Wednesday Update - 1/30/2019

I managed quite a bit of stitching this week, including two finishes on the same night. 

This is Hamilton Horse, the 17th animal in Brooke's Books Advent Animals series.  It's stitched as charted on misty blue Aida with the called for DMC. 

Started: 5/10/2018 Finished: 1/25/2019

 

This is Joy by Rovaris from the 2018 JCS Ornament Issue.  It's stitched on 20-count gold speckled Lugana, one over one.  Because my white floss didn't show up at all on this fabric, I had to make a couple of changes.  The ribbons on both packages were stitched in red instead of white and  I omitted the white snowflake that is supposed to hang on the Y.  I used regular DMC floss, except for the red, which is the new sparkly floss from DMC.  This was stitched for the JCS Stitch Along group on Facebook

Started: 1/20/2019 Finished: 1/25/2019

 My first WIP is another of the Advent Animals, this time it's Ethan Elephant, the 21st animal.  I'm skipping 18, 19 and 20 for the moment because 21 and 22 are both visible in the current position of my Q-snaps.

My other WIP for this week is Consumed by Gifts by Brittercup Designs from the 2010 JCS Ornament Issue.  It has at least one error (maybe two) that I discovered during last night's stitching session so there will be some frogging or fudging tonight. 

January 2019 WIPocalypse

January was a good stitching month for me with seven finishes and three additional WIPs.  As for progress on my goals:

1) YOW - I finished two projects and started two more.

Gigi Giraffe - Brooke's Books

Hamilton Horse - Brooke's Books

Ethan Elephant - Brooke's Books

Eagles - Dimensions Kit

 2) Finish the squares for Kyleigh's quilt.  I stitched one more square this month.

Narwhal - Cross Stitch Crazy #243

3a) Participate in Leslie Teare's 2019 Owl SAL.  I finished the January owl.

3b) Participate in the Christmas Ornie SAL.   My January ornament is still a WIP.

Consumed by Gifts - Brittercup Designs (2010 JCS Ornament Issue)

3c) Participate in the JCS Christmas SAL.  My January ornament is stitched, but not FFO'd yet.

Joy - Rovaris (2018 JCS Ornament Issue)

4) Continue to stitch for charity.  I stitched the Birthday Bear for Q4OC.

Birthday Bear - 101 Bears with Personality

5) Stitch an undetermined number of Mill Hill kits, at least one being from the Christmas Village series.  I didn't stitch any so far this month.

6) Stitch on 69 projects this year as a SAL with Linda of Stitching with my Furbabies.  I stitched on 10 projects this month, the nine above plus Mrs. Christmas.

Mrs. Christmas - Cross Stitcher #338

Each month in addition to posting our progress, we're supposed to answer a question.  The question this month is what SALs are you participating in?

Besides the WIPocalypse SAL, I'm participating in
Leslie Teare's Owl SAL
Smalls SAL
Gifted Gorgeousness
 Fully Finished Gallery
 JCS Christmas SAL
Christmas Ornie SAL
YOW (Year of WIPs with Soulful Stitchers on Facebook)  

January Smalls SAL

This is the first time I've joined the Smalls SAL where we post the small projects we've stitched over the past month.  Since most of what I stitch qualifies as small, I figured I join in the fun. 

Birthday Bear - 101 Bears with Personality

Mrs. Christmas - Cross Stitcher #338

Narwhal - Cross Stitch Crazy #243

January Owl - Leslie Teare's 2019 Facebook Owl SAL

My Advent Animal finish also counts as a small, but since it's part of a larger piece, I won't be posting them here.

Three of these are quilt squares that won't be finished by me, but Mrs. Christmas still needs to be FFO'd, which will hopefully happen in the next couple of weeks.

WIP Wednesday - 1/23/2019

Two more projects got some attention this week.  The first is the next Advent Animal.  Hamilton Horse won the Ugliest Sweater contest.

I also started Joy from Rovaris in the 2018 JCS Ornaments Issue for the JCS Ornament SAL.

Just a note:  Starting next week, instead of doing WIP Wednesday, I'm going to start doing a Wednesday Update that will include both WIPs and finishes for the week.  I'm doing this because I seem to post a WIP on Wednesday and a corresponding finish within the following week.  Doing it this way will eliminate the extra posts.

Happy Dance - January Owl

Started: 1/10/2019

Finished: 1/19/2019

This is the January Owl from Leslie Teare's 2019 Owl SAL.  It's stitched as charted on Oatmeal 14-count Aida.  The reds have been changed since I couldn't find the correct ones in my stash.  While meant to be stitched together, I'm stitching these separately and plan on donating them to WOCS to be made into a quilt.

January Gifted Gorgeousness

This is the first time I've joined the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL  hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  Basically we post about things we have received as gifts or things we are planning to give someone else.

You've seen these before so if you want more details, look in my blog archive to view the Happy Dances.  My first qualifying item is the Narwhal that I stitched for the quilt I'm making for my granddaughter, Kyleigh. 

For the second, I'm kind of using the shoehorn.  It's a square that will eventually go to Binky South Dakota and be made into a quilt for a child.

Happy Dance - Gigi Giraffe

Started: 5/9/2018

Finished: 1/16/2019

This is the 16th animal in the Animal Advent series from Brooke's Books.  It's stitched on misty blue 14-count Aida as charted (except that I used two strands when it called for three) with the called for DMC floss. 

WIP Wednesday - 1/16/2019

It was a good stitching week this time.  I worked on two more projects and stitched on them everyday, although there was one day when I stitched very little on Gigi. 

The first project I worked on was Brooke's Books Advent Animals, #16, Gigi Giraffe.  This one should have been finished last night since there's so little left.

The other project I worked on is the January Owl for Leslie Teare's Owl SAL.  This is a free SAL which can be found on her Facebook page--you need to join her group though.

Happy Dance - Narwhal

Started: 1/6/2019

Finished: 1/9/2019

This is the Cross Stitch Quickie in Cross Stitch Crazy #243.  It's stitched as charted on 14-count white Aida with the called for DMC.

This is another square for Kyleigh's quilt.  She went through several of my magazines when she stayed with us during her Christmas break and this is one of the ones she chose since she's "into" narwhals right now.

WIP Wednesday - 01/09/2019

I worked on three projects this week, one finish and two new starts.  The first new start was for the Dimensions Year-Long SAL at Cross Stitch Frog Busters.  I didn't finish my project last year so I decided to choose a smaller one this year.  It's Eagles from Dimensions.  I've changed out the fabric and am stitching it on 14-count instead of 18-count.  This one is being set aside for now as I'm trying my rotation again.

The second project I worked on was the Narwahl for Kyleigh's quilt.  She picked this one out herself.

The finish was Mrs. Christmas which was posted here.

WIPocalypse Introduction

I am new to this group and late with my first post!  My name is Cathy and I am a 69 year old wife and mother living in southern California. My husband is an engineer for a local baseball team and I have been retired for four years now.  My previous occupation was as a Software Support Specialist for a local university.  I have one daughter who is married and has one daughter of  her own.

I love to cross stitch and most of my projects come either from my humongous stash or the UK magazines.  When I'm not cross stitching, I'm either reading (mostly murder mysteries and action/adventures) or playing games on the computer.  I also volunteer at my granddaughter's school doing sorting and filing, the local Ronald McDonald House doing data entry and as the Product Coordinator & Treasurer for my granddaughter's Girl Scout Troop, all of which keeps me busy.

My goals for 2019 are:

1) Reduce my WIP piles.  To do this, I've joined YOW (Year of WIPs) and the Extreme Challenge 1 over at Soul Stitching.   I've chosen 24 WIPs for YOW, with the goal of finishing at least 12 of them.  For the Extreme Challenge, we had to add the same number of WIPs as our birth day.  Since I was born on the 6th, I've added another six, making 30 WIPs with the goal being to finish at least 15.  The Advent Animals count as 10 and Frosty Forest will count as nine.

Brooke's Books - Advent Animals

National Park Series - Big Trees

Dimensions - Blow Bubbles

UK Magazine Free Chart - Cute as a Button

Country Cottage Needlework - Frosty Forest (Raccoon Cottage)

Janlynn - Holiday Sentiments

 

Huddles - Dallas Cowboys

Sam Hawkins Fingertip Towels - Lemon & Strawberries

Mill Hill - Winged Monarch

Margaret Sherry - Teacup Kitty

The Art of Disney - Tinkerbell Spring Blossoms

Sunset - Majestic Eagle

Dimensions - Eagles

If this was all I worked on, I'm pretty sure I could finish them all, but of course, I have other plans.

2) Finish the rest of the blocks for Kyleigh's quilt and get it quilted -- I only need a few more blocks so this is definitely doable.

3) Participate in Leslie Teare's Owl SAL, the Christmas Ornie SAL (I still need to choose the projects for this one) and the Dimensions Year-Long SAL at Cross Stitch Frog Busters (I'm using the Eagles project for this one.)

4) Continue stitching for WOCS (World of Charity Stitching) and Q4OC (Quilts for Older Children and Adults)

5) Stitch an undetermined number of Mill Hill kits already in my stash as well as at least one of the Christmas Village buildings.

6) I'm also joining Linda at Stitching with my Furbabies in stitching on 69 projects this year.  That's my age; she's turning 70 so she will be trying for one more than I am.

Am I crazy? Am I being too ambitious?  Probably, but we'll see how it goes as we journey through the year.  I just hope I don't loose my mojo which seems to be an annual occurrence, especially during the summer months.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 69th birthday and I don't know how I got so old so fast!  It was a good day, though. 

First was church.  Janice is the Nursery Coordinator for our church so Kyleigh spends a lot of time in the nursery, although she goes to one of the three services with me.  She can be a big help to her mom and this week she helped entertain two little boys.

After church, Janice, Devin, Kyleigh and I went to visit my friend, Bob who provides our tickets to the Angels games.  Janice was delivering nuts and a thank you card and I gave him a late Christmas present.

We then picked up David and went to lunch to celebrate.  I chose Famous Dave's in Irvine.  We had a really good meal and I received a  free desert.

Just as a comparison, here's the picture taken on my birthday in 2013.

For my birthday, Kyleigh gave me a Diamond Dotz painting that she did herself.

Happy Dance - Mrs. Christmas

Started: 12/27/2018

Finished: 1/5/2019

This is the free cover kit from Cross Stitcher #338 and was designed by Susan Penny.  It's stitched as charted with the materials in the kit.  There are finishing instructions as well as the chart for Santa himself included.

I do plan to finish finish this later this month and will also be stitching Santa at some point.  Hopefully, they'll both hang on my tree next Christmas.