WIPs #8 and #9

WIP # 8 – I added the double F’s, G’s and the H at the end of that row and brough a few stitches of some of the dividing borders over to the right.   The H on the top line is the right edge so that’s how wide it will be.

WIP  #9 — you have to look real close to see what I stitched.  I finished the covered wagon top which I knew I was going to have to outline stitch.  It shows up a bit better in real life but I will add the outline once I get all the wagons stitched.  Started the buckboard underneath it and got one wheel done.  The trees and cabin, etc would make a cute little project all on its’ own.

It’s just a minute or two before 10PM and I’ll be starting my 10th WIP, which is Cardinal Points and it will be the last WIP I work on and then at 11 PM I’ll do the one new start – PS Christmas – 5 golden rings.  Looking forward to starting that one.

WIPS # 6 and 7

Here is WIP # 6.     I got the big peacock body completely finished from that diamond in the neck down.  The body is all one floss color but it’s hand dyed from Owl Forest so looks like two different shades were used.

And here’s WIP #7 – brought the green border on the lower right around the corner and then brought the red border on the left side up from the bottom corner.  For some reason the red and green were the only flosses in the bag  -not on floss drops – so I’m thinking I pulled just a couple flosses to get started when I started this one last year for my birthday.

I forgot how big this one is.

So 7 WIPS I have worked on so far. In looking at the clock, I’m not going to get to 12 total — only 11.   Blog posting, lunch eating took up a bit of time but that’s okay.  I’m having fun.   So I’ve got three more WIPS I’ll work on which should take me thru 10:30PM and then I work on my one new start for today, the Prairie Schooler Santa 12 days of Christmas (5 golden rings block) and then when the clock strikes midnight – I’ll be pulling out Three Things Sampler.

Anyone else plan on starting Three Things after midnight?   It must be time to break out some snacks!

WIPS #4 and 5

I had to get up out of my cozy quilt in my comfy stitching chair for a few minutes.  The past two very late nights of stitching have caught up with me and I keep dozing off mid stitch!  Perhaps a diet soda and a fig newton or two will help (certainly can’t hurt). 🙂

Anyway – my project #4 was a bust.  I started doing the fill in work on the crow tail feathers and it didn’t take many stitches to realize I wouldn’t like it.  I think it’s 16 count  and I’m using one strand and although I like prim looking stuff – that crow definitely needs to be darker. And I think I want it a bit smaller  but will decide that later.  So – it will be restarted at some later point in time either on different fabric or with two strands.   So I did put in a few stitches but didn’t stitch on it for an hour (and a good friend called to have a catch-up chat so that was far better use of that time.)

WIP #5 to work – I just love this one and definitely need to move it up the list to work on in 2023.    I got the tree on the left of the house finished as well as the letters L and K between dozing off for a few minutes. 🙂

I had already put it back in the project bag so that’s why there seems to be whiteish lines on it – reflections of the vinyl front bag.  And when I opened the door to take these photos outside before it truly gets dark – I found it is sleeting like crazy.  Such noise of little ice pellets hitting the sidewalk.  I guess it’s better that its turning into pellets before it hits the ground rather than raining and then freezing after it hits the ground.

Up next – WIP #6 is a favorite from Owl Forest – Peahen Bird.

First Three WIPS – progress

It’s 1:30 p.m. and I’m taking a break (1) to order lunch first and foremost which will include ice cream for later.   I had gotten some snacky stuff for NYE (cheese, sausage, crackers and some other stuff) which I had planned to much on all afternoon and then order delivery for dinner but ordering delivery later tonight would be a bad plan since I think they will be really busy so ordered lunch instead; (2) had to throw a load of clothes in the dryer I forgot to switch last night; and (3) had to get the first three projects I stitched on photographed so that I could put them back in their project bags and put them away.    The mess I made getting them out and searching for something I lost this morning is driving me crazy so reorganization in litttle steps, one project bag at a time, will less then mess.

So I’ve worked on these for approximately an hour which includes the time for pulling the hoop I want to use, getting the magnetic ties in place to wrangle all that fabric, and all that stuff so not really a true hour of stitching but close enough.

I started out with this one and got the letters M, N and O finished.

Next was this one (names of charts are all in my prior blog post if you want to know what chart it is) and got those four sets of four black squares added.

And the last one so far – well this one was a problem child.  I was just putting in the final stitches for that leaf to the left of the “F” and realized I was off and it would have made a difference going forward so the first ripping of the day occurred.  Ripped the leaf back out and restitched it and got part of the acorn below it done.   I haven’t stitched on this one in a long time – valdani threads – and forgot how much I like it.

So I’ll get started on the next one while I wait for my lunch to be delivered.  Stay tuned for more progress.

New Year’s Eve 12 x 12

I’ve explained the concept of NYE12x12 but basically it’s a fun challenge for cross stitchers to start 12 projects between noon on New Year’s Eve and midnight.   I will be working on 11 WIPS (at least 11 – I may sneak in one or two more since I plan to start at 10:00 AM because – well, why not??   Judy and I are also planning to start stitching the Prairie Schooler 12 Days of Christmas Santas, with our goals to stitch one every two months so we have half of them done by the end of the year.    So one of the charts for that will be my only new start for today and I’ll save it to the end of the day.  I’ll be starting with chart # 5 – the 5 Golden Rings (mostly because I have misplaced book one).    So I closed my eyes and randomly pulled project bags from my WIP basket, and these are the ones I’ll be working on – not necessarily in the order shown in the photos. Click on the photos and it should open a larger image.   And, when the clock strikes the new year it will be time to get a start on the Three Things Sampler!  Looking forward to my first new start of the New Year.   Now I’ve got a busy day of stitching ahead of me so time to refill that coffee cup!

Birds & Berries

In His Image

Owl Forest – Peahen Bird

Prairie Life Sampler

Janet Haig Pratt 1883

Coverlett Christmas

Dog’s Declaration

Brick House Sapler

Cardinal Points

Home for Christmas

Fly by Night

12 days Christmas – Day 5

Happy New Years Eve

Final FCA.

updated 12-31-22 1 at  7:50 AM (the early bird gets the worm) 🙂   — THE FCA FOR THE CHART BELOW HAS NOW  ENDED AND WE HAVE AN ADOPTEE.   ALL FCA RECIPIENTS FROM 12-23-22 THRU 12-31-22 FCAs WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON NEW YEAR’S DAY

2022 Cross Stitch Recap

As 2022 draws to a close soon, I was looking at my 2022 cross stitching page where I posted all my finished stitches and fully finished projects.  You can find that page in the top of the blog header tabs and eventually it will be moved to the lower sidebar.  I’m trying to reorganize that sidebar so all the separate pages of  quilty stuff are linked under a main Quilting heading, all the cross stitch under a Cross Stich heading, etc.  It’s a work in progress.

So first – here’s the list of planned starts I wanted to do in 2022 (which was a constantly evolving list – things removed or changed, etc throughout the year).  I’ve also listed if they were finished or are still in progress.  I finished a lot of them and will continue working on the rest in the coming year (and some of them for my 12 in 12 NYE WIPs I previously posted about).

• 12-24-21 – Christmas Eve Start –  New Year’s Eve Sampler by Owl Forest Embroidery (SAL with Judy)  FINISHED 11-17-22
• 12-31-21 – New Year’s Eve Start – Winter Rose Manor by With Thy Needle and Thread  – FINISHED 3-23-22
• 02-11-21 – Valentine Stitch   My Dear Hearts Small – Blackbird Designs- FINISHED
• Memorial Day Start- patriotic project In Full Glory – Blackbird Designs- FINISHED
• Independence Day Weekend start – Sampler made up of six SubRosa Designs patriotic charts (started)
• July Birthday Start – In HIS Image (Teresa Kogut) (started – in progress)
• September -Sampler September – The Huntsman by Brenda Keyes – FINISHED 11-17-22
• Thanksgiving themed stitch – Turkey Trot by Not Forgotten Farm (FINISHED)
• Dec 6 St. Nicholas Day stitch – Saint Nicholas by Tralala  (FINISHED)
• Christmas Eve Eve– Do you See What I See?  (started and FINISHED this earlier in December)
  • MY NEW Christmas Eve Eve start is Cardinal Points Sampler (in progress)
• Three Things Sampler  – it’s a start along with Judy for New Years  2023 but I’ll likely start a day or two early.

In looking at the photos on the 2022 page (located in the top header of the blog) , I finished stitching on at least 38 projects. Most were starts and finishes in 2022, but a few of them were started prior to 2022.    I fully finished at least 32 projects  – some of those were from the 38 projects I finished stitching on this year and some were items previously stitched that finally got fully finished.   I’d say I had a very productive stitching year.

As for plans for 2023 – I haven’t truly figured those out yet.  I do have certain projects like the Three Things Sampler Start along with Judy, I want to start on the Hometown Holidays series of charts at some point, and a few other specific projects that I want to start but still need to figure those out.  My one true plan is to totally stitch from the supplies I currently have.  And I also want to get some “soft” finishing done – I have finished stitched stuff to be made into little pillows, etc. that I would like to get made into something. My most important plan is to get the fully finished items on the walls so I can enjoy them! I think if I had to pick a favorite that I stitched this year it would be the Owl Forest Design that Judy and I started last Christmas Eve called the New Year’s Eve Sampler.  I still need to order a frame for it.

New Years Sampler – Owl Forest

I set Chubby Bird aside for the moment – I need to go in search of a color to finish that since one of them was out of stock and I’m not in the mood to go digging thru floss.   What I do need to do next is sort thru the WIPS and get them organized for my 12 in 12 NYE stitching.  My plan is to just start before Noon tomorrow – whenever I’m ready to start stitching (and I have basically no other plans tomorrow other than to stitch the day and night away) and just randomly pick a WIP and the basically follow the 12×12 platform of stitching on a project for an hour and then switch to the next project.  But I do want to make a list of what I do have for WIPS and I think there’s one or two that I was not liking for various reasons so those may just dismantled and tossed so I start the new year with only WIPS I love and want to finish.

I have nearly cleaned out the chart stash of duplicates, charts I know I won’t stitch and charts I have already stitched so those are organized.    And here’s another FCA for today by Blackbird Designs. 🙂  updated 12-30-22 8:37 PM — THE FCA FOR THE CHART BELOW HAS NOW  ENDED AND WE HAVE AN ADOPTEE.   ALL FCA RECIPIENTS FROM 12-23-22 THRU 12-31-22 FCAs WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON NEW YEAR’S DAY.

Chubby Bird progress

Chubby Bird is a fun little stitch and I was cruising right along on it last night.   Plus its got acorns in it – I have this thing for  acorns.  I’ve just got two large leaves and a couple small flower buds to add.  Here’s a close up – isn’t it adorable – and matces the colors of the project bag so well.   🙂

You can maybe tell in the first photo better (or not) that the fabric I chose is Zwiegart Blush Aida.  It’s one of their standard colors with just a blush tint to it which was perfect for this one.   I’m not sure now if this will end up in a tart pan finish as I think I have a perfect little round frame for it.   I may need to stitch this again at some future point as a Christmas tree ornament.  I just love it.

When I opened the door this morning to see what it was like outside, here is what greeted me.   Remember the snows and winds and drifts of a week ago – they are all but gone outside my door.

And the first FCA for today is below.  Remember, these are held open for a random amount of time (anywhere from first one to respond to a couple hours, to a day or more, etc)  and I come back and update the original blog post to include when they are closed/concluded.  If you are a subscriber who gets posts in your email, you likely need to check on the blog to see if that post has been updated and closed.  No “entries” after the closing time will be included in the random number pick and no entries that do not have the correct full name per the FCA rules at the top of the blog are included either.  Here’s the Plum Street chart up for adoption.

updated 12-30-22 5:10 PM — THE FCA FOR THE CHART BELOW HAS NOW  ENDED AND WE HAVE AN ADOPTEE.   ALL FCA RECIPIENTS FROM 12-23-22 THRU 12-31-22 FCAs WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON NEW YEAR’S DAY

I finally got all the floss and chart put into a project bag for this project.  I think I’m going to be changing colors like every other stitch with as many flosses as this chart contains – but that is why it has all the beautiful shading.

But just look at all the floss that goes into it.  My DMC floss collection will definitely be enhanced once this chart is done and they go back in with all the rest.  I’m just going to have to find time to get them all on floss drops but it’s so nice to work with them once that task is done.

There are 64!!! yes 64!!! different flosses used in that stitch.   Crazy pants!!! but then clearly I’m crazy for wanting to stitch that but then you already know that.   I fell in love with that ornament about 8 or 9 years ago when I saw it on a friend’s tree.  Someone had gifted it to her.  So I finally decided to jump into the deep end and get it.

Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022

With my work schedule last week and this I have to keep checking to see what day it is.  Yes it is Thursday and yes, I am officially done working for the day – have to use up some of that personal time. 🙂   It is a cold, damp dreary day here.  Clearly not as cold as it had been because snow is rapidly melting, but that cold, damp feeling that accompanies melting snow.  If you live where you get snow, I think you know what I mean.  But much better than arctic cold and getting more snow!

The snow on the deck above my door is melting like crazy so it looks like it’s raining outside my door and I had to slide the table outside my door to the other side of the door (away from all the dripping and melting) so that my grocery order, which should be arrivng in the next hour or so, can be put on it.     I was very hungry when I placed the order but I did well in not ordering every snack food I wanted.  I did have to order a few treats because well it’s NY’s weekend so treats area always in order for that.

And as long as I was outside, I snapped a couple quick photos. Here’s where I am on Cardinal points.  On the lower left, I made it down to the center point of the chart.  I have a flower cluster to add to top and bottom area of the top section and then I will be in the center point of the chart there as well.

And here’s a photo of a pretty fabric and a pretty project bag from Hometown Needleworks.  The fabric color is Lake Superior Blue.

I think a wintery chart will be perfect on that fabric.

And speaking of charts, I have been wanting this chart ever since it came out, but it was always out of stock when I thought to go look for it in various places.  Finally, it has arrived, along with the floss, and I think I might have to start this little cutie this afternoon.

I need to stitch it on 20 count fabric in order to make it to fit into the tart pan, which I already have, but I think I know just the fabric to use but can’t remember what it’s called.  Stash diving for fabric I will go.

And lastly, below is today’s FCA.    FCA rules are located at the tab on the top of the blog  (I feel like a broken record repeating that but we seen to be picking up some new blog readers that are emailing me to ask what that means so I’ll just repeat it a few times more.)   🙂  I started posting FCAs on Dec. 23 so that must make this the 7th one.

updated 12-29-22 8:20 PM — THE FCA FOR THE CHART BELOW HAS NOW  ENDED AND WE HAVE AN ADOPTEE.   ALL FCA RECIPIENTS FROM 12-23-22 THRU 12-31-22 FCAs WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON NEW YEAR’S DAY

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

I am making great progress on Cardinal Points – I have nearly 1/4 of the border with all those flowers stitched.  I thought they might become a chore to stitch but it’s very enjoyable.  Again no photo since it’s nighttime but I’ll post my progress in the next couple of days.   I work from home tomorrow and then, with one boss on vacation and the other deciding he will not be working Friday, I decided to take the day off as well so I will have a nice four-day weekend! Yipee for me.

Here’s the FCA for today.  Blurry photo but I’m too lazy to take another one.  It’s a Twin Peak Primitives exclusive chart that I  believe was from last year’s Christmas mystery box.

updated 12-29-22 1:45 PM — THE FCA FOR THE CHART BELOW HAS NOW  ENDED AND WE HAVE AN ADOPTEE.   ALL FCA RECIPIENTS FROM 12-23-22 THRU 12-31-22 FCAs WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON NEW YEAR’S DAY