Welcome to November my stitchy friends! Crazy to think that 2023 is quickly coming to a close. I got hooked on a new book series and have been staring at my e-reader for hours on end. I might have missed a few stitching nights because of it. LOL!!
Well I started this blog a week ago and only realized today that I never posted it. So I have decided to add on this week’s updates as well and revamp my Upcoming Plans & Thoughts to what is valid this week. LOL!!! 😂
Final Finished Object (FFO)
I shared this last week that I finished the 2nd of the 3 pillows in my Triple Play Summer Basket pillows. I am sharing it again today.
Starts & Finishes
I started one new project and finished two. I like that math!
START & FINISH: November Year of Celebration by Hands on Design
I really enjoyed making the acorn border. It was fun and colorful. This project was stitched on 16 ct beige aida with called for DMC, Classic Colorworks, Gentle Arts, and Weeks Dye Works floss. I did decide to subsitute the called for DMC for any fancy floss not in my stash. I think it still looks great!
FINISH: Honey of a Tiny Town by Heart in Hand
I am so close to finishing this one! I have to finish the three sunflowers and then do all the bees and buttons. You will probably see this one next week as a finish.
This is my third Tiny Town finish (previously finished Big Hearted and Christmas). I think it would be awesome if they came out with a Snow Tiny Town. It would be a lot of fun. I have decided to wait to start Harvest or Halloween Tiny Town in 2024. So next up with be Blooming Tiny Town unless Heart in Hand releases something more seasonal before then.
I saved the bees for last as they are not very easy to stitch. I am glad because once I was on a roll, they were easy. But my favorite thing to stitch were the sunflowers. They were sooo fun! I loved the placement of the very cute buttons.
WIPGO Update
With the new month I thought I would share where I am for the month that just finished and the upcoming month.
October Projects
I finished WIPGO Project 14 – Prim Stitch Series – AND WIPGO Project 19 – September Sampler of the Month – which was a total delight.
Prim Stitch by Lori Holt (Bee in My Bonnet) was started in 2020 and was a month SAL with Fat Quarter Shop that I couldn’t keep up with. It was my first ever evenweave project. I am thankful that I had 25 ct lugana as my first. This was stitched on 25 ct prim lugana with the called for aurifil floss.
I started and finished the September Sampler by Country Cottage Needleworks all in October. This was another monthly SAL with Fat Quarter Shop that started in 2021 that I could not keep up with. Now I am finally on my last month – November. It was stitched on 16 ct beige aida with the called for Classic Colorworks floss. My first 16 ct.
November Projects
For November I have projects #3 & #8.
Project 3 is my 2023 SJ Temperature Butterflies project. My goal is to finish the last four butterfly outlines for 2023 plus fill in Septmber and October butterflies.
Project 8 is Let’s Talk Summer. My WIPGO project will be to work on the large (framed) chart five times during November.
WIP Updates
Still focusing on working mostly on my autumn projects this week. I also wanted to get my tradional three times on my Fruit of Plenty. My Snowman Collector series I have tradionally worked on three times in the month, but I forgot about that this week as I was working hard trying to finish another Autumn project.
Oracle Quaker Halloween by OracleTales
This has been coming along very nicely. I was able to finish up another part this week and start part 7. There is a total of 8 parts so I am almost there. Although October is now done, I am going to push through this month to wrap this one up. I loved stitching the owl the most this past week. Isn’t he cute?!
Fruit of Plenty by Modern Folk Embroidery
Getting so close to finishing the June page. Filling in the borders always seem to take forever….
And here is this week’s progress. I finally finished the June chart and switched to the complete chart that Modern Folk Embroidery sent to me since I lost the link to the last 3 charts fromt he SAL. The new chart only has 9 pages instead of 12. It took a little bit of work finding the cross over. But so far so good.
Autumn Beauties by Fat Quarter Shop
The night I worked on this one, I got a solid 5 hours in on it. I was able to finish the pumpkin sign and most of the bottom left quadrant border. It feels like there isn’t much but when I look, there is still a lot to do. I hope to finish this one this month as well.
Let’s Talk Autumn by Hands on Designs
I just love working on this Let’s Talk series. I finished the top leaves and Falling Leaves as well as the arrow and pumpkins. It was a productive night for this project.
October Stackables by It’s Sew Emma (FQS)
I finished filling in the cider cup with the “cream” floss. If I was designing this I would have used something with more contrast. That is one of the things I noticed with Fat Quarter Shop designs – they suck at picking colors. Too often their colors don’t show up on the “recommended” fabric or blend too much with the other colors they have picked. I still really like the design and was sad that I didn’t finish the leaf.
Autumn Baskets by Hands on Designs (first chart)
I love working on these quilty designs. The colors are so fun! Love my progress.
WIPGO Project: Let’s Talk Summer by Hands on Design (Framed Chart)
I was able to work on this twice this week and feel pretty good on the progress I made. I am hopeful to finish both Summer Time section and the Fireflies. That would finish off the whole top of the large chart which would be very significant. This week finishing Sunglasses and Watermelon and a great start on Summer Time banner. My WIPGO goal is five times this month.
WIPGO Project: 2023 San Jose Temperature Butterflies by Stitchin Mommy
I also got to work on this one twice this week. My plan is to finish the last four butterfly outlines and then begin filling in September and October butterflies. My WIPGO goal is five times this month. It felt good finishing September and October butterflies.
Upcoming Plans & Thoughts
I am still working on two of my series I started this year (and have managed to stay current) – Hello There and Year of Celebration. I am feeling pretty good about finishing up these two series and have started looking around for another small quick series. Currently on my radar is Year of Celebration #2.
November is normally my last month to work on Fall/Halloween projects so the plan is to focus on those projects this month as well as my two WIPGO projects and my two long term projects – Fruit of Plenty and Snowman Collector. I am thinking this month that I will take a day or two to hit all the other active wips. I am starting the month with a total of 23 WIPS of which I am actively stitching on 16.
This week’s plan is to:
- Work on Oracle Quaker Halloween
- Work on Let’s Talk Autumn
- Work on Autumn Beauties
- Work on November Sampler of the Month
- Work on Let’s Talk Summer
- Work on Temperature Butterflies
- Work on Autumn Baskets #1
Happy Stitching Everyone! Until next time….
Peggy Stockwell