Roses of Provence by Mirabilia - 03.01.19

My first new start for 2019 was Roses of Provence my Mirabilia.  I am stitching her on a 28 count evenweave called Smokey Rose from KLT Charting, unfortunately Kim has stopped dyeing fabric so it is no longer available.

I take a photo of my stitching each day at 7pm and post on Instagram.  Here is my progress over the last three days.

So tonight I spun the wheel to decide first of all whether to stick with this project or switch to another one.  The choice was switch.

I then spun for the type of project to work on.  Originally the choices on this wheel were WIP, Calendar or Designer.  I've added in a category for Birth Sampler as I have a secret project I'm stitching on for a family member, I won't be able to share pictures of this until it has been gifted.

Tonight the wheel choice was Designer.  On spinning the Designer wheel it chose Samsarah Designs.  I only have one project I am working on from Samsarah which is Perpetual Calendar.  The last time I worked on this was in November 2012!!  High time it came out and got some love.

So I will be stitching on this project for the next three nights then repeating the above process again.

It's the 3rd January and up to now I am sticking with my 2019 plans.  Let's see how long it lasts.

Keep stitching and smiling

Transfiguartion - Class Schedule SAL - January Block

On 1st January I started on Hydrangea Autumn Fog by Chatelaine.  I've had this project partially kitted up for quite a while and following Martina's passing it felt like a good time to start.  Here's the progress I made:-

I'm stitching it on a 28 count Jazlyn in Sunset Sky from Crafty Kitten.  I'm using most of the charted threads but I am subbing out some of the less variegated threads with the DMC alternative.  I have to say if I hadn't reached a point where I couldn't really carry on until I got a new thread and the beads then I would have found it extremely difficult to put down.  That thread and beads did however arrive today so who knows how quickly I will be getting back to this.

I then worked on the January block in the Class Schedule SAL from Armada Designs.  This block was Transfiguration the cat representing Professor McGonagall and the rat having been partially transformed into a cup.

I stitched the outlines for all the blocks for this last year.  I am stitching it on 32 count Murano in Black Hole which was the July 2017 Year of Neutrals fabric from Jodyri Designs.  I am really enjoying seeing how others have made changes to the pattern to make it there own but at the moment I am just stitching it as charted.  I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

The next project I picked to stitch on was Nautical Year from the book Sand, Sea and Cross Stitch.  On my goals list I thought I had 7 months to complete but I found I had already completed July, August and November - so that was a quick 3 goals knocked off the list.

Here's my starting point for April.

I'm stitching it on 18 count cream aida and I am subbing out a lot of the charted colours for silks and cottons in my stash.  

Thanks for stopping by - next update should be April complete and working on another one of my goals (unless that Chatelaine drags me back to it!).

Keep stitching and smiling

12 Days of Christmas - Satsuma Street - 31.12.16

I have been working on this project for a couple of weeks now and I was intending to work on it throughout the 12 Days of Christmas and into January but it's New Year's Eve and my New Year New Start project is shouting at me very loudly!

So here is my current progress on the 12 Days of Christmas.  I have subbed out some of the colours called for with floss I had in stash from Jodyri Designs.  I just wanted to add a little individuality to the project and make it truly unique to me.

My New Year start is going to the Mirabilia's At The Met.  I have drooled over this chart for a long time and this year I had some extra cash and was able to kit it up (minus the beads) so I will be starting her a little bit early on New Year's Eve but still a New Year start.

My stitching plans for 2017 are a bit up in the air at the moment.  I have signed up to do lots of stich a longs in lots of different Facebook groups.  I have been planning and kitting projects up and matching projects to SALs etc etc.  But now tonight I sit here thinking I'm not sure I want to start multiple projects during January just because there are lots of different SALs I think maybe I just want to stitch on At the Met for a while.

During 2016 I have been busying cataloguing my stash and now have 267 projects in my X Stitch App.  53 - Started, 18 - Kitted and 174 on my Wish List.  This does not account for the other charts I have that I don't want to start any time soon!

I have also signed up to Stitch from Stash 2017 and have allocated myself a budget of £25 per month.  This is on top of subscriptions I have already signed up for.  As I have a full set of DMC and lots of other speciality floss, lots of fabric and well over 267 charts this should be easy for me to stick to.  I took part in the warm up in November and December and have done quite well.  Finishes mean you can add money to your budget which is an incentive to get current projects finished.

So we will see how my stitching pans out in 2017.  All I am sure of right now is that I will always be stitching on something.

I would like to thank all my subscribers and those who comment on my blog for coming on this stitchy journey with me.  I would also like to wish you all a happy and healthy New Year.

Keep stitching and smiling

Stitch Maynia Round-up

I have really enjoyed taking part in Stitch Maynia and it has made me eager to start more new projects.  I am however glad the Maynia is over for me and I can get back to stitching for more than one day on each project.

During Maynia I have been thinking a lot about WIPs, UFOs and new starts and how I can manage a rotation that can include them all.

To start with I will always have a focus piece which currently is the Halloween Mystery SAL Model that I am stitching for Jodyri Designs.  As it's a mystery I obviously won't be able to post about this design until each part is released.  After I have finished a section on my focus piece I will switch to a WIP then go back to the focus then to a new start (if I have any kitted and ready to start).  I plan to work through my WIPs and new starts in alphabetical order using my trusty XStitch App.

I will also use this app to keep track of the charts I have which I have not yet kitted up and will work on getting them kitted.  I am ashamed to say that at last count including all the electronic charts I have and charts from magazines I have well over 1000 charts to stitch.  I am going to try very hard not to buy any new charts unless it is to finish "sets" of charts that I already have started.  There are a few more that I have on my must have list and I am sure more will get added but I need to look back at what I already have before buying more.

Obviously my stash now well exceeds my life expectancy!  If only I could win the lottery and give up work and just stitch full time.  Well I can dream can't I!

So the Maynia is over but the new starts are not.

I wanted to take an opportunity to thank all the people who comment on my blog posts.  It makes me smile every time I open my inbox and find a new comment so thank you for making me smile.

Keep stitching and smiling