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!

 

my January Gifted Gorgeousness Update

Dutch Sampler by Sandy Orton

It's time for the first "Gifted Gorgeousness" update of the new year.  These are projects that were made to be given as a gift -or- in some way or part received as a gift. 

I worked on a few of my gifted projects.  I made quite a bit of progress on "Dutch Sampler" (fabric and thread gifted to me).  I finished the windmill and lower right corner, the cat, the crown and sections of border.  I also stitched the big "I" and "K" eyelet letters, the medium "E" filigree letter, and the small "I" "K" "L" and "M" letters, the "6" "7" "8" "9" and "0", as well as the date.

Here is where I left off last time:

I stitched on "To Everything a Season" (kit gifted to me), making some I progress on the leaf and berry border on the top left.

I also stitched on my "Winter Sampler" (kit gifted to me).  I had already finished the Valentine section, this time I worked on the area below that.  There will be a nifty snowman making an appearance.

Last, but not least ... I started a new little Xmas Sampler from Cross Stitcher Magazine (Nov 2017) that was gifted to me:

I was quite happy with the amount of stitching time I had this month & feel like I made good progress on my projects.  That's all I have for this update.  

Happy Stitching!

my February WIPocalypse Update

Time flies and it is time for another WIPocalypse update already!

I didn't make much progress on my projects this month, but I did manage some.  Shown above is my "Winter Sampler" by Sandy Orton.  I have been working on all 4 of the season samplers and really love them ... but they do take time with all of the color changes and back stitching.

You can see from my previous progress photo that I did  manage to finish the french knot & back stitched snowflakes around the ice skate.  I also worked a bit of the next motif to the left.

I am trying to work a bit on all of my projects this year, so the next in line was my "Berry Patch Rooster".  I  stitched on his wing.

Here is where I previously left off:

That is absolutely all of the stitching I managed for this update.  I hope to have more time to stitch next month (fingers crossed).

Topic of the month: What is your favorite stitch other than the standard cross stitch?  (bonus points if you provide a how-to link or diagram it on your blog post!)

Hmm ...  I have a fondness for the "Algerian Eyelet" stitch, which is used in two of the samplers I am working on: "Dutch Sampler" and "Spanish Sampler".

It is time consuming, but I love the way it looks when completed.  

Happy Stitching!
 

September Gifted Gorgeousness and WIPocalypse Update

It's time for a Gifted Gorgeousness Update and since the full moon is nigh, it's also time for another WIPocalypse update.  Gifted Gorgeousness projects are projects that were made to be given as a gift -or- in some way or part received as a gift.  WIPocalypse projects are all of the projects that I have in progress and hope to have completed before the end of the world.

My first GG project (shown above) is a card I stitched for my Mom.  I selected a freebie frog and added "Hoppy Birthday" and "Mom" to the design to make the card.

Falling under both categories GG and WIP, I stitched on my Winter Sampler by Sandy Orton.

I finally, finally, finally finished the back stitching on the skate boot and flowers! I think it turned out lovely, but it sure took a long time.  I also put in stitches here and there as I branched out from the top right corner.

I also worked on my Autumn Sampler by Sandy Orton.  I finished the little school house photo and the green guide lines on the note paper.  This one is really coming along.

 I received all 4 of the seasons sampler kits as a Christmas gift a few years ago.

Yet another Sandy Orton sampler I am stitching is "Simple Blessings".  I received the chart in a wonderful book of patterns as a birthday gift.

I also worked on my Rambling Rose miniature sampler.  This was gifted to me in a prize drawing by Jo.  It is stitched on 40 ct gauze , which is transparent and delicate.  You can see the shadow cast behind it from the stitches in the photo.

I hope I can find a suitable tiny frame for it when it is finished.  It may just inspire me to make a tiny room in a tiny house to display it.

The final GG project I stitched on was "Quaker 2011", a freebie by Gazette94

I hope to have this piece completed soon!

The final WIPocalypse project I stitched on was "Ride to Dreamland".  This is an oldie ... I probably started it back around 1993!  It sat in storage for a long time ... and my progress seems to move at a snail's pace.  There is a lot of blending filament that adds lovely sparkle, but it's a "booger-bear" to stitch with.

Whew!  That was quite an update.
Happy Stitching!

WIPocalypse Update and DUCJC : Feb 03-06

 

Time for another WIPocalypse update.  I have had a busy month ... I started 31 new projects in January and am working on my old WIPs (a different one each day) during February.

Shown above is the most recent project I stitched on. "Winter Sampler" by Sandy Orton.  I made good progress yesterday - I did a lot of back stitching, and started the area to the left of the heart.

Here is a photo from the last time I worked on it (December):

On Feb 5th I stitched on "Summer Sampler" by Sandy Orton:

I made just a little progress - not too much time for stitching that day.

On Feb 4th I stitched on "BeeHive Sampler" also by Sandy Orton:

I just filled in more of the main motif and a bit of the Pansies in the border.

On Feb 3rd I worked on "Berry Patch Rooster":

I just managed a bit on the border.

While I really enjoyed starting a new project each day in January, it is hard to work just 1 day on a larger WIP and then put it away.  Progress feels very slow.  I am happy to make a little progress on all of my projects, though. 

This months WIPocalypse question:
How do you overcome that feeling that you’re in a rut with a particular project?
  
I sure haven't had that problem in a long time!  I think the cure is to switch projects.  When I get tired of the endless back stitching on a project, I switch to a project that has no back stitching.  When I get tired of confetti stitching, I switch to a project with lots of big blocks of color.  I also alternate with other types of crafts - journals, latch hooking, doodling, etc ...


That's all for now!
Happy stitching!

WIPocalypse Update for December

This has been such a busy month!  It's hard to believe that it's time for another WIPocalypse update.

This month I finished stitching 2 filigree ornaments (shown in a previous post), and I managed some stitching on my Winter Sampler. I added the Valentine text, and worked on the flowers and detailing around the ice skate.  Not too much progress ... but one stitch at a time will get it done eventually.

Here is how it looked during my last update:

This month's topic was to recap our stitching for the year:

   2014

New Starts: I started 9 new projects, and 8 of them are completed!
WIPs: I currently have 29 WIPs (I made progress on 19 of them this year.)
Finishes: 8 cross stitch finishes and 1 latch hook finish.

 One of my happiest finishes:

Carousel Zebra by Angela Pullen (Just Cross-Stitch) - I started this project in the late 90's ... I am happy to have finished it back in March of this year.  Hooray!

Look out for next year ... I plan on participating in Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 2015 (DUCJC2015).  I haven't nailed down my list, but I do have several projects in mind that I want to start. More info here: My DUCJC2015 list.

Happy Stitching!

November WIPocalypse Update

It's that time again.  So, here is my WIPocalypse Update for November.

I continued work on my Autumn sampler, and finished the chalk board and most of the gingham above it.

Here is a photo of  where I left off with my last update - to show my progress.

I also worked on my Winter sampler, stitching most of the ice skate.

I still have some back-stitching to do and then I will add the flowers to fill the boot.

I love working on my season samplers, they have so much detail!

I put in some time on my old project, Carousel Zebra.  I managed to finish all of the metallic gold stitching in the border and pole. 

I still have some work to do on his head, front leg and around the saddle and collar - as well as a tiny bit more stitching in the border.

Maybe.  Maybe.  Maybe, I will finish this one by the end of the year.

This is the photo from my previous update, so you can tell I accomplished quite a bit on this one.








And, last but not least ... I finished everything but the border on "Owl-O-Ween" from the 2013 JCS Halloween Issue.

 Happy Autumn!

Second WIPocalypse Post of 2013

I worked on several projects this month.  Below are a couple of progress photos following the February WIPocalypse themes of "love" and colors of "white" and "red".

Last month I had barely begun my "Winter Sampler".  This month I focused on the motif of a girl holding a Valentine inside a heart - which I just finished outlining this very evening.

Above is a photo of my progress on my "To everything a Season Sampler", which I started at the end of January.  I made certain to finish stitching the heart in time for this update.

I have updated most of my other projects shown on my update page.
Happy stitching!

First WIPocalypse Post of 2013

Hello fellow stitchers!

The WIPocalypse really kept me stitching last year, so I am back for another round.  I have many old WIPs and several new projects to work on - they are all listed and displayed with progress photos on my WIPocalypse page here: http://chaosatlanta.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

shown above: "Spring Sampler", "Summer Sampler", "Autumn Sampler" and "Winter Sampler", sold through JannLynn and designed by Sandy Orton.

I have 6 of Sandy Orton's samplers in progress.  I love the busy design of the Seasons samplers.  They do have a lot of color changes and outlining, but are worth the effort.

The Beehive sampler is a mixed project - there are sections with lots of color changes, however it is balanced with portions of specialty stitching, and repetitive borders.

My most recent acquisition is the "To Everything A Season" Sampler (featured in my last post).  This sampler stitches like butter!  It is so smooth and easy.  I love working on it.

My stitching goals for 2013 are:
1) Finish at least 1 project I began in the 1990s.
2) Finish at least 2 projects that I began this year.
3) Make at least 3 holiday ornaments (patriotic, halloween, christmas, or valentine).
4) Make steady progress on my big sampler projects, of which I have many!


I look forward to blog hopping and seeing everyone's projects.
Happy Stitching!