WIPocalypse 2021: January's Update

Sunday, 31 January 2021

I love this SAL as I use it as a sort of monthly summary or review and it is when I realixe how much (or not) I stitched.

This SAL is monthly hosted by Measi's Musings and I try to aprticipate every month. You normally show what yoy did in the month and, if you want, answer to the monthly question propossed for each month.

In the kick off post, I showed the list of the projects I want to work in this year. It is the following:

• Hooties All Year Round 

• Season Dreamcatchers 

• Prickly but Cute 

• Around the World in 80 stitches 

• Christmas Ornaments 

• Mini Magical Mystery SALs Pincushion (published in the blog Magickal Quilt and More during 2020)

• Wheel of the Year (NEW)

• Easter Calendar (NEW)

• Dance of the Total Eclipse (NEW)

• HAED Mini Hecate (NEW)

• Other small projects and other crafts projects (to be decided)

From my list, I only worked in the Pricky But Cute. I finished my fourth cactus which is a small female cactus with flowers on the "head". I published it here, but thai is how it looks.

I was working in a small project I didn't think about when preparing my WIPs list. It is a birth recored I am doing for a friend. It is almost over but, for obvious reasons, I can fininsh only after the birth. It is supposed to be a baby boy and they are pretty sure about the name, but just in case..... Anyway, I need to wait to know the birth date, weight and length. It is a small design but I think it is cute....

I didn't do any more stitches this month, but I was doing other things more related with learning nad reading.

Question of the Month

The Question of the Month for January is: "Tell us about a WIP on which you’ve really struggled to make progress. Explain its history. What appears to be the reason you’re struggling?"


I am going to talk about a speciality stitches WIP I am trying to do for the next, maybe four or five years. It is called "Around the world in 80 Stitches" and there is monstly speciality stitches, lots of them. I am doing in a 32 count lugana and it is quite complicate to see the holes in the fabric.


I obviously want to finish it but I need to go very slow because I can't see properly the fabric and I need to keep watching how to do the stitches.


Hope I can show you something next month.

WIPocalypse 2021 - Kick Off Post

Sunday, 03 January 2021

Every year, for different reasons, I can never finish the year stitching and publishing as I planned. The last year 2020 had been a bit strange and, in general, very bad year. But despite being a terrible year, not only for the pandemic but because I lost very important people, it had also few good things.

One of them is that I bought the house I was renting and I am now a mortgaged homeowner. The other is that I started a beauty blog and Instagram profile that kept me very busy and I hardly could stitch. But now I think I have both of my blogs under control and I can use part of my time for my other passion, craft and especially, cross-stitch. Hope this year I can be with you month after month until the end of the year.

My stitching goals for 2021

My main goal this year is to finish what I started in the past, all my UFOs. I want to start also few new projects, but this year, I will not start all of them at the same time as I did in the past (I think that is my main mistake). 

I will use the WIPocalypse update every month as a summary of what I did this month and I will link to other posts where you can read about each project more in detail. If you don't know what WIPocalypse is, you can read from WIPocalypse 2021 webpage in Measi's Musings' Blog.

Projects to work in 2021

That is the initial list but I will be adding or removing projects as the year progress. However, I hope to finish most of the initial projects listed here.

• Hooties All Year Round (6/12 done)

• Season Dreamcatchers (2/4 done)

• Prickly but Cute (4/15 done)

• Around the World in 80 stitches (1/24 tasks done)

• Christmas Ornaments (one per month)

• Mini Magical Mystery SALs Pincushion (published in the blog Magickal Quilt and More during 2020)

• Wheel of the Year (NEW)

• Easter Calendar (NEW)

• Dance of the Total Eclipse (NEW)

• HAED Mini Hecate (NEW)

• Other small projects and other crafts projects (to be decided)

I will not work on every project every month. Let's see if this new way of working is better for me.

See you soon!

WIPocalypse January

First WIPocalypse of the year!!!! 

I didn't make great advances this month but in spite of that I am very happy. I was most of the month with one of my hands cast on a plaster as a consequence of a broken wrist and after removing the plaster my wrist still pains and doesn't have full mobility. I thought I wasn't going to be able of stitch anything, and that is why I am very happy with my small advances.

I am going to start with one of the projects pending from last year, my Advent Calendar. It is almost finished , I stitched the number 23, a toy soldier and in February it will be fully finished.

I started my Temperature project. The pattern is a design published in the blog Magical Quilts and More and I decided to do with the minimum temperatures we are having in Northumberland. I maybe will do other with the maximum temperatures depending on how long the stitching takes me.

I stitched the first ornament for my Halloween Ornie SAL 2020. Each month we need to stitch something related with the theme proposed. For January it was pumpkin. I chose a design called Pumpkin Pie published in Just Cross Stitch. I didn't finished it as with my damaged wrist I cannot do it but as soon as my wrist allows me I will finish it.

Same happened with the ornament for Christmas Ornie SAL 2020, I stitched it but didn't finish. In this SAL there are 3 options to choose: 12 days of Christmas, Christmas carols and Just Cross Stitch magazine. I am going through the third option and for January I chose a design called Shinning&Bright. For more details you can read my post here.

After more than 2 years I did other cactus for my Prickly But Cute design. The cactus I did this month is called Chloe and it is the one in the bottom right part.

Finally I stitched "My Favourite Things" corresponding to January. That is a project published in the magazine CrossStitcher. Each month the pattern will show something related with the month, as for example, snowdrops, tea and toast and cosy socks for January. 

To finish with this post I would like to answer the monthly question, which this month is "What SALs are you participating in this year?"

This year for the moment I am not participating in any typical SAL style "show one part receive the next" but mostly in SALs to do on your own pace. Most of them are organised by Magical Quilts and More as Temperature, Christmas Cards and Blackwork Christmas Ornaments. I am also participating in SALs which are more like a linky party. Maybe I will not participate every month in all of them but they are:

- Gifted Gorgeousness

- Smalls SAL

- WIPocalypse

- People's Choice

- Halloween Ornie 2020

- Christmas Ornie 2020

And that is all for the moment. I hope to advance more next month with my wrist in good conditions. 

Good Stitching Time!!!!!

WIPocalypse - Introducing 2020 Goals

I am here other year to take part in WIPocalypse. 

I have been taking part in this SAL for a couple of years, but every year something happened and I could never finish and always stopped around summer time. I am starting to call that the curse of the WIPs….. As I explained in my previous post, last year I made a big change in my life moving from London area to North East of England, which stopped me to finish the projects I started. That means I have a lot of carry over project. As every year and because that helps me a lot, I am going to join different SALs, link parties and challenges.  But let’s see what my goals are for this 2020.

I am going to join in the following:

•  WIPocalypse. You need to show your advances in a post made the posting date. There is also a question to answer every month and different challenges during the year.

•   People’s Choice SAL. I will not participate in all of them. There is a theme of the month and if I like it I will stitch something for that SAL. It should be posted first Saturday of each month.

• Small SAL. I don’t know if that one will be going on 2020.

•  Fully Finished SAL. Same as smalls SAL, if it is going on I will take part.

•  Gifted Gorgeousness SAL. The idea is stitch some to give as a gift or from something given you as a gift. It can be using a pattern, fabric, thread, etc given to you as a gift or, as it will be my case, something you are going to give to someone. I am going to take part with the Christmas cards I explain below, as I will be sending them to my family/friends at the end of the year.

•  24HOCS Challenges. I recently knew about that Facebook group. There is a over the year challenge, 4 marathons every year and different challenges every month, as 24 hours stitching, Acronym challenge or holiday challenge.

This year I would like to finish:

·         

• Advent Calendar. I started it in 2018 and it was going to be part of my Christmas decoration this year, but when it was almost finished, only the soldier and star left, I broke my wrist and couldn’t stitch for the moment. I am planning to finish it this month if I can stitch (I still need to wear the plaster for all January).

• Connie Gee Blackwork SAL. That SAL started on 2018 and was going on for all 2019 to complete 25 parts. I stitched up to part 16 and because it is fairly quick I would like to complete it soon.

• Prickly But Cute. I started it in 2018 and finished 3 parts. The SAL consists on 15 very cute cacti. It was planned for 2019 but I didn’t have time to touch it.

• 

• Hooties All Year Round. I was on time with it until July, when I started to prepare for moving. It will be finished before summer.

•  
  

• Dreamcatcher. Something similar happened with that one. I finished the dreamcatchers corresponding to spring and summer and have 2 left.

• Monthly Flowers. That SAL was published in CrossStitcher magazine during 2019. The idea was to stitch every flower and finish it as it was proposed in the model. I finished snowdrop, primrose and daffodil and this one is a MUST for 2020.

• ORT Label. This is a very small project. It is a label for my ORTs jar showing “Irene’s ORTs”. I will try to finish quick

• Few Christmas Ornaments from 2019. I stitched them before breaking my wrist so I could never finish them.

I would like to start and finish:

•        A blackwork Christmas ornament a month. Organized by Magical Quilts and more, consists in stitching one ornament every month in blackwork.

•       A Halloween ornament a month. It is the first time I am going to take part. There is a theme every month and it is presented in a sort of guest blogging in the blog Halloween Ornie SAL 2020.

•         A hardanger gift bag collection. I bought these patterns in Etsy and consists in a collection of 7 gift bags.

•          My favourite things of each month. This is what CrossStitcher magazine proposes this year as monthly chart.

•          Seasons SAL. It is organized by Magical Quilts and More.

•          Temperature SAL. Organized by Magical Quilts and More it is a typical temperature SAL.

•          A Christmas card a month. Again organized by Magical Quilts and More, this one is to stitch a Christmas card every month. I am going to have 12 cards at the end of the year to send to my most beloved friends. I will present in the GG2020.

•          A Christmas Ornament a month. This is similar to the Halloween one, organized by the blog Christmas Ornie SAL. There are 3 options to choose, 12 days of Christmas, Christmas carols or Just Cross Stitch magazine. I am going to stitch the last option.

And that’s all. I don’t know how much I will be able to stitch in January with my broken wrist but I hope all will be settled and in February my wrist will be fine and ready to stitch.

WIPocalypse - April Check In

The WIPocalypse SAL is hosted by Measi's Musings.

Time to slow down for a while and look back to see what I could do this month. As every month happens, I did so much less than what I really wanted to do. Some of my annual projects didn’t advance as I was preparing some Easter decoration and now I need to catch up with them.

But before I start showing what I did, as every moth I do, let’s see the list of my WIPs.

1. Hooties All Year Round 1
2. Just Cross Stitch Christmas ornament
3. Month Flower
4. Connie Gee Design Blackwork SAL
5. Advent Calendar
6. Season Dreamcatcher
7. Easter Egg NEW
8. Easter decoration NEW
9. Litha

I am running behind with the owls. April’s owl should be done by now but I could only make March’s one on this month. It is representing Saint Patrick’s Day. I hope I can catch up and finish April’s and May’s owls by the end of May.

I finished two flowers this month, primroses, representing February and daffodils which represent March. Both of them are done in evenweave fabric using DMC stranded cotton threads. Primroses are framed using a hoop and the daffodils are finished as a small cushion.

I made a good advance in the Advent Calendar. I finished the ornaments for days 4 to 7. They are pair of mittens, a bauble, a snowman, a poinsettia and an angel. I will try to go up to day 10 in May.

Last update I mentioned that I started my Seasonal Dreamcatchers. Well, it is finished now and looks very nice. I made it in 14 count Aida fabric using the DMC called for threads. They will be very nice once they are all together.

This month I also finished the Litha Banner which I was carrying over from last year. I finished it as I did with the rest, using this time yellow back fabric.

For Easter this year I prepared two embroideries. Both designs are from the Just Cross Stitch April issue magazine. One of them is an Easter egg embroidered with speciality stitches. You can read more here about the stitches I used in that piece. 

The other one is more simple but not less nice because of that. The design says Happy Easter and shows some typical Easter things as eggs, bunnies, etc.

I started the spring magical mystery SAL proposed by Magical Quilts and More. I just started it and made the two first parts. That will be over soon and I will show it next month. For now, I want to show the fabric and threads I chose for it.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

I couldn’t do anything for the JCS Christmas ornaments or the Connie Gee blackwork SAL.

Measi’s Musings use to do propose a question every month. For the month of April the question is:

“Talk to us about your longest running WIP or UFO”

Fortunately I don’t have now any WIP or UFO running for long time, but the project which took me longer in finishing was the Queen of Water. I started it on 2015 and finished only beginning of this year. I will try to avoid that happen again as much as posible.

WIPocalypse - February update

WIPocalypse SAL is hosted by Measi's Musings

Last year I participated for the first time in the WIPocalypse 2018 SAL organized by Measi’s Musings and I enjoyed too much. This year I didn't want to miss the opportunity of repeating the experience. 

I wanted really to publish in the previous WIPocalypse update in January, but as always in my busy life, one thing brought to other and finally I couldn’t write or even finished the projects I wanted. That normally happens to me all the years, I take a while taking the new habits you want to implant for the new year. But now all is being settled, I am being able to do most of the thing I want (unfortunately not all) and I am ready to join the WIPocalypse 2019.

This year I am going to be more realistic than the last year and I made a very short projects list. I am sure I will be adding projects but not more than the ones I can make. At that moment my list, which includes projects carried over from last year, is as follows:

1. Hooties All Year Round 1
2. Just Cross Stitch Christmas ornament
3. One flower each Month
4. Connie Gee Design Blackwork SAL
5. Advent Calendar
6. Season Dreamcatcher

I have finished other small projects which are not part of any SAL and they are punctual jobs.

As that is the first post I am presenting here this year, I am going to introduce you to all the projects I mentioned.

Hooties All Year Round is a PinoyStitch design. Last year I made his design Hooties 12 Days of Christmas and I liked it so I bought in Etsy that new design. That one has one owl each month with something representing the corresponding month, as for example in the two I am showing here, a scarf and red beak for January and hearts around for February.  I am stitching it in white 18 count Aida fabric but I chose this time the Magic Guide one because I wanted to see how it is going.

Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments are part of the Christmas Ornie SAL 2019 organized by Christmas Ornie SAL 2019. Last year I participated with the mentioned Hooties 12 Days of Christmas. This year three options were proposed, 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas Carol or Just Cross Stitch magazine. I have most of the issues of that magazine so I decided to go for that option. Each month I will choose one design from the issue specified and at the end of the year I should have 12 ornaments if all is going right.

The first one is a design made which was published in the special Christmas issue published in 2009. I did in Aida 18 count rustic Oatmeal with threads in similar colours of the ones in the example. I finished it in a pinkeep style.

One Flower each month is a project proposed in the magazine Cross Stitcher. Each issue will be having a flower representative of that month. I did January’s one, the snowdrop.  I chose for my snowdrops a brown 28ct evenweave and stitches 2 strand over 2 threads. I used the threads DMC in the called for colours excepting for the white one. I decided to substitute this thread for the new variety of DMC thread, the DMC Etoile. I finished it as it was proposed in the magazine, as a heart shape cushion.

Connie Gee Design Blackwork SAL is one of the projects carried over from 2018. Last year the 12 first parts were released and I was nearly on time. The design comprises 25 parts so it will be going over all 2019 year. I didn't have time to work on that project and it is as I left in 2018.

Las year I wanted to make an Advent Calendar and actually I started it. I did the two first days, a star and a gingerbread man. I chose a nice 18 count Christmas red fabric and the colours for threads (excepting some red shades which are not going to be very visible over that fabric). I am carrying over this year and I finished the third and fourth days, a pair of mittens and a bauble. I need to speed up a bit.

I finished also two small jobs, both for a present, and now they are in their new homes. One of them is for someone very special for me, my cousin and friend, who has a baby boy last October. I wanted to do something special for him and I made a birth record. I chose a design consisting in dummy with some heart shaped balloons. It is done in 14 count Aida white with baby blue spots and the colours chosen for the design are also blue shades. I framed it in a fake marble frame.

The other small job was made for a Valentine's Day swap organized by my Spanish cross stitch group. I stitched a freebie designed by Agi from the blog The World According to Agi. Obviously the design is based on hearts. I made it in 14 count Aida white with pink spots.

I started also my Seasonal Dreamcatchers, but I will talk about them next month after advancing a bit.

As Measi’s Musing did last year, she is also proposing this year a question every month. For the month of February the question is:

“Which music do you listen to when you are stitching?”

Well, most of the time I don’t listen to music but when I do I like to play music in Spanish from the 80s and 90s (when I was teenager) or a sort of flamenco music typical from my birth place, Sevilla in Spain. If you want to know it play the following video:

See you next month.

WIPocalypse - August Check In

I have finally time to do some stitches and show them on my monthly summary.

We have crossed the first half of the year and that is the moment when I modify the list of projects to do I prepared at the beginning of the year. Some of the projects I even didn’t have time to start and I will be doing in 2019 and others are projects I have started but I am disappointed or don’t like how they look. The good part is that I have included new projects for this last part of the year, mainly for Halloween or Christmas decoration.

So my list of projects to do is now as shown:

1. Dreamcatcher: 33%
2. Banner of the Sabbats: 25%
3. Sewing Owls
4. Connie Gee Design SAL: 36%
5. CrossStitcher SAL
6. Seasonal Birds
7. Green Man
8. MD69 Cinderella
9. Phases of the Moon
10. Wheel of the Year
11. Monthly Mini Mandala: 25%
12. Zodiac Pentagram
13. Queen of Water: 90%
14. A Year of Flowers: 66%
15. Zen Garden
16. 12 Month, 12 Sachets: 66%
17. Prickly But Cute: 20%
18. 12 Days of Christmas: 50%
19. Magical Mistery SAL: 100%
20. Blackwork Tangram: 17%
21. Halloween Owls: 8%
22. Advent Calendar
23. Halloween Unicorn

Entries in red means I advanced on them, while in black are the ones I didn’t work on this period. I put in orange the projects I will do next year, in violet the ones I have abandoned and in green are the project I am going to start now.

To start with my advances of that period I want to show the advance I did on my “A Year of Flowers”. It is a Cuore e Batticuore design which I am presenting in the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL 2018. I finished 3 more flowers and I am completely up to date in that SAL now. The flower corresponding to June is a daisy. For July I embroidered what I think it is an iris and for August I have no idea about which flower it is (can be a fucshia), but it is lovely.

My Hooties 12 Days of Christmas has advanced also, but I am still two months behind schedule and I need to speed up if I want to finish it by this year Christmas. I finished the Day 5 (5 Golden Rings) and Day 6 (6 Geese-a-Laying).

The aromatic sachet collection is also up to date now. I chose this time four Vervaco designs and I am very happy as they look gorgeous, specially the two in black and white

 I finally finished the Magical Mistery SAL organized last spring by Magickal Quilts and More. I embroidered on the back MMS and the month and year I did it and I finished it as a pincushion. Happy with the result.

And moving on to blackwork, I became up to date with the Connie Gee Design Blackwork SAL. The second row is nearly over and I am waiting restless to have time to make the 10th design.

The two new projects I already started are part of what is going to be my Halloween decoration. One project consists in owl disguised with Halloween creepy costumes, as vampire, ghost, bat, etc. I sterted with the one who is on top of a pumpkin. I chose a olive green 16 count fabric for this project.

The other project is a Halloween unicorn. I love unicorns, that is not a secret. I have unicorns printed on my water bottle, my mug, sleepers, …..and when I saw that design I couldn’t avoid buying it. I am going to stitch it on 14 count pale yellow Aida fabric. After finishing this one I think I will buy and do the Christmas one, with a poinsettia on his head.

I am also going to start shortly a Advent Calendar, but that will be for the next month.

The question Measi Musing is asking this month is :

“What is more satisfaying for you and why - the process of stitching a piece or the finish?”

Definitely for me is the process of stitching. I love the thread and fabric setting up, the excitement of the first stitches and mainly see how my piece of art is growing and showing the final design. I have loads of embroidered pieces in which the cross stitch part is finish but the job remains unwashed in a box. And my weakest point, if i leave a small portion unfinished it will be like that forever.

Have a happy stitching month.

WIPocalypse - April Check In

This month I didn’t work in all of my WIPs as I wanted to make a good advance with one of my projects I am carrying over for more than a year. Nevertheless, I worked on few projects and bellow is the update of the project status:

1. Dreamcatcher: 33%
2. Banner of the Sabbats: 25%
3. Sewing Owls
4. Connie Gee Design SAL: 33%
5. CrossStitcher SAL: 8%
6. Seasonal Birds
7. Green Man
8. MD69 Cinderella
9. Phases of the Moon
10. Wheel of the Year
11. Monthly Mini Mandala: 25%
12. Zodiac Pentagram
13. Queen of Water: 90%
14. A Year of Flowers: 33%
15. Zen Garden
16. 12 Month, 12 Sachets: 33%
17. Prickly But Cute: 20%
18. 12 Days of Christmas: 25%
19. A FOB A Month: 25%
20. Magical Mystery SAL: 40%
21. Blackwork Tangram: 17%

As I mentioned before, I advanced in some of my WIP projects. I finished the fourth flower of the A Year of Flower design, a lovely pansy which I showed in the Gift Gorgeousnedd 2018 post.

 For the 12 Days of Christmas I stitched the third owl corresponding to Three French Hens. I know I am a month behind but I still didn’t have time to catch up.

The next one is so cute and I didn’t show before. It corresponds to the Prickly But Cute SAL and it is calles ……… It is a very nice cactus.

Couple of days back I showed in the Small SAL post the fourth aromatic sachet. It is a Vervaco design showing a ladybug in some green leaves. Back of the sachet and the ribbon are red to match with the design.

On the 1^st May it was the festivity of Beltane, one of the cross-quarters festivals of the Wheel of the Year. For that occasion I did the Beltane design from CTHdesign as part of my Beltane decoration.

The next two embroideried I am going to show are not part of any SAL but of what I call “Small Occasional Projects (SOP)”. One of them is very simple but I wanted something like that to show near my main door. It is a “Blessed Be” card and it is very nice to welcome people coming home.

The second one is a tree formed by different words related with life. I did it to celebrate the Earth Day which was the 22nd April.

Moving on to blackwork, I did the fourth part of Connie Gee Design SAL. I am not so excited with that SAL at that stage but as it is easy and quick to do I am going to continue.

I started a new blackwork project. It is called "Blackwork Tangram SAL" and it is organized by Lakeside Needlecraft. It is a free SAL consisting in 6 weekly parts (each part will be relesed on Fridays) I am going to change the colours as the call for colours are not my favourites, The first part is done in Christmas red (DMC 666) and the border are in black (DMC 310).

I left for the end the Queen of Water as it is related with the question of the month. I started this project on 2016 and it went through periodsin which I advanced a lot and periods in which I did not touch for long time. But now I have in mind other ladies and before starting them I want to finish this one (my mum insists me as she doesn't want that to be an UFO). So here is my advance. On the left you can see how it was and on the right how it is now.

 

The Question of the Month Measi's Musing is proposing is to talk about the longest-running WIP or UFO. I need to say that I have plenty of UFOs but I am not going to talk about them. The longest project I have been working on is the HAED "Looking Back" designed by Crystal Dune. I was working on it for 2 years and a half.

The longest running WIP is the Queen of Water I showed above. As I said, I am working on it for more than a year.

And that is all for this month. Looking forward to read your advances.