March WIPocalypse check-in

Hello everyone!

March was a rather spotty stitchy month for me. After having 2 finishes in both January and February, my remaining projects are in that slogging part of the process. Too far into it so your momentum/excitement has fizzled but far enough from the end that you can't envision an FO on the horizen. Ugh. I guess this is why so many of these projects have not seen the light of day in years. I keep telling myself the more of these oldies I finish the more I can focus on all of my new stash that I have so carefull built up in the last year when I rediscovered my love of stitching.

I did work on 4 projects, about 1 week on each. I worked on my Winter Quaker from Rosewood Manor. I did 2 sections so the top third is done. This is my first Quaker design and I'm really enjoying.

Then I did a huge push on my Joan Elliott Winter Walk. I've been trying to stitch by rows on this one but I ended up following the colors down the dress so I probably did way more than my goal on this one.

Snow Family from Dimensions was up next. This one is getting frustrating because although I can see the end I've also been having big problems. At least 2 of my colors are missing, and since this kit is like 10 years old my threads are in a rats nest anyway. Then I switched to some mindless border work to at least get SOMETHING accomplished...only to realize that my borders weren't lining up! I almost cried and had a bonfire that night. Late at night I thought it was unsalvageable. Luckily, I looked at it again with a clearer head the next morning and I think I can make it work. But I still put it in time out for now.

Happily, my at work piece is making me happy. I'm doing an ink circles design Phlox Box from a Just Cross Stitch issue from a few years ago. I'm using a stash piece of linen and Colour and Cotton Festival as my colorway. Can I just say I didn't think I would like 1 color designs and now I feel like I want to stitch on nothing but!?

My next piece in my rotation was supposed to be my Angel of Cross Stitch, my oldest WIP. Like from the late 90s oldest. But I really wanted to keep my monthly FO mojo going, so I picked up another ornament out of my YOW and WIP rotation and pushed that out this weekend. It's super cute!
Now I'm starting my Angel. After 2 nights I've cleaned up my hanging threads and and trying to get into a groove. Long work days and a bout of the late winter crud is inhibiting me. I hope to finish this one in 2 sessions (this rotation slot and then my focus on a finish slot), but it's tough going. I think it's because there are SO many mistakes that I have to get creative with almost every area. Not to mention an ungodly amount of color changes.  OMG i used to think the was the sign of a "real stitcher" was complicated color changes. Now I certainly know better. Almost there though!

So our monthly prompt is to discuss a new discovery we've made. I adore Colour and Cotton! I feel like I got in on her fabric of the month club as one of her early members and I'm so happy I did!! Angela always creates beautiful shades on her fabric, and she makes SO much work for herself by creating a unique color for each fabric style for both her neutrals and brights line. I think it's 6 unique colors a month. She's always so kind to work with in customer service, and has patiently helped me out when I was unable to find something on her website. She even combines shipping with your FOTM with anything else you might order. Awesome! I haven't joined her thread of the month club, buy I'm severely tempted each month when I see her colors. Check her out for sure! www.colourandcotton.com

That's all for me now. I'm heading to work this Good Friday/Passover/regular TGIF but dreaming about tackling my Angel. Best wishes for the holiday if you celebrate, and I hope you have lots of stitchy hours until next time!

Julie

February WIPocalypse Check in

Whaaaaat? The end of February already?? This one totally sneaked up on me. I guess watching all that Olympics just zoomed the time by. I absolutely LOVE the Olympics. I'd watch it all the time! But I often get overruled by the other 3 boys in the house. I have an extra soft spot for the Winter Olympics now because I watched the 2014 Olympics on my first maternity leave with my older son! Now seeing the sassy 4 year old while the Olympics are on makes me all misty. In fact, both my boys are born in Olympic years. My little one was born after the Summer Olympics in 2016. My husband just rolls his eyes. I have a such a keeper - he didn't even make me go down to the playroom TV and watch. I got to hog the big TV every day.

I guess you could say I did a Relay Rotation for the Olympics. I had 2 finishes, 1 give-up, and worked on 5 pieces in total. My stitch from stash budget is loving all this productivity!
My finishes are Summer Splendor from Bucilla and an ornament from Janlynn:

I decided to give up on Winter Reindeer. I hated the fabric, I hated the 4 strand half stitches, and then I had a counting mistake and I was about ready to throw the whole thing out the window. Ugh! Life is too short to hate your WIPs.

I also tried to work on my Frog Pile and Snow Family. I struggled with my stitchy bug and so progress is slow. I didn't meet my stitching goals but had to move on so I didn't lose my mojo completely.

But I did have a bonus start this month! I had a really emotional day and wanted to escape life. Since I couldn't fly away to a deserted island or tropical getaway, I decided on a new start. I started Phlox Box from Just Cross Stitch using a random hand dyed linen I found in stash and a Colour and Cotton floss I picked up during one of Angela's sales. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll have enough, as I think the colorway has been reformulated or discontinued. I've turned it into my work project and its stitching up beautifully. Yay!

February's blogging question is to identify your favorite gadget. I've returned to stitching after a long hiatus, so I don't have a bunch of gadgets that I'm loving. I'm trying a laying tool but I keep forgetting to use it. I enjoy my Qsnaps, but I think what I use most often is my ORT jar! I picked up a pretty vase from Michaels' and have used it for years. So here is my ORT jar...which is kind of my TUSAL check in too. :)

So I think that's all for now from my neck of the woods! I'm going to enjoy a glass of wine and catch up on all my shows from the last 2 1/2 weeks. 

Until next time, Happy Stitching!

~Julie 

January WIPocalypse Checkin

Happy New Year, blogland! January 2018 has hit the ground running, both personally, professionally, and stitchy-wise! I hope you and yours have a happy and healthy 2018.



Now, on to the stitching! January has been super productive. My goals-based rotation is really working for me. My motivation is high and I can't wait to reach my goals! I may have to remind myself that it's a marathon, not a sprint. All these projects do not have deadlines and there is no rush. Except for all the pretty projects I want to start soon!!



I have 2 finishes and a mini finish for the month. I finished Snowballs by Filigram and an ornament from my kit of ornaments from Janlynn. I also completed a frog in my Frog Pile. Go me!



The January WIPocalypse questions are: What SALs are you participating in this year? What event for Stitching Olympics will you be doing?



SAL: I'm doing Year of WIPs in Soulful Stitching and Stitch from Stash. I may do some of the one day SALs in Stitch Maynia but I'm trying to focus on all my starts from last year and get a bunch complete. I'm not sure what my optimal WIP count is, but I can tell you 16 big kit projects is too much. I'm trying to complete a bunch so I can do the more modern projects I have found in the last year since I got back into stitching. That goes hand in hand with Stitch from Stash. I discovered sooo much exciting projects last year I completely blew my budget. This year is time to be more discerning and thoughtful in my purchases.



Olympics: I love the Olympics!! My current rotation fits in nicely with the relay option. I'll try to get through a bunch of projects while I root for the USA!



Until next month, happy stitching!!



~Julie