Challenges/Stitch-A-Longs, Stitching

WIPGO 2023 – The Introduction

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This year I’m going to do a weekly series to re-introduce the majority of my current projects back onto the blog through a WIPGO post. I’ll be showing the finished photo and the status of it as of the night I post, and a little background on the project. By the end of the year I’ll have all of the two WIPGO boards I’m running this year introduced. Think of it as a (very) slow motion WIP parade. A more live-action WIP parade will be coming to my FlossTube soon as well.

If you’re unfamiliar with WIPGO, it’s a play on BINGO. Pick 25 goals (or 24 with the traditional “free space”) that will challenge but not overwhelm you. It can be on a single project, or as many projects as you choose. It can be specific or as broad as you like. Put the goals into a 5 by 5 board, just like a bingo board, and number the squares 1 to 25. Every month on the 25th, the founder of WIPGO, Jessie, pulls two numbers randomly and those are your goals to complete for the month. On the month she pulls #13, there are three goals active. The goal is to get as many squares completed as you can over the year. Totally for fun – the only rewards are ones you make for yourself and maybe some silly bragging rights on Facebook.

This year I’ve decided to run two boards with almost all of my current WIPs spread across them. My goal is very simple – just stitch for two days on each project. No stitch or time minimums. Just put some stitches into each project this year. If by chance I finish a project before it gets called – I have a couple more projects I can add into the boards that are started. Otherwise I’ll leave them as a free space to put some extra love into something.

Here are my two boards:

January’s called numbers were 6 and 10 – so this month I’ll be putting stitches into The Colonial Sampler by Betsy Stinner (Earth Threads), Apache Wedding Blessing by Kooler Designs, Mute But Not Silent by Amy Mitten, and ABC’s of Parenting by Lizzie Kate. Those will also be the projects I feature here this month.

It seems like a lot – but that basically equals a week and a day out of the month to get stitches into four separate projects. Not that bad, honestly. I’m planning to do most of my stitching on these projects on Friday and Saturdays.

On Sundays I’m planning a wrap-up post of all of my stitching for the week, and then you’ll hopefully see my progress if I keep myself on a bit of a schedule! 🙂

Stitching, Works in Progress

My 2023 Kickoff Stitching List

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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!

Life, Work, and All The Rest

New Year’s Update 2023

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Another year gone, a new one starting… and I feel like so much time gets lost. I rarely make resolutions for the new year because I feel that by saying them out loud, I tend to jinx them. Instead, I’m making some intentions – and the overall theme is to to some serious self-seeking. For the past ten years or so, I feel like my life has been mostly on hold as I focused on being a working mom, making sure I got at least the basics done every day. Kid fed, laundry washed, dishes done, rinse, repeat…

Covid didn’t help, of course. If anything, it made the blur of everyday life a bit more difficult to do mental checks against what needed to be done vs. what I wanted to do. Since 2020, life has just been chaos as the routines constantly changed, leaving me mentally and often physically exhausted. Like so many people – I’ve gained weight, I’ve had to shelve self-reflection, and I’ve become disconnected from people because I needed the emotional strength just to get through the days.

Life’s settled into a bit of a routine for now, so I’ll be making some efforts to get back on track. Moving more, writing more, attempting to connect more. And most of all, I want to learn how to forgive myself more. I think the baggage of feeling like I’m failing tends to make it more difficult to get started on the things I want – and need – to feel better inside my own body and mind.

It’s time to reclaim the blog – not just WIPocalypse updates, but actual content here. My own stitching, life thoughts, cat silliness, letterboxing, writing letters, and whatever other mayhem seems to spark my creativity.

If you’re along to read the journey… welcome (or welcome back). Please be gentle – because this may get weird. 🙂

Stitching, WIPocalypse

December 2022 WIPocalypse Check-In

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Hello everyone!

It’s the last hours of 2022 – dark and foggy here in New England, but oddly warm for this time of year. Like most New Year’s Eves, my family is staying in and playing board games, watching movies, and just having a quiet hang-out. I enjoy these quiet ways to send out the old year, especially in the chaotic times we’ve had over the past three years.

I want to thank you for joining me on another year around the sun working on WIPs, and hope you’ll join me for 2023. I have bigger plans for the blog as a whole with a lot more stitching to share.

Happy New Year to everyone! Enjoy your new starts for New Year’s Day, or working on the WIPs that call to your heart.

Happy stitching,
Mel.

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

Important SAL Announcements…

Question of the Month: Recap your accomplishments for the year! (Your finishes, your final before/after photos, etc).

Next posting date: January 8, 2023

Topic(s) for next time: Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!

Need all the basic info about the SAL?  Go here for all details for 2023!

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

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.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Stitching, WIPocalypse

November WIPocalypse 2022 Check-in

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Hello everyone!

I’m a little later today – sorry! We had a friend visiting for the holiday weekend, and after he headed home this morning, Erich, Max and I took care of hanging lights outside before some expected rain. With a couple tasks out of the way, we’re settling into our normal Sunday late afternoon routine, relaxing and prepping for the week ahead.

It’s been a busy month stitching-wise for me. I started the month at a retreat in New Hampshire (Stitch In at the Farm), kept busy with ornaments and the Steotch stitch-a-long all month, and now am trying to figure out what I can and can’t accomplish before the end of the year. I’ve sent off two smalls for exchanges. I have one more to do for an exchange plus something for my mom. I’ll post finishes once everyone has received so I don’t spoil the surprise.

2023 Information is posted at the top of my blog, and also linked below. All of the questions, dates, and events are included. I hope that you’ll continue to join us!

Until next month, I wish you peace and happiness in your personal celebrations during this busy holiday season.

Best,
Melissa

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Important SAL Announcements…

Question of the Month: When do you begin planning your stitching goals for the next year?

Next posting date: December 31, 2022 (Saturday!!)

Topic(s) for next time: Recap your accomplishments for the year! (Your finishes, your final before/after photos, etc).

Need all the basic info about the SAL?  Go here for all details for 2023!

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

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.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


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