taking that as a sign.

I am closer to being on time for  and  then I have been in a while, so I guess the day switch ended up being good.

 is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings and gives us a bit of incentive to work on, and hopefully finish up, some of the WIPs that plague many of us.  Melissa gives us questions each month and this month's is: "Are there any fibers or materials used in stitching that you're nervous to try?"  That is an easy one for me, no. I have jumped, feet first, into everything since I started stitching with very little thought as to difficulty. The only thing that gives me pause, and it's more due to expense than nerves is gold work. I would love to try it, but my budget just isn't in a place to allow me to try.  I have worked on three projects that are on my WIPocalpyse list since my last check-in.  First is Shakespearean Fantasy. Lots of black stitches were added and there are lots to go, but I am close to a page finish. At the August check-in, it was here:

and today it is here:

I would like to finish that column today.

Another HAED piece Christmas Presence, was here:

 and is now here:

I have been slowly filling in missed stitches. I still hope to have this finished this year.

And finally, Secret Victorian Garden from Chatelaine went from here:

to here:

I have finished through part 11 on the right side and part 9 (and a bit of part 10 and 11) on the left. As I really do want to finish this one this year, I have stopped my rotation and will work on this until it's done.

I also have a piece for the . Heather at Stitching Lotus is hosting this SAL.  It gives me a break from all the large pieces that I gravitate towards. If it wasn't for my smalls, I would have very few, if any finishes, each year.  This year I am using The Sampler Life's SAL pieces as my smalls pieces.  This month's was Friendship in Bloom from Blue Ribbon Designs.

and here is the entire piece, so far:

I need to do a bit of housework and then onto stitching.

Half a page

Half a page, half a page,

Half a page onward,

 

With apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson, but I have finished half of page one of Shakespearean Fantasy.

 

In total, there are enough stitches to probably say there are a couple of pages done, but the great black blob, with one very dark navy stitch, is easy to count. Those hanging threads at the bottom are my first attempt at parking! I know, it doesn't really count with solid stitching but you have to start somewhere right?  I also just saw that you can see all of the travelling threads in this photo.  Fortunately, the black will cover them.

And that one photo takes care of my YOTA, HAP and part of   WIPcoalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings, YOTA is hosted by Pull the Other Thread and the HAP SAL is hosted by Stacy at Crossed Stitches.  All three aim to help us focus on finishing what we have started rather than just adding to that stack of WIPs. 

 

In addition to Shakespearean Fantasy, Elegant Doily and Christmas Presence are on my WIPocalypse and YOTA list.  Elegant Doily ended here:

 

 

Each month, Melissa provides a topic to discuss with our post. August's was to pick a piece we stitched on this month and discuss our stitching journey. I am going to use Christmas Presence from Heaven and Earth Designs.  I received Shakespearean Fantasy as a RAK and was planning to start it on January 1st.  As I was new to the solid stitched type piece, I went looking for all the hints and tips I could and ran across the HAED YUKU board. As I was looking through all the forums, I ran across a topic line to sign up for the 2015 Freebie SAL.  A part would be released on January 1st and the next three during various times through June. As the pieces were small parts from larger charts, they would be detailed but would be possible to finish in a year. I also thought it would be a great chance to try out various styles of HAED stitching - gridding, cross-country, parking, etc.  I signed up and went digging for fabric.  I found a piece of 28 count Cashel and set about gridding.  All the threads were pulled and I was ready for my January start.  As I stitched, I could feel myself becoming very irritated.  I was concerned as I had also just started Shakespearean Fantasy and if my irritation was with the style of stitching rather than something else, I was going to be very unhappy for a very long time.  After a bit I decided it was the unevenness of the Cashel that was the problem, so back to the stash I went and found a piece of 28 count Jobelan (the same fabric I had pulled for Shakespearean Fantasy). That change made all the difference and everything fell into place.  I have learned a lot on this piece, but most importantly, it's all just one X at a time. I am no speed demon but am making steady progress.  I have almost finished the first page and did it cross-country.  I am going to try parking on the second page as I think it will help with Shakespearean Fantasy once I get past the pages of black and really get into the confetti stitching.  I really do like the detail that is achieved and could very easily see myself getting hooked on these pieces.  Here's a collage of my progress:

 

 

I started September's square for The Sampler Life's SAL but will save that for a later post.

 

Four check-ins?!?

So much for my little brag in my last post about being all caught up. It only took a few days and I am late for two and have two more for today. Fortunately for your reading time, the pieces fit all four SALs so the post should not be too long (yeah right!!).

First up is  or Designers Everyone Should Instantly Get to Notice. It is hosted at NCC International Headquarters.  This month I'm going to highlight my favorite designer Martina Rosenburg (formerly Weber) of Chatelaine. I have Secret Victorian Garden in my rotation right now and it is now here:

One more corner, the outside border and thousands (yes thousands) of beads and it will be done. Where to start with Martina's designs? I suppose Leonore's questions are a good place...

-Have you stitched a piece by this designer before? YES!!! I have started nine other pieces (see the list in the right side bar and pictures up there in the Chatelaine WIPs tab. I have finished a number of her smaller pieces, three of her samplers and two of her large mandalas. Just tooting my horn a bit, the Caribbean mandala shown on the chart pack was a photo of mine (I think the background color has been photoshopped with black now, I did mine on African Daisy) and I won a first place and Best in Section in the Virginia State Fair for my Egyptian mandala.
-Would you buy/stitch a piece by this designer again? Again YES!!!  I have many, many, many of her large mandalas and a few of her smaller samplers in my stash with most of them fully kitted and ready to go. I only need more stitching time. I have not bought a new one recently but that is a function of my economic situation rather than falling out of love with her designs.
-What made you chose this particular design/designer?  It was a combination of color and design. Martina has an amazing eye for color. She also combines various types of threads with specialty stitches and beads and sparklies to create a feeling that evokes the design name perfectly.
-Did you notice anything that distinguished this designer from others? Yes. She was the first designer that I had noticed that released a large pattern in monthly pieces.  Her large mystery mandalas are her signature pieces and it was like getting a gift every month when that email showed up telling us the new part was available. The mystery aspect was also new for me. It was a leap of faith to invest the time and money into a piece that you had no information on other than a name and description.  I was never been disappointed.  She also has large mandalas that were released all at once for when you were feeling less adventurous.  The only draw back is the price.  The materials can be costly if you decide to use the called for silks and over-dyed threads. Fortunately, Martina provides a conversion to DMC which makes these much more affordable and unless you put your DMC one right next to a called-for-thread one, nobody will know that yours is the "economy" version.

From DESIGN to , YOTA and the HAP SAL.  WIPcoalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musings, YOTA is hosted by Pull the Other Thread and the HAP SAL is hosted by Stacy at Crossed Stitches.  All three aim to help us focus on finishing what we have already started rather than just adding to that stack of WIPs.  I worked on a few pieces from the WIPcolaypse and YOTA Project tab (up there at the top) and one of them, Shakespearean Fantasy, is my HAP SAL piece.

Shakespearean Fantasy was here when I put it up a few weeks ago:

Secret Victorian Garden, Spring in the Air and Christmas Presence are also on the list. Spring in the Air was finished and can be seen here (if the link doesn't work, there is a Finishes tab up top).  Christmas Presence went from here:

To here:

Still so many stitches left just to finish the first page...

This month's WIPocalypse question is: What makes you pick up a long abandoned UFO rather than begin a new piece? Oh that is easy! Guilt!  I have a total of 32 UFO/WIPs and do not need any more.  Because I gravitate towards large pieces, whenever I get the urge to pull out a new Chatelaine or HAED, I look at the WIP list (I refuse to call them UFOs as I intend to finish each and every one) and the urge evaporates. I have also been able to satisfy the new start urge with smalls. I have participated in a smalls SAL for several years so I have the impetuous to finish them each month.

So much for a short post...

Three more check-ins

Well, I was caught up with my SAL check-ins for a couple of minutes days! Three more check-ins to catch-up with today, one on Saturday and I will be caught up for a while. I am starting to feel more settled at work which is, I hope, a sign that I will be more settled here at home.

So first up is  or Designers Everyone Should Instantly Get to Notice. It is hosted over at NCC. I have been very remiss posting to this SAL, but this month will recognize an "oldie but goodie" Just Nan.  According to their website, Just Nan started as a company in 1991 and I have been collecting and stitching her designs since right about that time. I have enough patterns and kits in my stash to almost be embarrassed as she was a must-buy for years.  My latest piece is Spring in the Air

Leonore gave us a list of questions to guide us for each post so...
-Have you stitched a piece by this designer before?  Oh yes. I have 20 or so pieces, mostly smalls and class projects hanging in my den/stitching room and I did five of her Christmas stockings for gifts one year. I also have a number of unfinished-finished pieces just waiting for me to get into a finishing mindset.
-Would you buy/stitch a piece by this designer again? Yes, although I did lose the "love" when she moved away from her sampler style, I have enough in my stash to keep me stitching her designs for a number of years.
-What made you chose this particular design/designer? Nan has a very distinctive style and color palette. I can still look at a stitched piece and pick her pieces out. For this particular piece? I love pansies and I am a sucker for seasonal series pieces. Unfortunately, I am not sure I will finish this series. I purchased this pattern and Strawberry Summer but when Winter Blues came out, I didn't like it. Nothing against the series, design or designer, it just did nothing for me.
-Did you notice anything that distinguished this designer from others? As I mentioned, she had a color palette that appealed to me and she was using unique, for me at the time, threads - perle cottons and silks.

From DESIGN to the HAP SAL.  The 2015 HAP SAL is hosted by Stacy at Crossed Stitches and highlights all those huge projects, defined by Stacy as "the smallest of the dimension of the stitch count is 300", you are stitching or want to stitch and maybe even finish in 2015.  My HAP for 2015 and the next 10 or 15 years is Shakespearean Fantasy. When I showed it to you last week, it was here:

Sunday evening, I put an additional 400 (gridding is good for stitch counting) black stitches in and it now looks like this:

In addition to my HAP SAL piece, Shakespearean Fantasy is one of my  pieces.  WIPocalypse is hosted by Melissa at Measi's Musing and is another SAL to help us focus on getting through our WIP pile.  I think between last weekend's post and the pictures above, I have posted updates of all my WIPocalypse pieces. There is a complete list in the WIPocalypse and YOTA Project List and 2015 Stitching Plan tab up top there. Melissa also gives us questions for each month's post. This month's is Fantasy or Reality? Which do you prefer to stitch? Figures or abstracts? I lean more towards reality or at least someone's concept of reality!  The presentation may be abstract, the theme is usually based in reality.  It isn't that I don't like fantasy pieces and I have stitched a fair number of them, but it it more a function of my stashing habits or lack thereof. When the majority of my stash was purchased, there weren't a lot of really good patterns that I would define as fantasy.  There has been an explosion of designers in that area over the last ten years or so, but I haven't been buying a lot of stash in that time.  With unlimited financial resources, my stash would look much different today.

As WIPocalypse and YOTA have the same goals and pieces, I am counting this as my YOTA post and am now AHEAD!!! with my SAL posts. I am sure I will get behind again soon enough so I won't rest on my laurels for too long.