My June 2025 WIPocalypse Update

Butterfly Forest

It has been a full year since I have posted a WIPocalypse update.  I have been battling eye problems for the past couple of years, which seem to have now stabilized.  I have a new pair of glasses, which are enabling me to see better and stitch easier.  Yay!  So ... I am once again making progress on my long list of WIPs.

I have been revisiting projects and here are the ones in which I have made the most progress:

Bothy Threads Cut thru' Gypsy Wagon currently:

previously:

Bothy Threads Cut thru' Haunted House currently:

previously:

Castle Sampler currently:

previously:

Pandemic Sampler currently:

previously:

 

Hopefully I will continue to make good progress and have a few finishes soon.  I don't plan on starting any new big projects this year, but will make a few ornaments before the holiday season.

Once again, "Happy Stitching!"

my May WIPocalypse update

Time for the May WIPocalypse update.  These are all projects I hope to finish before the end of the world.  Despite having continuing vision issues, I managed to work on a few of my projects. 

I stitched on "Butterfly Forest" making quite a bit of progress on the background trees, and to the large butterfly wing.

Butterfly Forest

I also made progress on the "Candy Nutcracker" stocking that I am stitching.

Candy Nutcracker Stocking

I stitched a bit on my "Cut thru' Pirate Ship".

Cut thru' Pirate Ship

And I was happy to work on my "Cut thru' Haunted House", which is my favorite current project.

Cut thru' Haunted House

I also completed rows on my "Monterey Sunset" latch hooked rug, which is much easier to do when my eyes won't cooperate.  I will post photos in a future update when I am further along.

Question of the month:  How do you personally distinguish between a Work in Progress (WIP) and an Unfinished Object (UFO)?

Like many other stitchers, I tend to consider my projects as WIPs until I decide that I am no longer going to work on the project.  I haven't completely given up on any, yet... so I consider them all WIPs.  LOL

I hope to make continued progress on my WIPs, even if it is slow progress.  I feel the need for a finish or two in the upcoming months.

Happy Stitching!

July WIPocalypse Update

Butterfly Forest

It's time again for another WIPocalypse update.  I worked on as many different WIPs as I could this month, so I have lots to show and tell.

Above is a current photo of "Butterfly Forest".  I finished the top left butterfly and all the back stitching, as well as more of the background stitching.  Here is where I left off last time:

I worked on my "Winter Sampler", stitching the snowman and nearby areas:

 

and my "Spring Sampler", doing some back stitching and stitching the area by the perfume girl's hair:

I also stitched on my 'Autumn Sampler", stitching and back stitching the toy top in the right border:

 I finished the border on my "Halloween Pumpkin", and worked a bit on the cat:

Other projects I stitched on this month are "Candy Nutcracker", which is a Christmas stocking:

The Autumn Sampler "To Everything There Is a Season":

 and "Yankee Doodle" Carousel Horse:

I still have not finished any of my WIPs this year, but a few are getting close.  I have worked on almost half of my WIPs, and I am making more progress than I did for the first half of the year. 

Topic(s) for next time: What five patterns do you really want to purchase (or start) right now?

LOL. I am concentrating on my WIPS this year.  Past that ... I would like to stitch this ship in a bottle for my sister:

 https://www.etsy.com/no-en/listing/581112558/cross-stitch-pattern-sea-in-the-bottle 

But haven't really looked around much to see what else is out there.  

That's all I have for this update.  

 Happy Stitching!

 

WIPocalypse Update for May

I'm still here and stitching for the WIPocalypse.  This stitch along features works in progress that I hope to finish before the world ends.

This month I managed to put stitches into several projects.  Shown above is my "Spring Sampler".  I stitched the Lily of the Valley section, and a bit of the frame to the right of that.

I always enjoy stitching on this sampler during the Spring!  *Bonus: the Lily of the Valley is my birth flower.

Continuing on ... I also stitched a bit on my "Summer Sampler".  I stitched the cream background behind the "camp" section and added the "Wish you were here" cursive text.

I finished most of the butterfly in the top left of "Butterfly Forest".  I have a bit more color to stitch and then the back stitching to complete the butterfly.

I also stitched on my "Bothy Threads cut thru' Pirate Ship".  I added more of the ship.

Finally, I have been working on "Hummingbird and Fuchsias".  This is a printed piece.  I have such a hard time getting the stitches even as I stitch on the printed areas of the cotton fabric.  I am having to let it be "not perfect" and it seems to be looking fine despite my "not perfect" stitching. 

I made quite a bit of progress with the leaves - but do have lots of back stitching to add.

Question of the Month: Tell us about a piece that you absolutely loved stitching.

Such a hard question.  I have so many projects that I loved stitching.  (I really love stitching the bothy threads cut thru' kits!) 

I will just post a couple of my favorites.

Nature's Alphabet by Sandy Orton.  This kit had only about a dozen colors. Simple and straight forward.  No blended colors, no fractional stitches, no back stitching.  It was fun and easy to stitch.

I also enjoyed stitching "Simple Blessings" by Sandy Orton.  I opted to stitch it in red and black.  It was another simple stitch with no blending or fractional stitching.  Easy to follow and a lovely finish.

That's all I have for my update this month.
Happy Stitching!

Stitch Maynia and Gifted Gorgeousness Update

This is a pretty big update for me (16 projects).  I am participating in "Stitch Maynia" by stitching on a different one of my WIPs each day.  I am also including my "Gifted Gorgeousness" stitch along update as well - since most of these projects were gifted to me..

"Gifted Gorgeousness" is hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching, and features projects that in some way have been gifted -or- are being stitched to be given as gifts.

I have stitched on 14 of my WIPs so far.  Shown above is "Afternoon Nap", on which I managed a bit of progress on the paw on May 1st.

On May 2nd, I stitched on "Berry Patch Rooster".  I worked on the greenery in the top left corner.

On May 3rd, I brought out my "BeeHive Sampler" and worked on the flowers and beehive at the top of the sampler.

May 4th was "Summer Sampler" day.  I finished the stitching and back stitch on the word "Camp", as well as most of the off-white stitching in that area. "Summer Sampler" was received as a gifted kit along with the other 3 seasons one year at Christmas.

May 5th was the day to stitch on my "Winter Sampler".  I only managed to stitch a bit of the shading on the snowman.  "Winter Sampler" was received as a gifted kit along with the other 3 seasons one year at Christmas.

I stitched on my "Castle Sampler" on May 6th - however I do not have a photo as it is too big to fit on my scanner & my camera batteries are kaput.  I managed to work a bit on the border.

On May 7th,  I brought out my "To Everything a Season" sampler.  I finished stitching the alphabet and worked on a bit more of the floral area.

May 8th was the day I worked on my "Butterfly Forest".  I only managed to stitch a few colors on the wings of one butterfly.  "Butterfly Forest" was received as a gifted kit on my birthday several tears ago.

"Napping Kitten" was my project for May 9th.  I finished his ear and added some stitches to the branch.

I finished another row of the alphabet on my "Linen Sampler" on May 10th.  

On May 11th, I did some back stitching on my "Spring Sampler".  "Spring Sampler" was received as a gifted kit along with the other 3 seasons one year at Christmas.

On May 12th, I finished all of the gold stitching on my "Carousel Tiger".  I will add a photo when I have this project completed (hopefully soon).  "Carousel Tiger" was received as a gifted kit back in the 90's from my sister.

May 13th was the day I stitched on my "Autumn Sampler" - I only managed a bit of stitching on what will become a yellow ruler, next to the lovely schoolhouse motif.  "Autumn Sampler" was received as a gifted kit along with the other 3 seasons one year at Christmas.

Last night (May 14th), I stitched a bit on the border, cat ears and moon on my "Halloween Pumpkin" project.  I received the chart for this project in a Just Cross Stitch magazine gifetd by my sweetie.

During this month, I also managed to finish the tower on my "Bothy Threads Cut Thru' Haunted House".  This kit was another gift from my sweetie this year on Valentine's Day.

And finally ... I worked on my "Linen & Threads 2019 Mystery Sampler" (gifted as a free stitch-along).  I had a visit from a big 'ol frog, but I managed to get this month's update about 1/2 way finished.  So I am right on schedule.

Whew!  That was a crazy update for me.  I still have to get through the last half of the month!

Happy Stitching!

my May WIPocalypse Update

"To Everything A Season" Sampler by Sandy Orton

I have a few project updates to show for my May WIPocalypse posting.  The first is my "To Everything a Season" sampler by Sandy Orton.  I managed some good progress on the left side border leaves and flowers, and added a few more letters to my alphabet.   

"Butterfly Forest" by Punch Studio

I spent some time with "Butterfly Forest", stitching on and around the big butterfly at the top.  I still have quite a way to go with this one.

"Multi-Coloured Alphabet" by Gail Lawther

I made more progress on "Multi-Coloured Alphabet".  This one is always a nice change from the projects with lots of color changes and blending.  Working with variegated thread makes it so easy.

"American Sampler" by Sandra Sullivan

And finally ... I put some stitches into "American Sampler".  I stitched the little squirrel in the tree, added more of the alphabet, a sheep, a crown, and started working on the inner border.  This is another project where I am just using leftover threads from other projects.

Question of the Month – Talk to us about your longest-running WIP or UFO.

I have several old WIPs/UFOs dating back to the 90's.  At the time I was very into carousels and carousel horses/animals, so I picked up a few kits (4) and received more kits as gifts (6) ... before I knew it - I had oodles of carousel related projects.   Many went into storage when I moved and I didn't get them back out until a few years ago.  I am slowly making progress on them, but still have 5 carousel related projects from the 90's lingering in my WIP list.

The last one I completed was "Carousel Zebra" in 2014!

So many projects ... so little time.  

*This just brought to mind the old "Twilight Zone" episode, where the man who loved to read but never had time survived the end of the world and found the library.  "Time enough at last!"  But then he broke his glasses.  

So all of you WIPocalypse stitchers who survive the Apocalypse better be careful with your glasses and needles!

Happy stitching!