Floss Friday #40

Wow! April has been a busy month. Somehow I was out of town every Friday of April and never posted anything since March in regards to my Cross Stitch which I post under Floss Fridays. I have a lot to share with you!

Starts & Finishes

I planned to have five starts and six finishes this month. I ended up with an extra project that I started and finished. Let’s take a look at what I have been up to so far in April.

WIPGO Projects:

You may remember that my April WIPGO project draws were #5 – Stackables and #17 Truckin Along

START & FINISH: March Stackables by It’s Sew Emma (Fat Quarter Shop)

I was so excited to have finished January Stackables. February came and I was like meh about that project. But when I saw March…. It really excited me – the colors and objects. I decided to skip February for now and work on this project which totally motivated me. I was so happy to finish it in just four sittings even though I planned on five. It is stitched on 14 count Fabric Flair Marbeled White Pineboard with called for Classic Colorworks floss.

FINISH: March Truckin Along by Stitching with the Housewives

I only had three left to finish from this series which I started in 2020. This series was my first series and my first time working on black cloth. It took a little getting used to but I have come to enjoy working on black and now have quite a few projects. I started this project in March. My WIPGO goal was to work on it five times during the month.

So I took it to Seattle when I went at Easter to see my daughter. I didn’t get to work on it every day I was there. Imagine my surprise when I actually finished it! It turned out really cute!

Non WIPGO Projects:

START & FINISH: Hello April by Hands on Design

Such a quick stitch that I was knock out in 2 sittings. I’ve managed to stay current on this series which is stitched on 16 count white aida with the called for DMC floss.

START & FINISH: April Celebration by Hands on Design

This is another small design but a bit more involved so it took 3 sittings to finish this month. I loved the colors of all the different flosses – Weeks Dye Works, Gentle Arts and Classic Colorworks. I had some issues getting the called for floss so I did have to do some subsitutions with what I had on hand. It was stitched on 16 count dirty aida.

START & FINISH: April Nine Patch by Primrose Cottage Stitches

This one is another small stitch which is so adorable – just two sittings. It was stitched on 25 count white lugana with the called for DMC floss.

START & FINISH: June Calendar Crates Mini by Stitching with the Housewives

It had been so long since I started a new Calendar Crates, it was an un expected pleasure to quickly finish this small stitch in 2 sittings as well. This ended up being my unexpected sixth start and seventh finish. Of course, I hadn’t planned on starting the mini first, but when the time came, thought – why not?

It was stitched on 14 count chalkboard black aida with the called for Classic Colorworks floss.

START: June Calendar Crates (Main) by Stitching with the Housewives

This was the planned start for the month but I opted to do the mini first so I didn’t get very far on this one so far.

It is being stitched on 14 count chalkboard black aida with the called for Classic Colorworks floss.

FINISH: April Cottage of the Month by County Cottage Needleworks

After having so much success with my WIPGO projects earlier in the month of April and also finishing all of my small series projects for April, I focused in on this project. If you remember, last month I realized after finishing the cottage that I stitched the project upside down on my square and no longer had enough room to finish the project. I had one more fabric cut, so I went ahead and restarted this project while making sure to mark in the selvage the top as well as deciding to add the bird on the roof to help me orient the project correctly.

I ended up taking this one with me to Chicago and was close to running out of amethyst for the cottage. I was lucky to find a Cross Stitch store close by but it took 2 days to find the time to run to the store between hockey games to grab another skein of floss. Meanwhile, I was holding my breath hoping I wouldn’t run out although I knew I could stitch other things if I did. It all worked out perfectly! I finished the Cottage on the trip so then of course I was inspired and motivated to finish stitching the whole project when I got back. It just seemed to flow after that to a finish.

This project was stitched on 28 count lambswool linen with the called for DMC, Classic Colorworks, Gentle Arts, and Weeks Dye Works floss. I stitch so much slower on linen but I find that this one is not so bad. I think it is Witchel linen.

WIP Updates

Out of my 22 WIPs that I have, April found me with 14 active WIPs to work on in April. With so much focus on my small starts and WIPGO projects, I haven’t really worked much on any of my other projects.

Snowman Collector – The Needleworker by Cottage Garden Samplings

While I am totally enjoying this project, it is huge and I am working on 18 count aida so it is slow going for me. I have almost finished the robe and started on the Santa sack. I had really hoped to work on this at least three times this month.

2023 San Jose California Temperature Butterflies by Stitchin Mommy

Last month I got caught up and develped a rhythm for this project. I found it easiest to stitch the monthly butterfly after the month has ended and I have converted all the temps into DMC colors in Excel spreadsheet I setup to automatically convert for me. I then write the colors onto my digital chart in Notability.

I stitch the outline first, then begin filling in the colors from coldest to warmest. My January butterfly took four or five sittings before it was finished while this month I finished the March butterfly in two! But I did cheat and had already started the March outline last month.

Fruit of Plenty by Modern Folk Embrodiery

My goal this month was to work on this three times during the month. As of today, I have only once. I have been working on the April (4th) page of the pattern for almost a year now. It would be nice to finally finish this and move onto page 5 – May.

Upcoming Plans & Thoughts

After thinking about this and reviewing what I have and have not done this month, I really need to do a 24 hours of cross stitch marathon. Unfortunately, I missed the actual schedule one when I was in Chicago for a hockey tournament so I have decided that this weekend would be my #24hocs. I have 12 active projects left of which nine of them I haven’t even touched this month.

This weekend I will work on:

1. Snowman Collector – The Needleworker
2. Let’s Talk Spring Framed
3. Fruit of Plenty
4. Main June Calendar Crates
5. Calendar Gnome – Mr July
6. Butterfly Dreams
7. Just My Type
8. Tea Thyme
9. Sail Away
10. August Snapshot Series
11. Big Hearted Tiny Town
12. Prim Stitch Series

That will keep me busy all weekend and make me feel super accomplished. Well at least with my stitchy projects. Household chores or quilting projects not so much. I guess I could do my homework for my online course. Nah! Let’s have a stitchy weekend!

WIPGO Projects:

May project numbers were drawn:

Project 23

Project 23 is Nine Patch. I will be doing May as planned so this will be easy peasy. I don’t even have any catch up I need to do. My goal is to start and finish this May.

Project 25

Project 25 is Autumn Beauty. This is a high coverage large project. My goal will be to work on it five times in May for at least one hour each time with the hope that this ends up being finished.

Plans for Week Ending April 6th

I have all of May starts already lined up. I have a total of six planned starts and four planned finishes. I am not pulling out of Hold any projects except my WIPGO project Autumn Beauty. I plan on continuing to work on my existing active projects through May. I consider it still Spring and that is what I have pulled for the most part. Series I just keep working on.

This is my plan for this week though:

1. 24 hours of cross stitch marathon from Friday, April 28th – Sunday, April 30th
2. Start WIPGO project May Nine Patch
3. Work on WIPGO project Autumn Beauty
4. Start April Stackables
5. Start Hello May

This should be plenty to work on. Thank your stopping by and checking out what I have been doing. Please let me know if you have any questions or want to know anything specific.

Have a great weekend!

Peggy Stockwell