Resurrecting my blog?

As the New Year approaches I always find myself thinking about setting goals for my stitching and for life in general.  I also find myself almost compulsively drawn to buy a new diary/planner - I also get this compulsion in August when the Academic year diaries come out!  I am trying very hard to resist another purchase this year.

I am thinking of setting myself some stitching goals and what better place to do that than here on my stitching blog.

Goal number one is to work on all of my WIPs even if it's only one stitch during 2019.  I currently have 66 WIPs!

I would also like to have a new start on the first of each month because obviously I don't have enough WIPs already. 

The 12 projects I would like to start during 2019 are, in no particular order:

1. Peace Wheel by Ink Circles
2. Roses of Provence by Mirabilia
3. Seaside Kingdom by Mirabilia
4. The Time Traveller by Joan Elliott
5. ABC Sampler by Jeanette Douglas
6. Antique Bee Sampler by Elizabeth's Needlework Designs
7. Bargello Sampler by Rosewood Manor
8. Cross Stitch Nation by Heartstring Samplery
9. Leeds House Sampler by Rosewood Manor
10. Love You Still by Glendon Place
11. My Christmas List by Silver Creek Samplers
12. Fairy Moon by Mirabilia

I have also been lucky enough over the past few months to acquire quite a few out of print Mirabilia's and my wish is to start them and get them stitched so I can pass them on to other stitchers rather than just hoard them.  Lofty goals indeed!

After seeing a lot of Flosstubers using the Tiny Decisions app last year I am going to use this app to help me pick what to stitch on and when. Bear with me while I go through what I'm thinking.

When I start a project be it a new one or an existing WIP I will work on it for at least 3 days.  On the third day I will spin my first wheel on the Tiny Decisions app and that will decide for me whether I stick with the current project or switch to another.

If it's stick then I stick and will spin the wheel again the next day.  If it's switch I spin the next wheel to select what "type" of project I will pick from next.  The options on this wheel are WIP, Designer or Calendar.  For calendar I will pick the oldest project I have since I last worked on it (I'm not sure that sentence makes sense!).  WIP and Designer are wheels I spin again.  WIP contains all my WIPs not yet worked on in the year (as I work on a WIP I will remove it from the wheel).  Designer is a list of all the designers I have charts for - if a designer is spun who I don't have a current WIP for then I get a new start - if I have a WIP for them then I will pick the oldest one from when I last worked on it.

For my new starts on the first of each month I will also use the wheel.  I have already decided that I am going to start Roses of Provence on the 1st January.  On 1st January I will spin the wheel to see what project I am going to start on 1st February which will then give me the month to buy any supplies I need for that project.

If any one has read this far and understood all this waffle then you deserve a medal and a big thank you so THANK YOU!

Really my aim for writing this post is to get the thoughts out of my head so I can concentrate on other things and also to have a record of what my plans are.  In the past all plans have flown out of the window within the first few weeks of a new year so lets just say we'll wait and see.

For the record I am going to list below my current 66 WIPs.

Before I get there though I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Happy New Year.  I hope you'll join me on my stitching journey.

1. Advice from the Ocean
2. Angel of Love
3. At the Met
4. August
5. Autumn Quaker
6. Bauble Cushion
7. Bookworm Fairy Mini
8. Butterfly Lace
9. Celtic Autumn
10. Celtic Banner
11. Christmas Elegance
12. Christmas Owl SAL
13. Christmas Rules
14. Dear House
15. Dragon Dance
16. Elegant Trio
17. English Cottage Sampler
18. Fire Goddess
19. Firefly Fairies
20. Flowers of the Holy Night
21. Froth and Bubble I
22. Gypsy Queen
23. Hanging Loose
24. Hardcore Gamer
25. Harry Potter Pillow Sampler
26. Hydrangea Autumn Fog
27. I am a Stitcher
28. I Love You to the Moon and Back
29. In This House
30. Into the Jungle
31. J
32. Knotted Garden Biscornou
33. Learning Sampler
34. Live Laugh Love
35. Love Heart Tapestry
36. Masquerade
37. Mini Beach Hut in Moonlight
38. Nativity
39. Not Quite Whitework
40. One Hundred Years
41. Peacock Band Sampler
42. Peacock Butterflies
43. Perpetual Calendar
44. Planets
45. Pumpkin Passport
46. Quotes to Live By
47. Renaissance Mermaid
48. Research Project
49. Revenge of RYO
50. Royal Orchid
51. Sarah Brazier 1826
52. Save the Stitches
53. Seaside Mystery
54. Sleeping Beauty's Castle
55. Sleeping Beauty
56. Spring Mandala
57. Stained Glass
58. Stargazer
59. Stormtrooper
60. The Towpath
61. Train Ornament
62. Twelve Days of Christmas
63. Universe
64. Venetian Opulence
65. Watercolour Gerberas
66. Year at Hawk Run Hollow

Darth Vader - Stitch Line

A couple of weekends ago we were due to go away for the weekend to a caravan.  So when I was picking a project to work on next I wanted something I could work on easily without all my usual stitching tools.

I picked Darth Vader from StitchLine which is a monochromatic piece.  I am stitching it on 28 count white evenweave and after about 12 stitching days I finished it!

Keep stitching and smiling

Gingerbread Emporium - Santa's Village - Country Cottage Needleworks

I'm happy to share another finish for the year.  Gingerbread Emporium which is part of the Santa's Village Series by Country Cottage Needleworks.  I am stitching these with the charted threads on a 20 count aida.

Keep stitching and smiling

Into the Jungle - Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

The March block for the Into the Jungle SAL was a Red Eyed Tree Frog.  I completed this block and added another two columns to the top of the project.  I am really enjoying the colours and simplicity of this piece.

Keep stitching and smiling

Class Schedule SAL - Herbology - Armada Designs

This months block was for the Herbology class.  We see pictured a mandrake and some fanged geraniums.

The back stitching on the geraniums is not as charted I just freestyled it and I think it looks ok.

Keep stitching and smiling

The Towpath - Gecko Rouge

I adore the artwork of Gillian Mowbray and was really disappointed when I found out her artwork was being retired from Gecko Rouge.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to afford to buy anymore of the kits of her work before they were retired but I was very glad to already have this one.

I love the colours in this piece and it reminds me of holidays we used to take as children on a barge on the canals.

This is the original artwork.

Here's my very small amount of progress.

Keep stitching and smiling

July Mini Months - The Drawn Thread - FINISH

I'm pleased to be able to share my third finish of 2018.  This is the July Mini Months from The Drawn Thread.  It is charted with an American flag and fireworks in the background but as I live in the UK I chose to leave these off.  

It's stitched on 32 count Jobelan in Pixie Dust from Crafty Kitten.  I did use the Silk n Colors threads charted but subbed the others out with threads from my stash.

I do enjoy stitching these charts as although they are quite detailed and have some speciality stitches they do come together very quickly.

Keep stitching and smiling

Fragile Landing - KLT Charting - FINISH

I picked up Fragile Landing to work on as my next piece.  I started this during Stitch Maynia 2016 and hadn't worked on it since.  I had a piece of 28 count opal evenweave in an ice dye from Jodyri Designs and thought this design would look good on it as it lets the fabric show through all the gaps.  I stitched it with DMC 310 for the outlines and the Dragonfly was stitched with a hand dyed cotton from Crafty Kitten called Aurora.  Unfortunately this chart is no longer available.

I certainly didn't expect to finish this piece on this round of stitching but I was really enjoying it so just kept going. 

The bottom left hand corner of black lines was out somewhere, so at this point I had to unpick most of that section.

Keep stitching and smiling