Floss Friday #87

Happy Friday! It is a relief to have tax day behind us here in the US. Of course, being retired my return is pretty straight forward but it is still a pain in the ###. I would much rather think about all the fun things I could be doing instead! So let’s talk cross stitch today on this gorgeous spring day in San Jose.

Starts & Finishes

I worked on one of my WIPGO projects this week – Year of Celebration Season 2 with one finish and one start as well as one other new start.

FINISH: March Year of Celebration Season 2 by Hands on Design (WIPGO Project)

It was nice to work on Year of Celebration again and to wrap up March. I think my favorite part was stitching the pretty purple flowers and I think it adds a nice to touch to all those green shamrocks!

START: April Year of Celebration Season 2 by Hands on Design (WIPGO Project)

I was going to wait to start this until this week, but last night I just couldn’t resist pulling out this to get my fourth night on my April WIPGO project – Year of Celebration. My overall goal is five times on each WIPGO project. I have decided though this will be finished in April even if I go over the five times.

I had to laugh at myself. I started with the carrot 🥕 and I messed it up already. So I will have to decide how to compensate for being off one square. I opted NOT to take out the stitches cause it is literally the first thing I did. I will make it work.

Both projects are being stitched on 16 count french cafe mocha aida with the called for Classic Colorworks floss.

START: March Monthly Markings by Heart in Hand

I would have finished this cute little hat in one sitting but I ended up missing one of the greens. I checked on 123 stitch website in my past orders; I never order it. It is Weeks Dye Works Seaweed. I immediately shrugged and thought I will just pull the DMC substitute. That was a no go. I didn’t have it either.

I figured there were a few other things I needed so I placed an order while admiring my work.

I am stitching this as one big piece on 16 ct dirty aida with the called for floss.

WIP Updates

It was nice being home this week for the WHOLE week. I got a lot done on my Immersion course as well as my cross stitch projects. I was able to touch a number of projects.

Let’s Talk Spring by Hands on Design

This has been my project this week that I have worked on most nights for an hour. I feel like I am so close. I was able to finish the bird nests and raindrops. It looks like I forgot to take a picture of the whole project last night where I worked on Spring has Sprung section. I am just so close to being done with this entire Spring series. Just can’t wait!

This is being stitched on 16 ct black aida with called for DMC floss.

Fruit of Plenty by Modern Folk Embroidery

I focused on working with the dark floss and outlining the center motif which will be a house. I was thrilled to finish one of the squirrels. He is so cute!

This is being stitched on 16 white aida with Weeks Dye Works floss.

Sail Away by It’s Sew Emma (FQS)

For April, I pulled this out to work on this spring and summer. I had forgotten how far I had gotten with this one. I was pleased to see I had left off on the lighthouse. This week I filled in starting from the bottom up.

Blooming Tiny Town by Heart in Hand

This week I was able to spend a good number of hours working on this adorable tiny town. I was able to finish the first house. I am working from left to right. I would never have thought of doing a pink tree in a spring chart, but I can’t help loving it! The tree was a lot of fun to stitch.

Snowman Collector: The Clown by Cottage Garden Samplings

There are days I wish I had more time to work on my most favorite project. While I feel like the clown is way easier to stitch, it still seems to be taking forever. I guess the only way to solve that problem is to reduce the number of active projects each month.

I added his arms this week and worked on his pants & body. It was very satisfying to add his arms. Really adds a lot to him. He really looks like he is juggling now.

Upcoming Plans & Thoughts

This week’s plans are pretty straight forward since we are halfway through the month now. I am planning on:

• Finishing April Year of Celebration Season 2
• Finishing March Monthly Markings
• 🤞Finishing Let’s Talk Spring
• Start working on my other WIPGO project – Temperature Library
• Mr. August
• Fabulous House: Green House
• December Snapshot

If I do that, then I will have touched all my active WIPS and even will have a few open days the last week of April. I am hoping to dedicate some time to finishing May Stackables this month, but it is okay if I finish it in May.

Feeling real good about my overall progress. This year has already found me finishing off some series that I started in 2020 which is really good. Trucking Along will be one of those I finish this year as I am working on the last one of that series now.

I have been thinking alot about working on the final finish for the series that I have finished this year. Top of my list is the Cottage of the Month series. I have gathered all the supplies. I need to do the first one so I can get a feel for it. I will also need to figure out how I will be storing those, but that is a good future problem to have right?

I mentioned earlier that I placed my 123 stitch order. It came already!!! I was thrilled. I really want to start the Hobbit House asap. Since these are individual projects, maybe……

I opted out of Any Tiny Town and More Any Tiny Town. They do not appeal to me at this time, unlike Frosty Tiny Town. So exciting to have another snowman project. I finished 3 tiny towns in 2023 ~ Christmas, Big Hearted, & A Honey of.

So many things to stitch and so little time. Have a great weekend!

Peggy Stockwell in San Jose, California