Floss Friday #72

Ringing in 2024! Woohoo! We made it through another year. Earlier this week I shared my quilty goals. Today I will be sharing my stitchy goals. I am still in planning mode (and loving it).

Starts & Finishes

To ring out 2023, I had a finish and to ring in 2024, I had two starts. Let’s take a look.

FINISH: October Stackables by It’s Sew Emma (FQS)

Woohoo! We finished this adorable Stackables. I enjoyed stitching each item, but especially this adorable scarecrow. He is such a happy little guy! This was stitched 14 cout fabric flair white marbled pine board with the included classic colorworks floss from Fat Quarter Shop.

START: February Stackables by It’s Sew Emma (FQS)

I figured I should start the new year with my next stackable kit. I had originally planned on starting December but opted to jump back into the gaps I left throughout the year. So here I am starting February. If you can’t tell, those will be Really Teally Love Birds. Cute right?!

Once again, I am stitching on 14ct Fabric Flair White Marbled Pine Board with called for Classic Colorwork floss.

December Snapshot by Pine Mountain Design

I got really distracted last night so I didn’t get very far with this start. This Vintage 10ct cloth is not my favorite to work with so I think I may have procrastinated a bit before actually starting to work on this project. LOL! But I did start. This is one of the two left in this series that I have left to stitch. It will be nice to finish this one up.

I am stitching on 10 ct Vintage Oatmeal cloth with DMC colors picked by Fat Quarter Shop. They are close to the original but there are changes.

WIPGO January 2024

I finally made my WIPGO Board. While I have my board in Excel it doesn’t translate well to the website. I decided this year I will add it to the side so that you can see how it is going. My basic goal this year is to work on all projects at least five times during the month.

Project 9: Christmas Calendar by Tiny Modernist

You may recall this is a project I originally started in 2020 but during 2022 I discovered I had cut my cloth too small. Lesson learned. So I restarted in December 2022 before putting it away until this year. December found me working on this a few times so progress was made. Now I have an opportunity to really make some progress. the results of my first night of stitching:

It felt good. I find it interesting that I do not find working with this Witchel linen difficult but other linens very trying. Interesting right? Hmmm.

Project 22: Month 2 Month Series by Stitching with the Housewives

For my WIPGO board, I will put a series that I am working on versus the specific project so that I work on whatever is currently up. The Month 2 Month series is not actually started yet, so we will be starting with January. I can’t wait to stitch all those adorable snowmen! There are two pieces – a “button” and the “barn”. I am including both pieces in my five times goal combined.

I wasn’t prepared so this week found my at my local Joann’s picking up some 14 count aida for this project, cutting it up, and zigzagging the edges. Now I am ready!

WIP Updates

There was a few projects that was on my December active WIP list that I wanted to work on but hadn’t yet. So there was a frantic scramble at the end of the year/month to get something done on those projects as well as work on some projects this week that are close to being finished.

July Truckin Along by Stitching with the Housewives

December 31st became a bit of a cross stitch marathon to ring in the new year as I worked on my final three projects for the year. Here you find me working on my last month of the Truckin Along Series. Here I am working on the top and right borders. I am stitching on 14 ct chalkboard black aida with called for Classic Colorworks floss. One of the things I really like about Stitching with the Housewives is how they can make a great design with just four to six colors.

Winter Camper by Bobbie G. Designs

Ever since I messed up my snowmen, I dread working on this project but I am determined to finish it. Bobbie is an classic charter with tons of 1/4 and 1/2 stitches with a ton of backstitching. Not one of my favorites. I made a goal of finishing the cardinal on top of the camper this night.

Mr August – A Calendar Gnome by Charlie’s Needle

I love these gnomes. Every single one of these have turned out awesome. I am just sad it takes me forever to stitch one. Tonight I worked on finishing the gnome face and beard. He just needs his eyes….

November Sampler of the Month by Country Cottage Needleworks

Once again, this is the last of a series and I am actually very close to finishing this one. I finished the sister series (Cottage of the Month) earlier this year. Very exciting to be so close!

I wasn’t very pleased with my eyes for the pilgrims and turkey, but if I had used the recommended 1 strand of floss instead of being lazy and using 2, it would look just fine. The pumpkins and corn were fun to stitch.

This project is on 16 ct beige aida with the called for Classic Colorworks floss.

2023 SJ Temperature Butterflies by Stitchin Mommy

For some reason I could not find the time to convert the temperatures to floss colors until yesterday for December. So last night I started working on filling in the final butterfly. I just love this soft blue cloth. It reminds me of the sky. I am truly going to enjoy displaying this one. My thought is to do one or two colors per night. Who knows, maybe I will get impatient and just finish it.

I am planning on using this color lineup with a few changes and adding two colors for my 2024 SJ Temperature Library. I didn’t really enjoy some of the super light colors. They look okay with the butterflies, but I will be swapping them out for the books in my library.

Upcoming Plans & Thoughts

I am still getting organized for 2024 not only with my cross stitch but my quilting and the rest of my life. I hope to move in 2025 so I am working on decluttering my life. LOL! An ongoing battle right?

I am still gathering supplies for the series I had hoped to start for this year. The Month 2 Month became the priority due to it being pulled in WIPGO this month. The other that I had penciled out for 2024 were Monthly Markings which I wanted to do as one large piece. I still have to locate a fabric to use and I have to do either 18 or 20 count (already forgot) in order to find a fabric large enough to accomodate. So I am on the hunt for that still.

The other one that I wanted to start this year was Season 2 of the Year of Celebration that I did last year. I think I am going to use the same fabric to carry it forward but I haven’t found the pattern book yet. I feel like I pulled it out already but not sure where I set it down…

My 2024 SJ Temperature stitch is going to be a Library. I am waiting to finish 2023 before starting 2024. I found the fabric at Joann’s (surprise) that will be perfect for this project. I was going to grab the brown they suggest to make the bookcase but they were out. I was thinking of pulling something else from my stash to use instead. I have a ton of CCW German Chocolate and Catepillar leftover from my Stackables so far…..

As for this next week, I am looking at:

• Finishing November Sampler of the Month
• Finishing 2023 SJ Temperature Butterflies 🦋
• Starting January Month 2 Month
• Work on Snowman Collector: The Clown
• Work on Fruit of Plenty
• Work on Let’s Talk Winter
• Work on Winter Camper 😬
• Work on Christmas Calendar
• Work on Snowballs for Sale

Wow! That is a longer list than I was expecting. Well a few of those will be just a strand or two so I will have worked on them. Especially the projects that now longer draw me in such as Winter Camper. I do that with Fruit of Plenty too because it is such a huge project.

Thanks for stopping and letting me share with you my stitchy projects. I hope you enjoyed them all. I just want to leave you with a cute cartoon I found.

Peggy Stockwell in San Jose, CA