With 24 hours of cross stitching last weekend, I made great progress. So let’s get started!
Starts & Finishes
I think I may have been a bit ambitious this year. We will see over the next few months if I have bitten off more than I can chew. Lol!
START: 2023 SJ Temperature Butterflies by Stitchin Mommy
First I had to wait for the fabric. It finally came. Then I was out of town and lo and behold the whole month has flown by very quickly. So during #24hocs, I finally started it. The outline of the butterfly is almost done for January. While stitching I realized that the chart I printed out for myself did not coincide with the chart. The chart is alpha-numeric. I am in the process of updating my spreadsheet.
START: April Cottage of the Month by Country Cottage Needleworks
I was originally going to wait until April but I have thrown this one in the mix. It is one of two left from this series which I really really want to finish sooner than later. I ended up starting it also during #24hocs. My project bag was so disorganized that I spend part of my stitching time getting organized. I am still missing some of the thread which I am borrowing from on hold projects.
START: Hello January by Hands on Designs
Another #24hocs start! This one will go quickly and I will enjoy stitching this one. I hope to finish before end of January since it is a small project.
START: January Year of Celebration by Hands on Designs
Talk about a fun stitch. I have stitched on this one twice already and I just love the colors that are in this stitch. Bright and happy! This was another #24hocs start and I feel I could possible finish before month end as well.
START: January Stackables by FQS It’s Sew Emma
I wasn’t sure I wanted to start this one yet. When I realized I had the called for fabric, it just felt like destiny so once again I started it during #24hocs. I wasn’t really sure if I would like it. I have discovered that I am not a huge fan of FQS designed patterns as they tend to be too high coverage for me. BUT once I started, it went fast and is definitely fun!
FINISH: Let’s Talk Winter Hoop by Hands on Designs
I am just loving these little hoop designs that Hands on Designs does. They fit in a 4 inch hoop. Now I just need to do a final finish. This was stitched on 16 ct black aida with the called for DMC threads.
WIP Weekly Update
So much progress after last weekend!
Fruity of Plenty by Modern Folk Embroidery
Only stitched on this one for an hour. I keep thinking I need to designate a day of the week for this like Sunday Sampler day. Meanwhile, I just keep plugging away at this huge project. I am still on page April. There is a lot of full coverage on this page due to some very wide borders.
May Calendar Crates by Stitching with the Housewives
Only spent an hour on this one. There are so many errors in this one that a lot of brain power goes into compensating for the errors. I found another error this time which is annoying but I don’t want to unstitch because I don’t think it is worth it.
Mr. July by Charlie’s Needle
I love the gnome series. I was so hoping to be able to finally work on Mr. January but alas I am only like 10% of the way on Mr. July. He is adorable. I am working on his face now.
August Snapshot by Pine Mountain Designs
Another hour on this one during the week. I have almost finished the lady on the beach. I got to start the red and white on the umbrella which is pretty cool looking.
Snow Village by Country Cottage Needleworks
Got another hour in on the Snow Village. I wish I could have stitched more but that hasn’t worked on right now for this one. Progress made though!
Snowballs for Sale by Lori Holt Bee in my Bonnet
Lori Holt is another one with a lot of coverage. Once the stitch is done, it is gorgeous but it is a butt load of stitches. I am still working on filling in the snowballs in the wheel barrel. I will be in town more in February so hoping to plan more time on this one.
Shabby Winter Calendar by Cuore e Batticoure
Another hour on this one has me almost completing Day 6. I am so close to be doing with this day. I will keep plugging away. I just so love the colors and images for each day.
Christmas Calendar by Tiny Modernist
This one was my WIPGO project #10 that was pulled for January. But since I didn’t actually finish my list until I got back from all my hockey weekends, I did not know I should be working on it. So last weekend, I pulled it out of the hold pile to work on twice during #24hocs and again Thursday night. It is amazing the difference in my approach stitching this one now that I have been stitching since May 2020 (and I started this December 2020). I am really liking my restart and the color of linen I ended up using out of my stash.
December Sampler of the Month by Country Cottage Needleworks
I have been pushing hard to finish this one this month even though I just started it at the end of December. It was my project I took on one of the hockey trips and I worked on it three times during #24hocs plus Thursday night this week. I literally only have the last border to do. I tried to push through last night but I was just too tired. I kept making mistakes so I knew it was time to stop.
Winter Camper by Bobbie G Designs
I put an hour in during #24hocs and was happy to do it for once. This is one that has so many darn mistakes because it is one of my original projects back in 2020. I am always having to use brain power to figure out how to compensate for my mistakes to date.
Snowman Collector – The Needleworker by Cottage Garden Samplings
I am so loving this stitch but it is definite time consuming high coverage. I worked in some outlines of different parts in the first couple of days I worked on this January start and now find myself working up from the bottom. This project accompanied me to Minnesota where I had some quality time 2 out of the 4 days there to work on it. I worked on it all 3 days during #24hocs. Love seeing the rabbits come to life.
Wrap Up
So many projects this month. It is hard to believe that I have a total of 8 starts this month with 5 of them being new series. Crazy but fun!
WIPGO 2023 progress
For January my WIPGO projects are Let’s Talk Winter and Christmas Calendar. I finished Let’s Talk Winter! I wanted to stitch 5 hours on Christmas Calendar and I only have 3 so far. Still have time left to make both project goals. Go me!
#24HOCS
It was a success. I even was able to do my walking goals as well. About 7pm each night, I took a 30 minute walk to break up stitching time and to eat dinner. I forgot to pull my Christmas Calendar for the first day of this 24 hour challenge. I remembered the second day. I also was able to start my 5 other projects that I had lined up for this month. Overall it was a terrific success. Because this was so successful, I have planned for this weekend 24 hours of quilting starting today! Thanks to Quirk and Stitches for the challenge.
Peggy Stockwell
You do take time to sleep, right? 😉 I can’t get over how many beautiful projects you have, and I love looking at and reading about each one. I understand about “borrowing” threads from other projects. I finally have to succumb to organizing, and sometimes that’s all I get done – lol! The linen for the Shabby Winter Calendar is maybe the prettiest I’ve ever seen – what kind is it? Have a great week Peggy!
Hi Linda: I originally had purchased 32 ct linen but couldn’t see the wholes so I switched to 16 ct Whimsey aida by Picture this Plus instead. Yes I do sleep. I do love this purple. So many adorable things out there to stitch or quilt. Some days it’s hard to stay focused.