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

January Stitching Wrap-Up

February 1, 2023 1 Comment

*Noby (orange) and his littermate Elly (black) many years ago in their younger adult days*

The rollercoaster that I’d mentioned in my January 16th post continued through last weekend, and so I’m now behind in updating what’s been going on in my stitchy life. Along with Carol’s passing, we had to say goodbye to the last of our original band of (pre-Max) cats, Noby, who crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Saturday at the ripe old age of 17. It wasn’t unexpected – he had been quite ill for a long time, and we’d been avoiding facing reality over the holidays. I’m glad he’s no longer suffering and that he’s able to run free with his sister and the extended cat family we had. I miss him though – even his annoying, gross habit of sneezing right in my face.

Work has been kinda busy lately too – the usual uptick of meeting preparations seems to be coming about a month earlier than normal. It’s not a bad thing, but I felt like I was caught a little flat-footed the past couple weeks. I made some good headway to get back on track early this week though – so all good there.

With the emotional and work weirdness, my stitching hasn’t been quite as productive the last couple weeks. I’m still quite happy with what I accomplished, though!

*Apache Wedding Blessing by Kooler Designs as of January 21, 2023. Stitched 2 over 2 on antique white linen with charted DMC.*

I completed both of my remaining WIPGO goals for January in the last two weeks of the month – two days of backstitching on Apache Wedding Blessing, and two days on Mute But Not Silent.

For Apache Wedding Blessing, I focused on the top left corner of the piece – outlining that upper feather and then running the straight line outlines for a couple of the poles. I’m happy with two nights of progress. I may bring this with me to Stitcher’s Hideaway later this month to get a bit more basic backstitching in on the poles on the other side. I would estimate I’m about one third through the backstitching at this point, and then I have a little more tension cleanup work on the left hand side where I originally pulled a bit too tightly. I’ll be fixing that side by simply running a tent stitch over my existing stitches to fatten them up a little bit.

Mute But Not Silent by Amy Mitten as of January 23, 2023 – stitched one over two on 32 ct Lambswool linen with charted silk floss.

On Mute But Not Silent, I decided to focus on the first of the two large H’s. While a good chunk of the work was double running stitch outlining the outside, I did also add some cross stitches in the center of the structure of the H to give it a bit more dimension. I still need to add a four-sided stitch into the center of each of those circles, and then that H is complete… and I can move on to the next one. These Dutch-style letters are quite ornate! And they don’t match each other – the stitches are put in different configurations, so I need to count almost the entire time.

Even though this is a “murder mystery” piece, I do know what the entire piece looks like. I posted it here on my WIPGO Week 4 post. The mystery will be linking the individual motifs to the storyline so they make sense. Definitely a fun way to stitch a piece – and have a little extra “if you know, you know” behind it on the wall.

*Fruit of Plenty by Modern Folk Embrodiery as of January 21, 2023. Stitched 1 over 2 on 40 ct Toasted Almond linen with DMC 800 and 840.*

With my WIPGO stitching completed, I decided to pull out a couple pieces that were yelling at me to get some work done and threw them into the option pit for Semi Sane’s “Choose My WIP” challenge.

The first was Fruit of Plenty from Modern Folk Embroidery. I managed to get a little over 1,000 stitches in on this one in about a week of puttering. I’m very happy with the progress. And it will get more in February since it’s a featured WIPGO piece!

I outlined the entire cartouche you see centered here, plus filled in some of the blue at the top of it (where the “2” is shaded in). For February I’m going to try to finish up this section, which represented the February block in 2021. It’s super-intense stitching, so I do not expect to keep up with this throughout 2023. But I’m going to push it as far as I can this year. My goal was a modest three months completion. I should make that just fine.

*Temperature Tree by Stitchin’ Mommy. Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct “Dreamin'” Lugana by Silkweaver with customized DMC.*

For the final week of Choose My WIP, I stitched on the 2021 Temperature Tree by Stitchin’ Mommy. I have had a heck of a time overcoming the tree trunks on this one. Not sure why I’m struggling so muich – but I just have hit one of those ruts. I’m sure once I get that final trunk in, this piece will move a lot faster as I stitch in the individual leaves. I’m very happy to have added three limbs onto the tree – just a little more to go! About one and a half limbs!

This piece will definitely get finished this year. I already have a couple of other temperature projects waiting on the wings that I’d like to start – but I won’t until this one gets done. The heart you see is custom. This piece didn’t have a year or initials added in as part of the design, so I decided I’d carve my initials and the two-digit year right into the tree. I’d waffled whether I would change this to 2022 or… since it’s now 2023, the current year. I decided to leave it as a 2021 piece. I already have found a couple other fabulous temperature record pieces that I’ll work for the most recent years.

I will post my WIPGO Week 5 piece tomorrow, even though it’s not Wednesday. For now I need to head to bed… it’s been a long day and I’m wiped out!

If you want to see what else I worked on in January, my weekly updates are here and here.

Stitching, Works in Progress

WIPGO 2023 – Week 5 – Bayun Cat (кот баюн)

February 1, 2023 No Comments

I started this entry but forgot to finish it… so backdating it to keep it in proper sequence. Whoops!

February’s WIPGO numbers have been pulled, bringing four new pieces forward for my monthly focus. Two are more intense pieces, and two are lighter stitching… a very nice mix for the short month!

Bayun Cat (Кот Баюн) by Owl Forest Embroidery. Photo is originally from Owl Forest’s website.

First up for February is Bayun Cat from Owl Forest Embroidery. This was my New Year’s Start for 2022. I purchased this as a full kit from Owl Forest Embroidery before the travesty in Ukraine I’m quite sad that getting another kit from the designer is virtually impossible right now.

Her kits are absolutely beautiful. So much so that I honestly felt a bit guilty breaking it open to start stitching. If you follow the link above to the designer’s website, there are images of the pretty presentation to the kit. Yes – it’s that pretty! It comes with the pattern, a backup copy of the pattern divided into smaller segments to cut out that are easier to handle while stitching, the floss – attached to bobbins pre-labeled with the key symbol (!!!), fabric, a needle minder, a needle, and a small pamphlet about stitching. DMC alternatives are given for the patterns, but Owl Forest’s threads are lovely and unusual. I would recommend getting them if you can.

The Bayun Cat is a creature from Russian folklore. He’s a bit of a complicated character – much like everyday cats. In many tales, he’s a huge talking cat with a voice that can lull a person to sleep with his tales and murders them. But in some tales, he’s more of a “learned cat” and an antagonist that can be defeated and will serve a hero, healing wounds with his purring. In the Soviet era, connections to Baba Yaga were made, associating him more with evil than good. But in this piece, I prefer to think of him as the teller of tales and a challenge to worthy heroes in all the ways a cat can be. After all – housecats remind us with those nibbles that if they were bigger, they’d probably eat us, too. 🙂

Bayun Cat by Owl Forest Embroidery as of February 1, 2023. Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct hand-dyed Belfast linen with kitted hand-dyed floss.

I really only worked on the piece last year for a couple of days before moving onto the flurry of chaos, so it will be nice to get back to this. I doubt I’ll finish this piece in 2023, but if I recall – it was a relatively quickly moving piece to start. So you never know. My goal on it is really just any progress, wherever it leads me. I’ll likely stay focused on the tail for a while and the rest of the houses he’s curled around.

Until next time… Happy Stitching!

Stitching, WIPocalypse

January 2023 WIPocalypse Check-In

January 29, 2023 No Comments

Hello everyone!

New Year’s Day was just last week, wasn’t it? This month went weirdly fast. I’d fallen into the rhythm of the last three years where months seemed to go both quickly and slowly at the same time – the Covid Time Paradox. But January went just… fast. Too fast, honestly.

I hope that you were able to embrace that strange phenomenon that is inspirational energy at the beginning of the new year and harness it for your stitching. It’s been a positive month on my end, and I’m in a good spot with progress – hoping that it continues as long as I can push it this year! I just try to remind myself that every stitch counts. Every single one. Even if I only manage a couple a day.

Challenge Heads Up – March One Month Challenge

March will be our first one month challenge of the year. If you are interested in participating, choose one of your WIPs and do a minimum of one stitch per day, every day, on it for the month of March. The theory is like potato chips – you likely won’t be able to do just one! It takes just a few minutes if you are having a super busy time, and it’s at least 31 extra stitches that you didn’t have in your piece at the beginning of the month. Remember… every stitch counts. Every single one. If you fall behind? No big deal – it’s not a ton of stitches to catch up! Just jump back in. If you can’t join us for March, there will be additional months in June, July, and October. Or of course – pick your own month that works for your schedule!

I’m off to hopefully have a productive early day of chores so I can be lazy and stitch all afternoon/evening during the football final games to determine the Super Bowl this year. Have a lovely February all, and I’ll see you next month!

Best,
Mel.

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Important SAL Announcements…

Question of the Month: If you have been to retreats, what are your must-bring items and supplies?

Next posting date: January 29, 2023

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 2023!

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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.

Stitching, Works in Progress

WIPGO Week 4 – Mute But Not Silent

January 25, 2023 1 Comment

*Mute But Not Silent by Amy Mitten – photo from her class offerings.*

My final project for January’s WIPGO numbers is Mute But Not Silent by Amy Mitten. I was introduced to the Tudor Rose Sampler Guild via this class Workshop in September 2021. It is not a reproduction sampler, but is designed in the style of Dutch Hindeloopen samplers from the 17th century. The threads are tudor silks that Amy dyes herself under the brand name “Fibers to Dye For,” and they’re all fabulously named with murder mystery names. She also has some threadpacks for Hands Across the Sea, Blackbird Designs, and Scarlett House samplers if you’re looking for excuses If I had a lot more money, I’d be buying ALL of the floss just for the names!

The motifs in the sampler represent clues in a murder mystery story that was included with the chart and read in the class. Amy also showed slides and some photos of images that inspired the motifs, giving context to what objects were, what they represented, or how they were used in everyday life at that time.

It was a very interesting class – fun to learn some history behind a sampler region I knew nothing about. It also was my first time learning how to do hemstitching and cutting threads (eek!! heart attack!!!). I have survived the panic about taking scissors to the fabric, but with a little more practice, I think I will be okay.

Mute But Not Silent by Amy Mitten as of January 21, 2023 – stitched 1 over 2 on 32 ct Lambswool Linen with charted/kitted silks.

I’ve worked on this a bit here and there, but it’s a piece I really need to sit and focus on due to the heavy counting – so it hasn’t been a priority of mine in recent months. This is a longer-term project. I don’t have it planned for completion in 2023. Maybe 2024, but likely this one is going to be a couple more years out because the detail work is pretty intense. It’s gorgeous though. I will be happy to one day finish it and get it up on the wall.

For this month, I think I have a miscount in that green ring I’m starting at the bottom. I’m not going to work on picking that out just now. Instead, I’m going to continue to work on those two large H’s at the top, since they have a bunch of embellishment left to go. I really should finish each motif individually before moving onto another one!

Stitching, Works in Progress

WIPGO 2023 – Week 3 – Apache Wedding Blessing

January 18, 2023 1 Comment

This week for WIPGO, I’m focused on one of my oldest WIPs – Apache Wedding Blessing, designed by Kooler Designs and published by Janlynn. This piece was chosen by my college friend and sorority sister, Ivanna, upon her wedding. We’re… now almost 20 years later and it’s still not quite done. (sigh) So the goal now is to have it completed for her 20th anniversary.

My notes say I started stitching on this in January 2006. That’s probably about right. It was my first ever attempt on linen, and oh boy… there are some tension issues! I was stitching just a wee bit tightly! But thankfully the spots where my tension is particularly iffy, I can just repair by going over the stitches with an additional half stitch to plump them up and fill the space.

This piece went out into the world for an Unfinished Object Round Robin in 2011. The notes and thank you that I sent with it is still in the poly project envelope – intentionally. That way I can give some thank you credit to the lovely women who helped complete the cross stitching before it went dormant when I became pregnant with Max – Siva S. in Canada, Rachel B. in New York, Erin C. in Florida, Linda M. in Oregon, and Kristle M. in Nevada.

*Apache Wedding Blessing by Kooler Designs as of January 14, 2023 – stitched 2 over 2 on 28 ct antique white linen with charted DMC threads.*

What’s bogging me down now is that infamous thing that was so common in stitching of the 1990s – all of the backstitching to define the images. Most of it is pretty straight forward… outlining all of the frame poles and the feathers, plus the Canada geese at the top. But there are a few different colors for the backstitching, and the chart is a little difficult to read due to the limitations when it was printed. I’m getting there though. The most difficult part really are those feathers, just to see where lines cut in to define a few of the individual feather strands. Some of them lie right on the 10×10 grid lines (grrrrr…) so I have to play it by ear a bit.

Honestly, though – there’s not THAT much left to do. It’s just that mental block with backstitching that I need to overcome, and I can push through this one. It’s long past time to get this piece completed, get it framed, and present it to my friend. I’ll be adding this one to my MAGIC list for the Tudor Rose Sampler Guild for 2023 to kick my butt into gear!