December Recap - Lots of Pictures

December was a decent month for stitching.  I continued making daily Christmas related starts for the 2020 Christmasitis SAL on Facebook and even finished six.

The finishes are:

 

 

 And here are the starts for December:

 

Statistics:

Days Stitched This Month (at least 1/2 hour) = 31

Days Stitched This Year (at least 1/2 hour) = 327

Total Hours Stitched This Month = 51 hours and 29 minutes

Number of Projects Worked on This Month = 34
Number of Unique Projects Worked on This Year = 134

Number of Projects Started This Month = 31

Number of Projects Started This Year = 132
Number of Projects Finished This Month = 6

Number of Projects Finished This Year = 56

2021 WIPacolypse Introduction

The WIPacolypse SAL was started to help you finish all your WIPs before the end of the world.  Check out Measi's Blog to get more information and/or see other stitchers' posts.  For this post, we're supposed to introduce ourselves and share our goals for the year.

My name is Cathy and I'm married to David.  We are both retired and live about a mile from the Happiest Place on Earth (otherwise known as Disneyland in Anaheim, CA). We have a daughter (Janice), a son-in-law (Devin) and the best 12 year old granddaughter ever (Kyleigh). We also have a cat named Taz who keeps us entertained.  Since I have out-of-state family that follow my blog, you'll definitely hear more about them in future posts.

My primary hobby is cross stitching, but I also enjoy reading, mostly mysteries and Christian fiction.  I've done some knitting, but it's limited to cast on, knit, purl and bind off.  We also enjoy traveling in our motorhome, but haven't done much recently.  I've been cross stitching for about 60 years and do a lot of stitching for charity groups.

My goals for this year are:

1) Stitch Blackwork USA from Peppermint Purple.

2) Stitch 12 Days of Christmas by Ursula Michael

3) Stitch Yoda by Dimensions

4) Finish the Furry Tales that weren't stitched in 2020 (September, October November and December) - I started December as part of the Christmasitis SAL on Facebook.

 5) Finish the December Owl from the 2019 Owl SAL by Leslie Teare on Facebook

 6) Locate and finish Peppermint Purple's 2020 SAL.

As of 11/5/2020

7) Finish as many of the Mill Hill Mania starts as I can.  I've currently finished 13 so I have another 17 to go.

8) Finish as many Christmasitis starts as I can.  I've currently finished 12 of the 61.

9) Finish Brooke's Advent Animals.  I have 18, 19, 20, 23, 24 and 25 left to stitch.

As of 2/19/2019

10) FFO at least one item each month for the Fully Finished Gallery SAL.

11) Add the personalization at the bottom and frame the Ronald McDonald House Sampler for the CHOC Hospital Family Room.       

I know this is probably more than enough to keep me busy, but I'd also like to stitch some Furry Tales designs showing boy mice, some of Durene Jones cupcakes, some of the ornaments in the JCS 2020 Christmas Ornament issue and the Waxing Moon monthlies.  And of course, I'm sure I'll find many more things I want to stitch as the year goes on.

                                                            

Happy Dance - Gingerbread Bell

 

 

Started: 12/2/2020

Finished: 12/31/2020

Total Stitching Time: 2 hours 25 minutes

 Gingerbread Bell was designed by Jenny Barton and I found it in an old issue of Cross Stitch Crazy.

It's stitched on brown perforated paper with the called for DMC.  The only change I made was to stitch the bottom inner border with brown instead of white.  

It was my 32nd start for the Christmasitis SAL and will be going to a Ronald McDonald House next Christmas.

Up Next: Hodgepodge Stocking

Happy Dance - Snowman Globe

 

 

Started: 11/24/2020

Finished: 12/27/2020

Total Stitching Time: 7 hours 58 minutes

This Snowman Globe was designed by Durene Jones and is part of group of charts called Christmas Snow Globes.

It's stitched on 14-count white Aida with the called for DMC, which probably wasn't the best choice in hindsight.  I changed the outline of the globe from white to gray (415) and the wording at the bottom from "Season's Greetings" to "Joy", because the way it was charted used a lot of backstitch that went into the middle of a stitch.

This was my 24th start for the 2020 Christmasitis SAL on Facebook. It will be made into an ornament for a Ronald McDonald House.

Up next:  Gingerbread Bell

WIPacolypse - December, 2020

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 on the link for more information.  In my introduction post, I set some goals for this year.

1) Stitch Deer Scene from Dimensions (New Start)

As of 11/4/2020

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

3) Finish Big Trees - No progress this year/ not currently on list for 2021

4) Finish Advent Animals by Brooke's Books - No progress this year/I plan to finish it in 2021

5) Finish Tinkerbell - Progress, but not finished/not currently on the list for 2021

As of 1/1/2020

As of 8/2/2020

 6) Finish Leslie Teare's 2019 Owl SAL - August, September, October and November are finished.  December is in progress and should be finished in January.

 

7) Complete the Peppermint Purple Year Long SAL on Facebook - I did fine until I misplace the project. I do plan to locate the project (it's got to be in my office/craft room someplace) and finish it in 2021.

As of 11/5/2020

8) Complete the 2020 Stitcher's Challenge on Q4OC (Quilts for Older Children and Adults). - Completed in November

9) Stitch 12 Furry Tales Female Mice to be sent to WOCS for a quilt.  January through August have have been stitched.  September through December will be completed in 2021.

 

10) Start 31 Mill Hill ornament kits for Stitch Maynia and finish as many as possible - I have completed 11 of the 31 starts from Maynia.  The rest should be finished in 2021

11)  Stitch and finish Ronald McDonald House SAL - The main stitching is completed, but I have to add the personalization which will be done in 2021.

 

As usual, I went into a stitching slump from late August to early November, which is part of the reason I didn't reach all my goals. 

 

Online Advent Calendar Blog Hop - Day 21

Every year Jo facilitates an Advent Calendar Blog Hop where each participant is assigned a day to make a post showing something Christmas-y.  She also provides a conversation topic related to Christmas. This year's conversation topic is - Your Favourite Christmas Book

At first I though I  didn't really have one.  It was never a tradition growing up to read or re-read a Christmas book and I've never done that with my daughter either.  But as I was reading the other posts, it occurred to me that the story of Christ's birth and The Night Before Christmas are both favorites.  I also read a lot of Christmas stories, mostly Cozy Mysteries and Christian fiction, but there isn't one I'd consider a favorite.

I've always stitched a lot of Christmas ornaments throughout the year and this year was no exception, so I've chosen one of my favorites to share with you.

This is Crimson Cardinal from Mill Hill and is ALL beads.

You can visit Serendipitous Stitching. to see what's happening on the rest of the days leading up to Christmas.