WIPacolypse SAL - January, 2021

The last Sunday of the month is the posting date 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   Click the link to see others' posts.

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

1) Stitch Blackwork USA from Peppermint Purple - I did a one week rotation in January.  (I've since realized it's going to take more than one week a month to finish it this year.)

 2) Stitch 12 Days of Christmas by Ursula Michael - I finished Day 1 in January.

 3) Stitch Yoda by Dimensions - not started yet

4) Finish the Furry Tales that weren't stitched in 2020 (September, October November and December) - I stitched Back to School Mouse for September in January.

5) Finish the December Owl from the 2019 Owl SAL by Leslie Teare on Facebook - I finished it in January.

 6) Locate and finish Peppermint Purple's 2020 SAL - No progress

7) Finish as many of the Mill Hill Mania starts as I can - I stitched the hat for Santa Jingles which was start #7.

8) Finish as many Christmasitis starts as I can - I finished three more in January which includes the December Owl posted above so I've now finished 15 of the 61 started in November and December.

Hodgepodge Stocking

Blackwork Candle

 

9) Finish Brooke's Advent Animals - No progress

10) FFO at least one item each month for the Fully Finished Gallery SAL - I FFO'd two during the month of January. (Hodgepodge Stocking and Gingerbread Bell)

 

11) Add the personalization at the bottom and frame the Ronald McDonald House Sampler for the CHOC Hospital Family Room - No progress

Question of the Month: 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? 

The WIP I've struggled with the most is Tinkerbell Spring Flowers.

I started this back in 2011/2012 for my granddaughter and stitched most of the first three pages rather quickly but then set it aside.  I pulled it out again in 2019 and it was on my goals list for both 2019 and 2020, but for some reason I'm stuck on the fourth page.  I think the problem is the number of flosses used with some of them being blended; I spend so much time looking for the floss I need, that I'm not having fun stitching it.  It's not on my goals list for this year, but I still hope to finish it someday.
 

Smalls SAL - January, 2021

It's the last Friday of the month so it's time to post the small projects we've stitched during the month.  This 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 have stitched.  

I have finished six smalls since the last check-in date.

Snowman Snow Globe - Durene Jones

Gingerbread Bell - Jenny Barton

 

Back to School Mouse - Lucie Heaton

Hodgepodge Stocking - Jennifer Rodriguez

December Owl - Leslie Teare

Blackwork Candle - Debra Page

 

I also finished my First Day of Christmas which would be a small, except that I'm doing all the days on one piece of fabric.

 

It was definitely a good month for smalls stitching and five of the finished smalls and the First Day were started as part of the 2020 Christmasitis SAL.

Weekly Update - 1/28/2021

This past week hasn't been good for stitching.  I'd been averaging about 15-16 hours a week, but this week I managed less than five.  However, I did finish two of the projects I'd wanted to.  The first finish was the First Day of my 12 Days of Christmas project from Imaginating (Ursula Michael).

Started: 12/21/2021

Finished: 1/26/2021

Total Stitching Time: 13 hours 39 minutes

I had to frog the pear, the leaves and most of the border so this took a lot longer to stitch than it should have.  I hope the next months go more quickly.  It's stitched on white 14-count Aida as charted with the called for DMC.  I'm using this for both the 12 Days of Christmas SAL on Facebook and the Christmas Ornie SAL.  It was also a 2020 Christmasitis start.

My second finish was  Back to School Mouse from Lucie Heaton.  I purchased this one from her website.

Started: 1/18/2021

Finished: 1/26/2021

Total Stitching Time: 6 hours 38 minutes

I originally started this one back in October, but didn't get very far before I discovered several mistakes.  When I went to pull it out again this month, I couldn't find it so I started over and it went much better this time.

It's stitched on white 14-count Aida as charted with the called for DMC except that I couldn't find my 3325 so I substituted 995 and 996 for the 3325 and 3755 in the dress.

This is the September Mouse for my year of female Furry Tales and will be going to WOCS when they are all finished.

I also stitched a bit on Santa Jingles' beard, but not enough to take a picture.

Next week, I plan to hopefully finish Santa Jingles and start and also hopefully finish the Halloween Mouse for October. 

Leslie Teare's Owls from the 2019 Facebook SAL

Now that I've finished all of my owls, I thought you'd like to see them altogether before I add my name/state and mail them off to WOCS (World of Charity Stitching) to be made into a quilt to be given to either a senior care facility or a Ronald McDonald House, most likely in Florida.  Oops, I just noticed that I need to add the border to the June owl as well.

January

February

March

April

May

June

 

July

August

September

October

November

December

 

Weekly Update - 1/21/2021

There was one day this week where I didn't stitch, but the rest of the week made up for it.

My project on Q-Snaps for the week was Blackwork USA from Peppermint Purple.  It's being stitched on 14-count white Aida as charted with the called for colors.  This is my Year Long Project on Cross Stitch Frog Busters and was a new start on January 15th.

 

Next, I finished the December Owl.  This was part of a free SAL from Leslie Teare on Facebook in 2019.  I believe you can now buy the complete set on her website or on Etsy.

It's stitched on 14-count Lite Oatmeal Aida as charted with the called for DMC except that I used 498, 321 and 666 instead of the called for 347, 349 and 351.

It will be going to the World of Charity Stitching Group (WOCS) along with the other owls to be made into a quilt. 

Started: 12/12/2020

Finished: 1/17/2021

Total Stitching Time: 13 hours and 11 minutes

Once that was completed, I restarted the September Furry Tales Mouse aka An Apple for Teacher and/or Back to School Mouse.  I purchased this one off Lucie Heaton's website since I didn't have a suitable chart in my stash.

It's being stitched on white 14-count Aida as charted with the called for DMC except that I couldn't find my 3325 so I substituted 995 and 996 for the called for 3325 and 3755 in her dress.

Finally, I pulled Santa Jingles out of my Mill Hill Mania box and finished his hat, except for the jingle bells which I'll add when he's finished.

As of 5/7/2020

As of 1/21/2021

 My plans for the coming week include finishing Day 1 of the 12 Days of Christmas, the September Furry Tales Mouse and Santa Jingles.  I'm not sure what I'll replace them with yet.

Weekly Update - 1/14/2021

All of my stitching this week has again been on 2020 Christmasitis starts, but it was not a good week for stitching.  I didn't stitch one night at all and much less than normal on a second night, so there are a couple of projects that should have been finished but weren't.

The first is 12 Days of Christmas from Ursula Michael.  This is a rotation piece, but I held it over for a second week since I discovered a major error that required quite a bit of frogging. 

As of 1/7/2021

After frogging

As of 1/14/2021

 All that's left of Day one is the pear and the rest of the borders.

The second project that should have been a finish is the December Owl from Leslie Teare's 2019 free Owl SAL on Facebook.

As of 1/7/2021

As of 1/14/2021

All that's left on this one is the snowball at the end of his hat, some more flowers and the border.

I did have one finish this week though.

Started: 12/14/2020

Finished: 1/11/2021

Total Stitching Time: 3 hours 51 minutes

This is the Blackwork Candle from the 2017 Ultimate Christmas Cross Stitch Magazine and was designed by Debra Page.

It's stitched on a scrap of white 14-count Aida with most of the called for colors.  I did change the color of the candle holder and the flame.  It's also pretty much stitched as charted except for the "solid" green leaf; it didn't turn out right so I'll be keeping this ornament for myself.

Gifted Gorgeousness - January, 2021

The fifteenth of each month is for posting items that relate to gifts, either some part of the item was received as a gift or the item will be given as a gift.  This is another brainchild of the fabulous Jo at Serendipitous Stitching .  

I have three finishes that qualify this month.  All are ornaments and were started as part of the 2020 Christmasitis SAL on Facebook. They will be going to a Ronald McDonald House either locally or in Canada.

The first is a Durene Jones snow globe.

The second is the Gingerbread Bell.

And the third is the Hodgepodge Stocking.

I've also been working on the December Owl.  It's the last of Leslie Teare's 2019 Owl SAL owls and will be sent to the World of Charity Stitching Cross Stitch Group to be made into a quilt along with the first 11 months.

Fully Finished Gallery - January, 2021

The Fully Finished Gallery SAL was created by Rachel at Ten Hour Stitcher to encourage us to fully finish our projects instead of just storing them in a drawer or box rarely to be seen again.  Click on the link to see more details and what other stitchers have posted.  

I've done very little finishing in the past few months, but I've made it a goal this year to fully finish at least one item each month.  Since the 10th came faster than it should have, I've only finished two, but two is better than none!

Both are recent Christmasitis finishes.  

Hodgepodge Stocking received a dark green felt backing and a gold beaded hanger.

 Gingerbread Bell received a red felt backing and a sparkly green ribbon hanger.

Weekly Update - 1/7/2021

All of my stitching this week has been on 2020 Christmasitis starts.  The first project I've been working on is 12 Days of Christmas from Ursula Michael.  It's stitched on white 14-count Aida with the called for DMC. 

As of 12/31/2020

As of 1/7/2021

Unfortunately, there's a mistake in the left border and since I started the interior of the square from the border, it all has to come out along with part of the border. Although the plan was to put this up after one week,  after some consideration, I decided to continue working on this for another week .

The next project I worked on is the December Owl from Leslie Teare's 2019 Facebook SAL.  It's stitched on 14-count Fiddler's Lite with DMC floss.  The reds have been changed to 498, 321 and 666 from 347, 349 and 351, but the rest is the called for floss.

As of 12/31/2020

As if 1/7/2021

Finally, I worked on and finished the Hodgepodge Stocking with the Christmas lights. 

Started; 12/31/2020

Finished: 1/7/2020

Total Stitching Time: 9 hours 32 minutes

 It's stitched on brown perforated paper with some of the called for DMC.  I did not stitch it as charted and the easiest way to show what I changed is to show you what the original should have looked like.

My plans for the coming week include continuing to work on 12 Days of Christmas for the coming week, continuing to work on December Owl until finished and working on Blackwork Candle, another 2020 Christmasitis start..