Hi everyone!

We’re exactly halfway through the year. Crazy, isn’t it? 2024 has been a good year for me so far, albeit not all that great stitching-wise. It’s one of those years where there’s just a lot of transition going on in my life, so I think my attention is just elsewhere, and that’s fine. I know stitching will return in time.

Max’ finished school this past week’s school year officially ended this past Monday (yes… we go LATE into June here), and it was his final year in elementary school. He’s off to Middle School in September and an exciting, broader world. (The little boy you see at the top of my blog definitely needs an update photo! 🙂 I think he was 4… he’s now 11.)

One big stitching accomplishment for me – I completed logging all of the charts I have in my stash, and did a first round of peeling off charts that I know I will never, ever stitch or duplicates that I had required, likely by rounds at freebie stash tables at retreats. I definitely have more than I could ever stitch in my lifetime – but some of the charts I’m just not ready to give up yet. I have a box of charts I’ll be bringing to Stitch New England to contribute to the table of freebie treasure hunting. I also have a list of stuff I want to start sooner than later – so it’s a win-win all around. 🙂

Olympics Stitching

It’s that time again!! The Summer Olympic Games will be held in Paris starting July 26th and ending August 11th. We have three events you can participate in during the Olympics:

1. Rotation Relay – rotate through as many projects as you can during the Olympics (for those who like to work on a bunch of different pieces)
2. Endurance Race –  stick to ONE piece for the Olympics, and see how far you can push that one piece toward finishing (for those one at a time stitchers, or anyone else who wants to do some serious focusing on a particular piece)
3. Celebrate the Nations –  stitch only in the colors of the Olympic rings on your WIP pieces, OR… your nation’s flag, OR… on some sort of piece that is reflective of where you live, eg. Americana pieces for US residents.

Although I always love doing Rotation Relays for the Olympics, I’m likely doing an Endurance Race this year. I wasn’t able to get the stitching done on I Love New England that I’d hoped in June due to some counting errors that required a bunch of frogging. The ripping is done – so now it’s time to move forward again. What do you think you’ll work on?

Have a lovely July everyone!

Happy Stitching,
Mel.

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Important SAL Announcements…

Question of the Month:  Half-year recap:  How are you doing with your goals so far this year?

Next posting date: July 28, 2024

Topic(s) for next time: Which of your current WIPs do you consider your most difficult piece to stitch?

Need all the basic info about the SAL? GO HERE for all details for 2024!

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Please remember that this stitch-a-long is intended to be fun – so if you’re too busy to post, too busy/ill/etc. to stitch – no worries! Post when you can and share what you have going, even if you’ve only been able to toss a single stitch into it. If you miss a few months, not a problem – just jump back in when you’re back with us! It’s not a race or a competition – we’re all just here to cheer each other on with our progress.

Hi everyone!

It’s a beautiful long weekend here in Rhode Island. I have kids laughing and running around the backyard, the birds are chirping, my cats are being lazy in their naps, and I’m having a slow-roll day after busy times yesterday at the RI Veterans Cemetery and Plant a Letterbox Day. Things are a bit late today simply because I’m moving slower than normal.

Did you participate in Stitch Maynia? I started out great, and then Mother’s Day weekend, I sprained my right shoulder and really couldn’t find a way to sit comfortably, let alone stitch. So that ended my month. The shoulder is on the mend – still achy but I’ve at least regained my freedom of movement. I’m back to stitching and hope to get into a daily practice this week again.

June is our next One-Month Challenge

 Take one of your WIPs, and do a minimum of one stitch per day, every day for that month.  This challenge is inspired by a 100 Day HAED Challenge via Facebook that I did in 2018.  It worked amazingly well to make great progress.  It’s simple, takes only a few minutes, and will help push along that project you keep avoiding or just need a little extra focus to move forward. No stress, no pressure… just a little each day.

For those of you marking Memorial Day, may your thoughts of loved ones be comforting and happy ones. For everyone else – have a lovely rest of your weekend and a great June of stitching!

Happy Stitching,
Mel.

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Important SAL Announcements…

Question of the Month:  How do you personally distinguish between a Work in Progress (WIP) and an Unfinished Object (UFO)?

Next posting date: June 30, 2024

Topic(s) for next time: Half-year recap:  How are you doing with your goals so far this year?

Need all the basic info about the SAL? GO HERE for all details for 2024!

*~~*~~*~~*~~

Please remember that this stitch-a-long is intended to be fun – so if you’re too busy to post, too busy/ill/etc. to stitch – no worries! Post when you can and share what you have going, even if you’ve only been able to toss a single stitch into it. If you miss a few months, not a problem – just jump back in when you’re back with us! It’s not a race or a competition – we’re all just here to cheer each other on with our progress.

Hi everyone!

Spring has definitely arrived and the annual Pollening has begun. Our maple trees started leaving out this week, leaving me in a bit of a sniffly mess. But springtime always makes me feel energized and happy as the world starts new growth everywhere.

We still haven’t had the days where I can comfortably sit outside to stitch, but I know they’re coming. I seriously can’t wait. I have one of those anti-gravity lounge chairs with my name on it for lazy afternoons and evenings with stitching or a good book.

I still haven’t been doing a ton of stitching lately, but more due to the current pressures at work than anything else. Spring is always our busy time of year, and mentally I’ve just been a bit wiped out. I’m just trying to roll with it and hope that with Stitch Maynia, I’ll get back to my normal routine! Ideally I’d like to get at least a half-hour of stitching in every day. It’s not a lot, but it’s more than what I’ve been doing recently. Which leads me into June’s stitch-a-long…

June is our next One-Month Challenge

 Take one of your WIPs, and do a minimum of one stitch per day, every day for that month.  This challenge is inspired by a 100 Day HAED Challenge via Facebook that I did in 2018.  It worked amazingly well to make great progress.  It’s simple, takes only a few minutes, and will help push along that project you keep avoiding or just need a little extra focus to move forward. No stress, no pressure… just a little each day.

Have a lovely May, and I’ll see you at the end of next month!

Happy Stitching,
Mel.

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Important SAL Announcements…

Question of the Month:  Which designers have you discovered lately?

Next posting date: May 26, 2024

Topic(s) for next time: How do you personally distinguish between a Work in Progress (WIP) and an Unfinished Object (UFO)?

Need all the basic info about the SAL? GO HERE for all details for 2024!

*~~*~~*~~*~~

Please remember that this stitch-a-long is intended to be fun – so if you’re too busy to post, too busy/ill/etc. to stitch – no worries! Post when you can and share what you have going, even if you’ve only been able to toss a single stitch into it. If you miss a few months, not a problem – just jump back in when you’re back with us! It’s not a race or a competition – we’re all just here to cheer each other on with our progress.

Hi everyone!

It’s a sunny day here in Rhode Island – and very deceiving. It looks warm, but I know it’s not warm out there. There’s the earliest hint of springtime, though. The snow is melting. I’m seeing little hints of my day lilies popping through the earth, and the neighbor’s daffodils are already a couple inches high.

It’s been a relatively mild winter here all considered. I’m ready for spring, but it’s been so long since we’ve had a serious snowstorm – one of those over a foot snow dumps – that I honestly wish we could have one of them so I can just sit curled up under a quilt and stitch all day. I’ll take spring though. I love the energy watching things start to grow.

My yearly goals are already going off the rails a little bit – but I’m making some happy progress on three different pieces. Maybe my goals will change this year to focus on them. Not sure yet – but I’m happy with the progress I’m making!

March Stitching Challenge

For planning in advance – March will be our first monthly focus challenge. Pick one piece that you want to make progress on and commit to stitching at least one stitch per night on it. Thirty-one stitches doesn’t seem like a lot, of course, but… chances are you’ll do at least a small batch of stitches on a piece every night that way. And if life is being absolutely insane? You just do a stitch. Miss a day? Do two stitches and you’re caught up. It’s a low-key challenge but has worked surprisingly well to help a lot of people make significant progress on a piece! 🙂 If you can’t join us for March, this challenge will run again in June and October this year.

As always, these are optional. Further on them can be found via the link in the Important SAL Announcements below, or at the very top of my blog in the link bar.

Enjoy your stitchy days in March – I’ll see you at the end of next month!

Best,
Mel.

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Important SAL Announcements…

Question of the Month:  What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year?

Next posting date: March 31, 2024

Topic(s) for next time: What colors – and brands – of floss do you love using? Do you have a particular color that you absolutely love?

Need all the basic info about the SAL? GO HERE for all details for 2024!

*~~*~~*~~*~~

Please remember that this stitch-a-long is intended to be fun – so if you’re too busy to post, too busy/ill/etc. to stitch – no worries! Post when you can and share what you have going, even if you’ve only been able to toss a single stitch into it. If you miss a few months, not a problem – just jump back in when you’re back with us! It’s not a race or a competition – we’re all just here to cheer each other on with our progress.

Hi everyone!

Happy end of January! It’s been a wild month here in the Measi household with flooding rains, multiple cars deciding they were at the end of their lifetimes, and winter illnesses that felt like they just didn’t want to give us up (but did, in fact, want to let us down…). I’m honestly looking forward to February starting!

I hope that you’re meeting your stitching goals so far this year… but if not, remember – the year is still relatively new. You have plenty of time! 🙂 Go crush those stitchy goals!

My largest goal for the year in regards to stitching is doing a proper purge of my stash. Between freebie tables at retreats and a bit too much Covid-time purchasing, I have way too much stuff and need to do some honesty challenges with myself about some projects and whether I’ll ever stitch them. Plus I need to whittle out magazines that are just sitting collecting dust. It’s a bit overwhelming, and I need to wrangle. I’ve made good progress in organizing patterns so far by doing a first-pass logging on an Excel spreadsheet to whittle out any duplicates and easy “no, I won’t stitch that” charts … but oh my goodness I have too much stash.

What are your big goals for the year?

March Stitching Challenge

For planning in advance – March will be our first monthly focus challenge. Pick one piece that you want to make progress on and commit to stitching at least one stitch per night on it. Thirty-one stitches doesn’t seem like a lot, of course, but… chances are you’ll do at least a small batch of stitches on a piece every night that way. And if life is being absolutely insane? You just do a stitch. Miss a day? Do two stitches and you’re caught up. It’s a low-key challenge but has worked surprisingly well to help a lot of people make significant progress on a piece! 🙂 If you can’t join us for March, this challenge will run again in June and October this year.

As always, these are optional. Further on them can be found via the link in the Important SAL Announcements below, or at the very top of my blog in the link bar.

Have a lovely February full of stitching… I’ll see you next month!

Best,
Mel.

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Important SAL Announcements…

Question of the Month: Tell us about the oldest WIP you have in your stash.

Next posting date: February 25, 2024

Topic(s) for next time: What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year?

Need all the basic info about the SAL? GO HERE for all details for 2024!

*~~*~~*~~*~~

Please remember that this stitch-a-long is intended to be fun – so if you’re too busy to post, too busy/ill/etc. to stitch – no worries! Post when you can and share what you have going, even if you’ve only been able to toss a single stitch into it. If you miss a few months, not a problem – just jump back in when you’re back with us! It’s not a race or a competition – we’re all just here to cheer each other on with our progress.