Hello Everyone! The weather here is San Jose is slightly less sweltering than the last two days. Thank goodness it has at least gotten down to 70 every night. It is very rough when it doesn’t cool down even after the sun has gone down. Next week I will be heading out to Reno for the Reno Quilt Festival and visiting with friends. We haven’t decided whether we are coming home next Friday or Saturday. It is possible I might miss next Friday’s post.
WIPGO May Update
With this being the first post in June, I thought we could take a look at how the May WIPGO projects progressed. Remember we had 3 in June because whenever Project 13 is pulled, a third is pulled because some people use the #13 (center) spot as a free spot. Let’s take a look:
Project 5: Let’s Talk Summer (lg chart) by Hands on Design
My WIPGO goal was to stitch five times on this project. I exceed that goal with at least six sittings with it but was still unable to finish by the end of May. It should not be a problem to finish for June though with all that progress. I really like how the fireflies look but they were a pain to stitch. I enjoyed stitching the “time” banner the most so far! Love these colors!
I am stitching on 16 ct black aida with the called for DMC floss.
Project 13: August Calendar Crates by Stitching with the Housewives
This was WIPGO was a new start. Calendar Crates have a mini design and a main design. I had hoped that I would get through the mini a couple of days but it took me four days to finish it, so I ended up using night number 5 to start the main chart. I am not looking forward to stitching a million bees. I am looking forward to all the beautiful sunflowers. The large sunflower on the mini was my favorite thing to stitch on this project.
I am stitching on 14 ct chalkboard black with the Classic Colorworks thread included with the kit.
Project 19: Winter Camper by Bobbie G. Designs
My goal was five hours on this project (versus evenings). I have been tempted to just toss this one in the back of the closet, but I do overall like the chart. So this month I focused on finishing the sky and the trees. Mission accomplished. The trees were even relaxing to stitch.
This was a kit so I am stitching on 14 ct white aida with included DMC floss.
Starts & Finishes
I was a bit surprised when pulling my info for the blog today to realize I finished and started a project this week. Let’s take a look.
FINISH: Mr August (A Calendar Gnome) by Charlie’s Needle
So I just pulled up the information on this project. It is hard to believe that I started this project 10 months ago. Crazy right? I love all the Calendar Gnomes but they do take me a long time. I am not sure why but I think the fact that I am working on evenweave fabric is a factor.
My favorite thing to stitch was the gnome himself. I didn’t right down the color of my evenweave but it is a 28 ct lugana. I am sure I have the color somewhere in my notes so I will have to add it to my little notebook with all the details. This was stitched using mostly called for Classic Colorworks floss with the white and black being DMC floss.
START: July Stackables by It’s Sew Emma (Fat Quarter Shop)
We finished up May last month. It felt great to start the next in the series that I need to do ~ July. This is going to be a fun stitch from begining to end. I love all the objects they selected ~ lemonade 🍋, picnic basket 🧺 , popsicle (here), watermelon 🍉, and of course the bucket 🪣.
This series is being stitched on Fabric Flair 14 ct white marbeled pine board. While it adds a subtle texture, I don’t think I would buy anymore of this. There have been others I like better. I am using the included Classic Colorworks floss that came with the pattern.
WIP Updates
I finished all my May goals I set except for finishing July Truckin Along and Mr August. I got close which is the point of setting goals. For some reason my cross stitch goals seem to be so much more realistic than my quilting goals. I am a very optomistic quilter. LOL! 😂
Blooming Tiny Town by Heart in Hand
This project is fun to watch as the town grows. I can almost finish a house each night but usually just shy of a finish. I am halfway on this one. I am stitching on 16 ct vintage mocha aida with called for Classic Colorworks, Weeks Dye Works, and DMC threads. I love every stitch in this project.
2024 SJ Temperature Library by Kristi’s Corner
As promised last week, I finished up the May shelf on Saturday, June 1st. I really have a groove going with this now. I have been stitching the books at the same pace as my temperature quilt which is every 6 days. Tonight will find me working on the June 1-6 books. You can see from the picture that May was all over the place blues are my cools and the dark orange is my warms. Since the last two days were pretty hot 🥵 I am pretty sure I will have some reds to start June off in both my quilt and my library.
I love yellows so I am really loving May!!!! This project is down right a joy to stitch every week. I found this pattern on Etsy when I searched for temperature cross stitches. There a lot of cool patterns out there.
WIPGO Project: Green House (Fabulous House #3) by Cottage Garden Samplings
After finishing my May shelf above, I jumped into my first WIPGO project for June. I am still not sure how smart I was to pick this light gray as my fabric but I not turning back now. I think when I end up framing this, it will look fine on the wall.
I finished another panel in the green house which felt great! This particular chart uses all DMC colors and don’t they look lovely. I have almost finished stitching the whole left side of the green house which is awesome. I worked on this for two of my five nights so far. It is on my list for tonight and tomorrow and I am definitely looking forward to it.
July Truckin Along by Stitching with the Housewives
Honestly, I had kind of given up finishing this very quickly, then I started working on it. While there is a lot to do, it has a easy rhythm to it. I hadn’t decided my next focus finish. I decided that all four that are close, to work on each of them until I thought it was a few hours from being done.
It will be finished this month, just not sure when. This is being stitched on 14 ct chalkboard black aida with the kit included Classic Colorworks. Priscilla amazes me with what she can do with such a limited color palette. As a stitcher, I appreciate her efforts.
Sail Away by It’s Sew Emma (Fat Quarter Shop)
This was a free pattern from Fat Quarter Shop in 2021 that I started in 2022. I am hoping to finish it this summer. I loved how the lighthouse finished up. I also finished up the chain border and got started on the lifesaver.
This cloth is a light blue 14 ct aida and I used mostly the dmc colors suggested but substituted when I didn’t have it on hand. Because of that, the border was stitched with DMC 168 instead of DMC 02. When I got to the lighthouse, I realized I needed to use the called for grays because I couldn’t get the shading right without them. Believe me when I say I tried. There was a lot of unstitching in the beginning until I finally settled into my color palette. 🎨
I am looking around my house at my wall hanging for June. I have a ton of light houses, this will look fabulous with all of them.
The Clown (Snowman Collector #2) by Cottage Garden Samplings
This one is so close to being done but there is still a lot of fill in on the clown. I have to fill in the white of his body and the blue/gray of his pants. After that there is only a few little circus characters to stitch. Close. Close enough that I have started pulling together the needed threads to work on #3 in the series. I hope to start it this month. Stay tune.
Let’s Talk Summer (large) by Hands on Design
I worked on this one last night. I was pleasantly surprised that I just have one more motif to do and this will be done!! Whoo-hoo. So, this will be the one that I work on for an hour every night before I head off to Reno. Once it is finished, I will start the last of the 3 charts for Let’s Talk Summer – the medium one meant to be a pillow. I also will need to stitch the watermelons onto perforated paper in order to do a final finish on the small (soon to be hoop). It’s so exciting.
Upcoming Plans & Thoughts
I head off to Reno on Tuesday next week. I have decided to take the WIPGO project Snowballs for Sale with me. When I am traveling it is always a hit or miss on how much time I will have to stitch. Sometimes I get 5 or 6 hours, sometimes just 15-20 minutes. I normally take a large project with me just in case it is a gang buster trip. LOL! So last week I worked on my plan for June and I penciled in the following projects for the upcoming week:
- June 1-6 books for the Temperature Library
- Two nights of the WIPGO project Green House
- Let’s Talk Summer
- July Truckin Along
- The Clown
- Starting May Monthly Markings
- Snowballs For Sale (of course)
I am hoping one of the three close projects will end up being a finish, but it’s okay if it is not. I have lots of unplanned time right now after making sure that I get every active WIP on my calendar as well as all 5 nights for both WIPGO projects and the starts penciled in for the 6 new projects I have for this month.
I have to laugh at myself as I move things around on my calendar all the time. The bonus of having a digital planner. I did place an order this week for missing supplies needed for Mr September and The Shepherd. I think USPS is delivering today. I love happy mail! I also picked up my small stitches for 2025 or at least one series. It has been fun doing these easy ones. It really makes me feel accomplished and don’t we all need that feeling?
Happy Stitching!
Peggy Stockwell in San Jose, California
Your upcoming trip sounds fun. Now you have me interested in Calendar Crates, seems like every time I read your posts I find another one I want to do!