End of Rotation - The Royals

The Royals is a SAL on the Q4OC (Quilts for Older Children and Adults) Facebook page and is one of the 2020 Stitcher's Challenge projects.  I'm stitching it as charted on 14-count white Aida with the called for DMC.  My contribution is Jasmine and Aladdin and this picture is after 10 hours.  I'm amazed at how fast this is stitching up!

Next up: My Pad (from Mill Hill)

WIPacolypse - April 2020

It's the last Sunday of the month which means it's time for the WIPacolypse SAL where we post what we're doing to finish all of our WIPs by the end of the world.  This SAL is hosted by Measi at Measi's Musings Thank you Measi for hosting this SAL.  Click on the link for more information or to see what others have posted.

In my introduction post, I set some goals for this year.

1) Stitch Deer Scene from Dimensions - Progress = an additional10 hours in April

2) Finish Let's Learn from Out Cat - Finished in February

3) Finish Big Trees - No progress

4) Finish Advent Animals by Brooke's Books - No progress

5) Finish Tinkerbell - No progress

6) Finish Leslie Teare's 2019 Owl SAL - Finished August in February, no additional progress

7) Complete the Peppermint Purple Year Long SAL on Facebook.  So far, so good!

8) Complete the 2020 Stitcher's Challenge on Q4OC (Quilts for Older Children and Adults). - Started the first piece, The Royals, Jasmine and Aladdin.  This is after almost seven hours of stitching and is still on the floor stand.

9) Stitch 12 Furry Tales Female Mice to be sent to WOCS for a quilt.  January, February and March were stitched previously.  April was stitched in April.

In addition to these, I'll be stitching smaller pieces for Christmas ornaments, Charity Quilts and Kyleigh's quilt which still needs a few more squares.

Kyleigh's Quilt - All of the squares have been stitched and Kyleigh has chosen the layout. The final two squares are the Violin and the Cheerleader.

 Christmas Ornaments:

 

Question of the Month:  Talk to us about your longest-running WIP or UFO. I don't remember which WIP/UFO is my oldest, but I do know it's probably something I started in the late '80s or early '90s and is most likely a kit.  I've been stitching for probably 50 years or so and didn't start blogging until 2008 and then I mostly posted finishes. 

Peppermint Purple Update - Week 17

Week 17 was another small one that stitched up fairly quickly taking only 40 minutes.  Since I didn't want to get behind again, I used a six inch hoop which worked out okay.  Can you believe that I actually forgot to download the chart on Wednesday and didn't remember until yesterday?

This time I  used DMC Variations 4240 and now realize that it's awfully close to the 4245 I used in a block above it.  Only one more color to choose--any suggestions?

 

Smalls SAL - April 2020

The last Friday in the month is when we post the small projects we've stitched during the month.  The SAL is hosted by Mary at Mary's Thread.  Thank you Mary for continuing to host this SAL.  You can click the link for more information and/or to see what small projects others are stitching.

I've stitched four projects that qualify as smalls since my last smalls post--my monthly Furry Tales square, the final two squares for Kyleigh's quilt and my monthly Christmas ornament.

Easter Lizzie - Lucie Heaton (from her website)

Cheerleader - Lucie Heaton (Crazy for Cross Stitch #2560

Violin - Fiona Baker (Cross Stitch Crazy #259)

Trimming the Tree - Blue Ribbon Designs (2019 JCS Ornament Issue

Kyleigh's Quilt

For her birthday last month, I gave Kyleigh all of the squares I'd stitched for her quilt and asked her to arrange them.   There were 38 squares altogether and 35 of them made it onto the quilt.  The ones that didn't were stitched at the beginning of the process and I'll find other uses for them.

This was a major process.  First, she arranged them according to how long ago the memory was, then decided she wanted Follow Your Heart to be the middle square and her two favorites--the violin and the cheerleader, also her most recent memories--to be in the middle row, too.  

Where should I put this one?

Is this the right shape?

I understand there was also a point where she lay down on the squares to make sure it was the right size, but Janice didn't get a picture of that.

The next step will be to trim the squares and pick out the fabric for the sashing and borders when I'm done self isolating so there's still a way to go, but at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel now.  I've been told we'll be using silver, teal and blue.

Peppermint Purple Update - Weeks 15 and 16

Because I'm using my Q-Snaps on my floor stand to stitch this project, I waited to stitch Week 15 until the Q-Snaps and floor stand were available.  That happened last night.

Week 15 was stitched with DMC Variations #4507.  This is more varied than the other colors I've used, but it's one of my favorite colors so I definitely wanted to use it somewhere for this SAL.  Because this was a double size block, it took 1 hour and 46 minutes to stitch.

Week 16 is stitched with DMC 996 and only took 43 minutes to stitch.

And the whole SAL so far:

End of Rotation - Deer Scene

After 10 hours

After 20 hours

Deer Scene is a kit from Dimensions and I'm using the materials provided in the kit.

Next Up: Jasmine and Aladdin

Happy Dance - Trimming the Tree

Started: 4/10/2020

Finished: 4/16/2020

Stitching Time: 8 hours 23 minutes

This is from the 2019 JCS Ornament Issue and was designed by Blue Ribbon Designs.  It's also the ornament that was chosen for April for the JCS SAL on Facebook.

It's stitched on 14-count beige Aida as charted with the called for DMC equivalents.  I'm planning to make it into a Christmas card later this month.

Gifted Gorgeousness - April

On the fifteenth of each month, we're supposed to post items that relate to gifts, either some part of the item was received as a gift or the item is being given as a gift.  This is another brainchild of the fabulous Jo at Serendipitous Stitching   You can click the link to get more information and/or to see what others are posting.

Because I spent so much time stitching squares for Kyleigh's quilt, most of my stitching this month could be considered gifts.

Easter Lizzie - for WOCS

Cheerleader - for Kyleigh's Quilt

Fireworks - for Kyleigh's Quilt

Follow Your Heart - for Kyleigh's Quilt

Irish Fairy - for Kyleigh's Quilt

Musical Carrot - for Kyleigh's Quilt

Violin - for Kyleigh's Quilt

I also worked on Deer Scene which will be a gift, but I haven't decided who will get it yet.

Happy Dance - Easter Lizzie

Started: 4/5/2020

Finished: 4/9/2020

Stitching Time: 6 hours 43 minutes

While most of the Furry Tales patterns I get from the World of Cross Stitching magazines, this one I had to purchase from Lucie Heaton's website, because I didn't have any Easter designs.

It's stitched on white 14-count Aida as charted.  Her dress was supposed to be yellow and the sleeves blue, but I couldn't find the called for blue floss so I changed both the dress and sleeve color.

This is the fourth in the series I'm stitching for WOCS (World of Charity Stitching).

Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop

It's time for another fun blog from Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  This time it's an Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop where you hop among the participating blogs and keep track of the letters, which together spell an Easter/spring related word. 

We're also supposed to show an Easter or Spring related stitch.  I have two.  The first is one I stitched back in 2015 for a Spring/Easter SAL with WOCS.

The second is the one I stitched using the chart from a giveaway I won a few years back.  I think it was from Jo, but I don't remember for sure.  It's a Lizzie Kate chart, but I also don't remember the name of it.

Finally, my letter is T and the next blog to hop to is Beth's Needlework Stash.  Also, you can check out Jo's blog to see the whole list of participants in the correct order.

Happy Dance - Cheerleader

 

Started: 3/29/2020

Finished: 4/3/2020

Stitching Time: 5 hours 46 minutes

This piece came from Cross Stitch Crazy #256 and was designed by Lucie Heaton per a request for a cheerleader wearing red and black.  It's stitched on 14-count white Aida, but I changed the colors and modified the charting to match Kyleigh's POM uniform.  It's not perfect, but it'll have to do.

This is the reason I chose this design for Kyleigh's quilt.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of her without the sleeves, but they are separate. 

Finally, this is the last square needed for her quilt.  I gave her all of the squares except this one for her birthday so she can start thinking about the layout.  I did show her this one and she was very excited to see how I changed it.  

Next Up: Easter Lizzie

Peppermint Purple Update - Week 14

Week 14 of the Peppermint Purple Year Long SAL was stitched with DMC 890 and took 43 minutes.

Deer Scene is now back on the Q-snaps and floor stand.

March Miscellaneous

 Since the Corona Virus scare started in earnest in mid-March, most of our March activities were cancelled, but I still have a few pictures to show.

The middle school youth group at our church meets on Sunday afternoons.  As part of the meeting, they usually provide some kind of service.  This time they painted props for this year's VBS. Janice was asked to attend to help prevent any paint fights!  (They're still meeting via Zoom.)

 

David and went out to pick up breakfast, dinner and salad packages from our local Norm's.  They were giving you the raw ingredients to make several meals with each package.  We both wore masks that David had here for using when he was creating dust.  We also wiped down our hands and everything we touched.  The steaks we got were the best we'd ever tasted so the following week, Janice went back an got more.

Our cat, Taz has been very people oriented the past few weeks.  There was one day when he really didn't want me to use my computer, but in the end after a few yells, meows and pushes, we settled on a mutually acceptable position.

Last night I caught him in this unusual and weird position on David's stomach.

Finally, yesterday (3/31) was Kyleigh's 12th birthday.  Since we're all self isolating, we couldn't join her for breakfast, so Janice ordered two Polly's Pies' cinnamon rolls for us and four for them to be delivered by Door Dash so that we could all eat breakfast together on Face Time.  We also got to watch her open what presents were available.  Her favorite present is sitting on top in the picture below.  We haven't given her ours yet, but will when we can get together again.

March Recap

This post is more for my record than anything else, because I know you've seen most of the pictures in other posts recently. 

While I worked on more projects in March, I actually stitched less than in either January or February.  I guess that's what happens when you stick to small projects.  I stitched on 10 projects, started eight and finished seven of them.  I stitched all but one day in March.  I got home late from a social event and was too tired to stitch.

 

Christmas Bullfinch - Finished /2/2020

Red Christmas - Finished 3/15/2020

Follow Your Heart - Finished 3/18/2020

Fireworks - Finished 3/22/2020

Musical Carrot - Finished 3/24/2020

Irish Fairy - Finished 3/26/2020

Violin - Finished 3/29/2020

I also worked on the Peppermint Purple 52-Week SAL and have completed the first 13 blocks which means I'm still caught up as the fourteenth block came out this morning.

I also had two other starts which sadly aren't finishes yet.

Deer Scene - Worked on for 10 hours

Cheerleader - Started 3/29/2020

Statistics:

Days Stitched This Month (at least 1/2 hour) =30

Days Stitched This Year (at least 1/2 hour) = 59
Total Hours Stitched This Month = 43 hours and 53 minutes

Total Hours Stitched This Year = 144 hours and 29 minutes
Number of Projects Worked on This Month = 10
Number of Projects Worked on This Year = 18

Number of Projects Started This Month = 8
Number of Projects Started This Year = 17
Number of Projects Finished This Month = 7 

Number of Projects Finished This Year = 15

 

By tracking my hours, I've discovered that I'm not stitching as much as I thought I was.  I thought I was stitching 2-3 hours a night, but it's more like 1-2 hours a night.  The last few days have only averaged about 1 hour each.  Now that I'm aware of it, I hope to stitch more in April.