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WIPGO 2023 Week 25 – And They Sinned

July 5, 2023 2 Comments

It’s now July – and this month is the month that #13 was called… so I have SIX… yes, SIX WIPGO projects to work on. Thankfully it’s also a month with a 24 Hours of Cross Stitch Marathon, so I’m not that concerned. I’ll be plugging right along with these through the month. But because I have six projects – there will be a couple of Friday editions of WIPGO Weeks this month, on the second and last Fridays.

To kick things off… we’ll go with the Biggest of Big A** Projects I have going – And They Sinned.

Do I tell the story again? Oh sure… let me tell the story again about how this insanity came about. 🙂

And They Sinned has been on my bucket list of projects for well over a decade. I’d seen a couple completed versions in person, and was just amazed by it. It was always shoveled into the “someday…” bucket, though, with no plan for when I’d actually start working on it.

In 2018 I was at Celebration of Needlework in Nashua, New Hampshire as I try to be every year. One of the great things about that convention/retreat is the shopping mall – a collection of about 12-18 vendors, varying by year, for stitchy needs. It’s soooooo easy to break your stitching budget there!

Anyway… in the back corner of the shopping mall, the boys from Needleworkers Delight were set up with a large booth full of wonderful fabric to peruse, feel, and drool (not literally) over. And in the back, back corner of their booth was a small table with high count fabric. Including a couple cuts of 56 count, labelled at approximately $16 each. One was white, and one was cream.

Now – at that point, I had barely ventured into 40 count. Something inside me screamed that I had to have this piece of 56 count – just to say I had it. At at $16? It was a bargain for how much stitching could be fit upon it. So… it became mine.

Later that day while sitting in the circle of my local stitching friends, sharing all of our purchases and laughing at the occasional person jumping up to go back into the mall to go get something someone else had shared, I pulled out the piece of 56 count to show Abi Bellastitch and Amy (Gables Stitcher), who I both know via offline stitching. At some point in the conversation, I sarcastically said “I wonder if And They Sinned would fit on this?”

Well… we know how sarcastic comments something develop — look at what happened when I made that about the WIPocalypse in 2011.

Phones came out, stitch counts were checked and calculated… and why yes, it would fit on the piece of fabric I bought! Clearly it was fate!

Over the next few months I acquired a copy of the pattern and the charted floss. And They Sinned was my New Year’s start for 2019. Originally I was trying to work on it as a Sinning on Sundays piece, but that didn’t work particularly well. Now it comes up in normal rotations and I try to get whatever done that I can.

*And They Sinned by Exemplar Dames as of July 1, 2023 – stitched 1 over 2 on 56 ct antique white Zweigart linen with charted threads*

I’m currently battling the Cloud of Doom – which will connect those two grey swirls together into one mass below the angel. It’s a hefty block of stitching…. well over 3,000 stitches. Once I get through that, it will loosen up again for a while.

Obviously absolutely no timeline to finish this. I just want to finish it someday. And then present it at the fair. Because it’s insane. 🙂

Stitching, Works in Progress

WIPGO 2023 – Week 24 – Down the Danube

June 28, 2023 No Comments

I’ve fallen a bit behind on my WIPGO posts, so doing these after the fact in July (oops!). Apologies for that! I’ll be backdating these entries to fit where they’re supposed to go in the sequence.

Down the Danube by Jeannette Douglas is a piece that I never was meant to have. It was an exclusive for attendees of a Christmas market cruise down the Danube river in 2016, and is not for sale at any shop. I didn’t attend that cruise. Yet here I am, stitching the piece because now it has become a memorial to a lost friend.

Two members of my local stitching group, Becky and Sandy, went on the cruise with Jeannette and had a wonderful time. They stopped at several towns along the Danube river for sightseeing and market shopping, and then spent the nights on a river cruise, where they met their fellow stitchers and likely got more chatting than stitching done… because that’s how retreats always seem to go. Jeannette gave each of the attendees a full kit of Down the Danube as a souvenir.

And then in 2017, Sandy died unexpectedly.

Months later our stitching group helped her family clean out all of the stitching and crafting supplies – with plans to distribute amongst ourselves, and then to take the rest up to Celebration of Needlework to the freebie tables to give away. Sandy’s stash was divided, and along with a couple other pieces (including a Wentzler), Down the Danube came to me. I was just finishing Four Seasons of Mystic, and I had the closest connection to Jeannette among the folks in my group, so it just made sense.

Sandy had thrown a few stitches into it, but had barely started the snowtops on the mountains at the very top. I put a few more in, but then became busy with Astrology Sampler and Max’s birth sampler… and so it quietly sat and waited.

*Down the Danube by Jeannette Douglas as of May 31, 2023 – stitched one thread over 2 on 32ct Belfast Smokey Pearl with kitted threads*

I haven’t progressed too far and already have an error in my count – I made the top ridge of the mountains one column too wide. Thankfully it’s about at the halfway point, so I shouldn’t need to pick out too much. I think I’m going to fill in the house on right and then move with a better sightline rather than just do the mountaintops for my second attempt at it.

I have no timeframe for finishing this one. It will be a memory piece for Sandy, and will hang alongside the other pieces on my wall when it gets finished – exactly when it’s meant to be finished.

Social Blogging

FlossTube #58 – Organizing the WIP Disaster… WIP Parade Style! Part 2

June 25, 2023 No Comments

Please see the show notes for Episode #57 for my organizing supplies.

The Wentzler WIP Parade I mentioned in this episode is Episode #21.

Projects shown in this episode
(in no particular order… just as I get them back into the basket!)

Deep Blue Sea (Mystery XV) – Chatelaine Designs

Quaker Hornbooks – Ellen Chester/With My Needle

Tapestry Cat – Teresa Wentzler

And They Sinned – Exemplar Dames

Nantucket Sampler – Medeiros Needlecraft

A Stitch for Sweet Freedom – Lindy Stitches

A Christmas Pin Pillow – Kathy Barrick

Celestial Medley – Sudberry House

Dear Rine 2017 – Rine Borduren

Egyptian Sampler – Teresa Wentzler

A Stitcher’s Sampler – The Primitive Hare

Bayun Cat – Owl Forest Embroidery

Lavender Sachet and/or Portpourri Box – Olde Colonial Designs

Quaker Compass – Rosewood Manor

The Colonial Sampler – Betsy Stinner/Earth Threads

Live on Little – Plum Street Samplers

Bird ‘n Berry Box – Barbara Jackson

Animal Crossing SAL – Cunning Cross Stitch

Snowball Fight – Dragon Dreams

Supernatural SAL – Witchy Stitcher

Baba Yaga – Autumn Lane Stitchery

Ghost Stories – Witchy Stitcher

Mute but Not Silent – Amy Mitten Designs

Hyperborea – Owl Forest Embroidery

You Were Hatched – Teresa Wentzler

Temperature Drink Shelf – Kristi DiClemente

Winter Welcome – Park Hopper Bart

Quaker Friends & Family Mystery (2020) – Fox & Rabbit Designs (f/k/a Linens & Threads)

Book of Ink Circles (BoINK) – Ink Circles

Hugs & Kisses – Blue Ribbon Designs

Down the Danube – Jeannette Douglas Designs

Dragonflies, Ladybugs & Bees – M Designs

Musical Harmony – Michele Johnson/True Colors

Stitching, WIPocalypse

June 2023 WIPocalypse Check-In

June 25, 2023 No Comments

Hello everyone!

Summer has definitely arrived here in Rhode Island. It’s quite warm and muggy, and we’re in the middle of an unsettled weather pattern where it’s either blazing sun or pouring rain, and not much in between.

Max’s last day of school was Friday, so he’s making Big Plans for the summer to fit around his day camp schedule. I’m trying to tell him not to make too many and just enjoy being a kid… but kids don’t understand the glory of unscheduled summers since they’ve never known anything else.

My stitching continues to go well this month. I’ve been stitching on I Love New England as my daily focus and reached my goal for the month of getting all of the small letter text into the piece. Now I can relax and work on some border for a bit while I catch up on some other stitching I wanted to accomplish. I’m still uncertain how I’m going to work next month – I may not do a daily focus as planned on one piece, and focus instead on pushing a few pieces forward that honestly I could get done before the end of the summer.

Upcoming One-Month Challenges

July will be another one-month challenge month. As always it is optional, and as always, remember – it’s just one stitch a day. One often leads to more… and you’ll make great progress! Every. stitch. counts. If you can’t join us for this month’s one-month challenge, the next one will be in October.

I want to get a couple of small house chores done so I can slack off and stitch all afternoon… so time to get moving. Have a lovely rest of the Memorial Day weekend if you’re in the US, and enjoy your June stitching!

Until next time,
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 30, 2023

Topic(s) for next time: Which are your favorite and least favorite fabrics to stitch on?

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 2023 – Week 23 – Dragonflies, Ladybugs & Bees

June 21, 2023 No Comments

I’ve fallen a bit behind on my WIPGO posts, so doing these after the fact in July (oops!). Apologies for that! I’ll be backdating these entries to fit where they’re supposed to go in the sequence.

Dragonflies, Ladybugs & Bees (Oh My!) by M Designs was kitted ages ago – like… nearly 20 years ago. I went through a batch of kitting back then, and unfortunately most of the pieces have remained in kitting state due to the Great Max Birth Event of 2013. DL&B sat in a kitting poly envelope until 2021 when I finally, finally decided to start it for the #2021NYE stitch-a-long with Just Keep Stitchin’.

*Dragonflies, Ladybugs and Bees by M Designs*

This was a piece I wanted to kit from stash as much as possible… so I used a more yellow fabric from my stash. Although the color comes out quite drab here in the photo below, it’s a cheery, light sunny yellow – very summer flower looking, which reminds me of the dragonflies I see buzzing around from time to time.

I believe the only floss I ended up purchasing was the Silkn’ Colors for the border word backstitching – and having worked it a bit… I need to do a darker color. The light part of the variation is just a bit too light.

*Dragonflies, Ladybugs & Bees by M Designs – as of May 31, 2023 – stitched 1 over 2 (so far) on 36ct Chime by Picture this Plus with charted threads*

I have no timeline for this one. For now my goal is to finish those four-sided stitches that comprise the reddish outer border, and then I’ll start working the cross stitch in the middle. Once I get that done, I’ll revisit the wording on the outside again. I’d rather just floss toss against the piece being roughly finished, I think. Once I get my placement square and the first couple grasshoppers done for the visual cues, this will probably be a fairly quick stitch. It’s not a big piece.