Stitching, Works in Progress

My 2023 Kickoff Stitching List

1 Comment

Before the Great Blog Reset of 2022 (a year ago today… sigh), I had an ongoing list of my Works in Progress (WIPs). Unfortunately any progress reports after 2019 were nerfed since nothing more recent was captured on the Wayback Machine. So… I’m starting from scratch. This will also be cross-copied to the WIP page I keep at the top of my blog (“Stitching Stats”), which is where I’ll keep the updated status going forward.

“Legacy Projects” that I list below are based off an idea that my friend Amy (Gables Stitcher on YouTube) has, where she set a date that stalled her stitching for a while. Anything that hasn’t been touched since before that stall date is a Legacy WIP in her stash. In my case, Legacy WIPs are:

  • My inactive Teresa Wentlzer projects – I only keep a couple at most in my active stash rotation at any one time both for sanity and to keep a diverse mix of designers in my WIP pile
  • Any project that I haven’t worked on for one reason or another since my son was born in 2013.
  • Unfinished Objects (UFOs) for any other number of reasons – I’ve put the project in “Time Out” for frustration, there’s something wrong with it (ex – pieces that have gone missing), or I may just not be “feeling it” for some reason.

My goal is to update this once per month when I do my WIPocalypse check-in.

2023 Stats (Year to Date)

Updated as of January 2, 2023

Start of Year WIPs: 56
Legacy Projects/UFOs: 15 (but this will increase as I organize)
Completions: 0
Projects Worked: 2
New Starts: 1
Retirements: 0

Current WIPs

Note: Must have been started prior to 2023. Bolded means I have worked on them in 2023.

  • ABCs of Parenting (Lizzie Kate)
  • And They Sinned (Exemplar Dames)
  • Animal Crossing Mystery (Cunning Cross Stitch)
  • Apache Wedding Blessing (Kooler Designs)
  • Baba Yaga (Autumn Lane)
  • Bag Ladies (Sunset)
  • Bayun Cat (Owl Forest Embroidery)
  • Bird ‘n Berry Box (Barbara Jackson)
  • Blessed Be (Plum Pudding Needleart)
  • Book of Ink Circles “BoINK” (Ink Circles)
  • Celestial Medley (Sudberry)
  • Christmas Pin Pillow (Kathy Barrick)
  • The Colonial Sampler (Betsy Stinner)
  • Coming to America: Women of the Mayflower (With Thy Needle)
  • Cowboy Cats (Dimensions)
  • Dear Rine 2017 (Rine on FB)
  • Deep Blue Sea (Chatelaine)
  • Denim Band Sampler (iStitch)
  • Down the Danube (Jeannette Douglas)
  • Dragonflies, Ladybugs & Bees – Oh My! (M Designs)
  • Early Americans Series (Little House Needleworks))
  • Egyptian Sampler (Teresa Wentzler)
  • Flying Lesson (Silver Creek Samplers)
  • From Sea to Shining Sea (Little House Needleworks)
  • The Fruit of Plenty – SAL 2021 (Modern Folk Embroidery)
  • Ghost Stories (Witchy Stitcher)
  • Halloween Candlestick SAL (Lakeside Needlecraft)
  • Hugs & Kisses (Blue Ribbon Designs)
  • Hyperborea (Owl Forest Embroidery)
  • I Love New England (Sampler Needlework)
  • I Love USA Stitching Set (Mani di Donna)
  • Jade Band Sampler (iStitch Designs)
  • Jazz Sampler (Victoria Sampler)
  • Lavender Potpourri Sachet (Olde Colonial Designs)
  • Live on Little (Plum Street Samplers)
  • Love to Stitch Box (Jeannette Douglas)
  • Musical Harmony (Michele Johnson) – Oldest WIP
  • Mute But Not Silent (Amy Mitten)
  • Nantucket Sampler (Medeiros Needlework)
  • Pandemic (Long Dog)
  • Quaker Compass (Rosewood Manor)
  • Quaker Halloween Sampler (Cherished Stitches)
  • Quaker Mystery 2020 (Fox & Rabbit)
  • Smoky Mountain Cats (Janlynn/Pegasus)
  • Snowball Fight (Dragon Dreams)
  • Snoelle (Linda Jenkins – JCS Ornament issue)
  • A Stitch for Sweet Freedom (Lindy Stitches)
  • A Stitcher’s Sampler (Primitive Hare)
  • Strawberry Zipper Pouch (It’s Fine-ally Finished)
  • Supernatural (Witchy Stitcher)
  • Temperature Tree 2021 (Stitchin’ Mommy)
  • What Remains (Blackbird Designs)
  • The Wheelbarrow (The Purple Thread)
  • Winter Welcome (Park Hopper Bart)
  • Witchy Washy (Raise the Roof)
  • You Were Hatched (Teresa Wentzler)

Legacy/UFO Projects

  • The Castle – Black version (Teresa Wentzler)
  • Cats on a Staircase (Bucilla)
  • Celestial Dragon (Teresa Wentzler)
  • Earth Angel (Lavender & Lace)
  • Fantasy Triptych (Teresa Wentzler)
  • Freedom SAL (Seba Designs)
  • In the Arms of an Angel (Lavender & Lace)
  • Legends of the Dragons (Teresa Wentzler/Dragon Dreams/Black Swan)
  • Midsummer Nights Fairy (Mirabilia)
  • Millennium (Teresa Wentzler)
  • Muse of the Midnight Sun (Heaven & Earth Designs)
  • Noah’s Ark (Teresa Wentzler)
  • Shakespeare’s Fairies (Mirabilia) – fabric missing!!
  • Tapestry Cat (Teresa Wentzler)
  • Treetop Sampler (Teresa Wentzler)
  • More to be added as I organize my stash room

Completions

  • None yet!

New Starts

  • The River (Modern Folk Embroidery – January 1, 2023

Retirements

  • None yet!

Challenges/Stitch-A-Longs, Stitching, Works in Progress

MAGIC 2022 Plans

No Comments

Last year I joined the Tudor Rose Sampler Guild (abbreviated TRSG going forward) to participate in an online class for Amy Mitten’s Mute But Not Silent project. The class was great – a blend of new-to-me stitches (cut work!!!) and some history about Dutch samplers. I’d also been curious about joining a formal stitching guild, but have felt the EGA to be a bit too intimidating and not quite cross-stitch friendly, so it was nice to discover a group that is supportive of cross stitch and a variety of different styles. I’ve enjoyed putting names to faces with some stitchers who I’ve seen in Facebook groups over the years, too! The group is local to the Dallas, TX area, but for now they are meeting virtually. Until it goes back to in-person meetings and isn’t accessible, it’s a great opportunity for me to learn, branch out, and get a sense of how a guild membership can work (and as they’ve been doing this for over 20 years – it’s going quite well!)

One of the things that TRSG does every year is a project called M.A.G.I.C. – My Annual Good Intentions Contract. MAGIC goals are ones stitchers choose themselves for projects that they’ve already started that they intend to finish – either in stitching or to be fully finished (FFO’ed) if stitching is already complete. There’s a form on the membership website to enter in your pieces (due by February 1st), and a couple progress check-ins will be done during meetings through the year. Totally fun, just to keep folks motivated. 🙂

So I’ve entered my M.A.G.I.C. list for the year onto the website. Now I just need to get these suckers done this year! My list is as follows:

Witches Wheel (Glendon Place) – The stitching on this is done, but I have all of the beading to do. Ideally I’d also like to get this framed so I can enter it into this year’s Big E fair.

Jade Band Sampler (iStitch Designs) – I am currently on week 11 of 30 on this sampler. If I just stick with this, I should be able to complete this easily in 2022.

The Castle (Teresa Wentzler) – I completed the stitching on this way back in 2005. It’s never been framed, and that needs to be rectified. So this is a FFO goal.

You Were Hatched (Teresa Wentzler) – I have the Celtic braid corners to complete on this ornament before FFOing this in time to hang on my tree next Christmas. I’d had this stalled for a while because there was a time that I was going to create this into Max’s birth sampler… but then I went another direction. So ornament it will be!

Mirabilia Round Robin (Mirabilia – customized) – Completed back in 2011!!! Not framed!!! What’s wrong with me?!? So yes – big FFO goal for the year. This needs to go on my wall. Soon.

A Stitch for Sweet Freedom (Lindy Stitches) – This cute little piece is one I started last January for Inauguration Day. I’d like to have it completed by the end of this year.

Apache Wedding Blessing (Kooler Designs) – Crosses are done, but I completely burned on the backstitching on this. The friend it was intended for will celebrate her 20th anniversary in a couple years, and I’d like to have this done for then.

Bird & Berry Box (Barbara Jackson) – This project was via a class I took through Celebrations in 2020. The class was short and I didn’t really get to work on it much, but I’d like to get all of the smalls stitched and assembled this year.

Winter Welcome (Park Hopper Bart) – I received this pattern in the recent Nice Box from Black Needle Society, and it’s so stinkin’ cute!! Not large at all, and it’s a design that should also be easy to frame. So my goal is to get this both stitched and FFO’d.

Christmas Pin Pillow (Kathy Barrick) – This is another project I received fully kitted in the Nice Box. I started this on New Year’s Eve, and would like to complete it this year. My goal is to only finish the stitching for now – if I can FFO it, great. I’m not sure yet how I will finish it (kinda need to get a sense of the finished size first).

Flying Lesson (Silver Creek Samplers) – Silver Creek is quickly becoming one of my “whimsy pattern” favorites. I received this project in the Black Needle Society’s Trick or Treat Box in October. My goal is to stitch it. Unsure for finishing quite yet.

I Love USA (Mani di Donna) – In 2020, Celebration of Needlework was held remotely, like so many other things. I supported the retreat by paying for my membership and my normal classes, even though I’d be sitting at home in front of my computer. Mani di Donna’s project was one of the eight via the Round Robin class on Friday evening – an event I enjoy participating in every year. It’s a small fob and flosswinder set. My goal is to do both the stitching and finishing for this.

Temperature Tree 2022 (Stitchin’ Mommy) – My intention had been to complete this tree in 2021, but I wasn’t able to get things done… so it’s becoming a 2022 temperature tracker instead! Fully stitched. I’ll FFO it in 2023.

It’s a lot of things to try to finish, but I’m optimistic. Many of these projects are either small, or just need final framing. In true “me” fashion, I made it official by creating a planner checklist page for myself. Now that it’s in writing, it’s an official goal! 🙂

I am, of course, a planner nerd. 🙂

Challenges/Stitch-A-Longs, Stitching, Works in Progress

WIPGO 2022 Plans…

No Comments

Last year I stumbled upon an interesting stitch-a-long called WIPGO, which was themed as a year-long Bingo game. It was created by Jessie Marie on her FlossTube, “Jessie Marie Does Stuff.” Draw a 5×5 Bingo board, number the squares right to left, 1-25. Leave the center square (#13) as a free space, and then fill the rest of the squares with goals. The goals are entirely up to the stitcher, but reasonable goals are strongly encouraged. The goals don’t have to all be different pieces, nor do they have to be just cross-stitch. As Jessie has said, “Your board, your rules.”

On approximately the 27th day of the month, Jessie draws two numbers (three, if #13 is called), and those are the “focus” squares for the following month. The goals don’t have to be finished in that specific month, but it’s a guide to help you to choose what to focus on. Every month on the second full weekend is “WIPGO Weekend,” an optional incentive focus on your WIPGO pieces. Conveniently – that’s this weekend! (and it’s a long one!)

Last year I tried a goal of 1,000 stitches for each project on my board – which actually worked well until I got to the month where I had my current Jeanette Douglas piece, “Love to Stitch” box, and all of the specialty stitches that made counting a little tricky. I fell off my rhythm, and the rest of the year kinda fell apart.

I’ve decided to try a new goal format for 2022 because I really like how this SAL is set up. Each WIP has its own goal for the month, and I think I’ve made them varied enough to be challenging but reasonable and interesting so that I don’t feel like I’m forced to just count stitches.

Here’s my board for 2022:

Numbers 2 and 19 were called for January – so I outlined them and color-coded the month on the right (since I’m keeping my sheet as a hard-copy chart in my planner). When I finish the goals for each project, I’ll color the entire square in to show that it’s done for the year.

Here’s where I started for January on the two called pieces:

Jade Band Sampler is by Carol at iStitch Designs. Every year for the past several years, Carol has designed a band sampler themed to a color. There have been approximately a half-dozen of these so far. They are released in small sections averaging 30-40 stitches high every week for approximately 30 weeks of the year, and are suitable for stitching either over one or over two.

I am currently on week 10 of 30, and am stitching mine over two threads on 28 ct banding. It’s going to be LONG when it’s done – nearly 2 meters in length. For now, I’m planning to finish it as a scroll under hurricane lamp glass. I eventually hope to have a house where I can hang it (and the Denim sampler for 2022) on a long wall. 🙂

My goal on this piece for WIPGO is to finish 4 weeks of the SAL, so to finish through week 15 (I’m not counting week 10 as one of those weeks since it was already started). I would like to fully complete the sampler this year, however. My WIPGO goal is just the “reasonable” one for the year!

Mute But Not Silent by Amy Mitten Designs was an online class I took in September 2021 via the Tudor Sampler Guild. I loved the style of the class – the sampler is a Dutch-influenced new design using motifs to tell a mystery story. The story was divided into three parts and read during the class, and each of the motifs represented something within the story – and also part of life in the Netherlands during the historical period in which the story takes place. I thought it was a very fun way to teach a sampler and embroidery history class!

This was a kitted project for the class, with 32 ct. Zweigart linen (ecru/ivory – not specified) and Amy Mitten’s hand dyed silks from her brand, Fibers to Dye For. They’re all named after phrases from murder mysteries!!

We were asked to baste the fabric prior to the class, which is why you see purple lines. I almost never do any gridding, but there is a bit of skipping around if the piece is stitched according to the story. I’m working the first motif, representing the father and sailor of the story, right now. My goal for this WIP is to finish Part One of the class. It’s an ambitious goal, but I do have all year to do it.

I’m making good progress this weekend on Jade Band, but need to get going on Mute to make progress before the end of Monday. I’m hoping to complete that first motif by tomorrow night.

Off to get a little done before bed. Happy stitching all!

Challenges/Stitch-A-Longs, Stitching, Works in Progress

The weekend where ALL of my SALs converge

No Comments

This weekend is International Hermit and Stitch Weekend!  Grab a project (or two… or four), curl up, get some stitching done, and share with the world.

It’s kind of like WIPocalypse, but much shorter and even more freeform.  ðŸ™‚

BUT WAIT – It’s also Jardin January for Theme-a-licious, which means that my selection for this weekend fits all of my ongoing SALS at the same time.

I know – right?  It’s epic stitching convergence time.  And at the end of the weekend, it’s time for TUSAL to finish it all off.

What piece is so epic in my stash that it can fulfill all of these SAL’s?  It’s none other than…

Floral Bellpull - as of 1-19-12

Floral Bellpull!

Yes, the ongoing WIP that has been ongoing for years, gone out on a UFO Round Robin cruise, and still remains an unfinished piece.  It’s the one Teresa Wentzler I truly want to complete this year – and completing it is actually possible if I sit my butt down, get the needle going, and get to work.

While yes, it’s only Thursday, I’m getting a start on it tonight for the weekend.  My goal is to finish the square you see – which is the 4th of 6 in the bellpull.  I don’t have that much actual cross-stitching left to do in the square, so it’s quite possible I can get it and all of the backstitching completed by Sunday night.

*crossing fingers*

Want to join up in one of the non-WIPocalypse SALs this weekend?  Click on the appropriate button below to follow to their hosts.  ðŸ™‚

1 … 8 9 10
Close Menu