Spring Into Summer New Start Binge #13 - Witch's Gate and a Recent Obsession

I hope you've all been having a good stitchy week! I didn't forget I needed to start a new project, but I did get myself distracted with plans for July and a bit of a mania to finish a project.

So, I debated and decided to make the last few weeks all about Christmas projects, and do a kind of different Jolly July. Each new start will be Christmas or winter themed.

And since this was the 13th new start, I thought I'd pull out the other Whispered by the Wind spooky chart, and made a miniscule start on it. Please check Rachel and Annie's posts as I'm sure they did better.

So, there's a lot left to do. :) I did keep working on some of the other WIPs I've started for this and am nearing a finish on the Wish ornament:

And as for my recent finish mania, this has nothing to do with these starts since I won't get it done by the end of July, but there's some chance Rachel and I have been discussing starting more projects this year, so I'd be aiming for a finish near that time.

This is Siberian Forest as it was when I pulled it out this year. Some of you may remember this from way back in 2011 or so when I started it. It's been out occasionally, but very rarely.

The main reason this came back out and why I'm interested in finishing it is Pattern Keeper came out, and there was finally a way I could get my head around stitching full coverage HAED projects. To the end that I'm over halfway done this one now and really want to finish it to have my first ever HAED finished this year! And then start all the rest... perhaps not all. 

This is where it is after Sunday, June 28:

I'm at the bottom, this is as far down as it goes, so it's quite a small piece by HAED standards, only about 20K stitches. I do think a finish is possible this year, and I think it's going to be a focus while I have this mania to finish it and see if I manage it before I burn out. 

I hope you've all been staying healthy and happy stitching!

Tiffstitch

Gifted Gorgeousness - June 2020 Edition

I'm squeaking in just under the wire this month and I hope you've had a chance to read everyone else's posts by now. If not, please check them out at our amazing host, Jo's blog.

Princess and the Dragon - for DD

 stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct Amarinthine by Chromatic Alchemy

almost 60% done

Mini Winter Magic - DD

 stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct white Monaco as charted by HAED

close to 30% complete

Just Breathe - for a friend

 charted by FiddlesticksAU

stitched 2 over 2 mostly on 28ct Realgar by Chromatic Alchemy

with stash threads

Ballet Silhouette #2

 charted by Lanarte

stitched 2 over 2 with DMC 310 on L'Amour with Hearts by Chromatic Alchemy

Squirrelly - for a friend

kit by Mill Hill and stitched as charted, with beads

You've seen several of these before, but I don't think I've updated Mini Winter Magic in a while, so now you can see how that's progressing as well. I usually prefer to stitch left to right, but I had finished a page on it for a HAED challenge a couple years ago and decided to stitch it 1 over 1 full cross instead of the 2 over 1 tent stitch I'd started on the left side. I've been frogging those areas and stitching from the right instead. Probably it's a good brain exercise too to stitch in a different way than I usually do. 

Happy Stitching!

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge #12 - Loved You Yesterday

Another weekend gone, and another new start! This weekend I picked one I had at least chosen fabric for, if not kitted up entirely.

Loved You Yesterday by Cherry Hill Stitchery

Please check out Rachel and Annie's posts for their new starts as well! We're all still keeping on, and there's only 5 weekends left. I think I might change up the last few and do Christmas in July starts. Still debating that for now though. 

It's stinky hot here this week, and I didn't get a lot of stitching done. We have an actual, literal heat wave. I didn't realize what the definition was, but it's over 90F for at least 3 days. We hit that already, which isn't a great sign for the rest of the summer. There was some idea this wouldn't be a hot summer, but that seems to be incorrect the way we're going currently. 

Here's where I managed to get to:

Loved You Yesterday by Cherry Hill Stitchery

stitched 2 over 2 on 14ct Damask aida by Silkweavers with stash threads

When I tried to find an online photo to use, I couldn't, so this chart may be OOP. I thought I bought it from 123stitch a couple years ago, so not too long, but maybe they've retired it. It didn't seem to exist on the Cherry Hill website. 

I plan to use random stash threads or the DMC if I don't have anything close. It's a good way to use up those bits of hand-dyed threads hanging around.:)

I hope you're all staying well and cool, unlike me. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge #11 - Visit Mordor

Hello everyone! I hope you've all had a good weekend and have been staying well. It's Monday, and time again to talk about my latest new start. Rachel and Annie are part of the craziness as well, so please check their blogs to find out their latest starts as well.

So, you know how I was being kind of smart about my new project choices and keeping them smallish? I fell into the Country Magic Stitch hole and decided I couldn't wait until starting one of the many interesting "travel" posters she designed. I don't know if I can admit how many I've purchased, but I started with this one:

Not to be an enabler (ha!), but she does have a sale at her site, not sure if it also translates to her Etsy site.

I debated a bit on fabric, and ended up choosing this one:

Visit Mordor by Country Magic Stitch

stitched 2 over 2 as charted on 28ct Britney Lugana Feronia by Chromatic Alchemy

I have some idea I could skip stitching the orange in the sky with this fabric, so I'll leave that till the end and decide how it looks. It might give it an interesting dimension. I wish these charts worked with Pattern Keeper, but they're captivating enough that I'm sticking with it. 

I also worked a bit on some other starts and have a couple finishes here:

 Lanarte Ballet Silhouette #2

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct L'Amour with Hearts Ltd Edtn by Chromatic Alchemy

Wings and Things by Ink Circles 

stitched 2 over 2 with Dinky Dyes Down Under Blues and Kreinik

on 28ct Haunted (PTP?)

I need to update my page with all the finishes and changes, and I'm very happy with being able to continue on and get some finishes. Of course, this does mean a lot of my other WIPs aren't moving on very fast, but that's okay for now. 

Stay well, and happy stitching!

Tiffstitch

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge #10 - Just Breathe

Here we are again! We're well over halfway there and the summer is starting to heat up in this neck of the woods. This weekend we had rain though, so that meant lots of stitching time.

I went off the rails again from my list, but I think that's fairly normal for me at any time. There are so many amazing charts out there, and it's hard to settle on starting on the same one I thought of almost 3 months ago! :)

Please check out Annie and Rachel's posts as well to see what tempting new starts they have this week as well.

I went with one of the free charts for the Be Well and Stitch movement, although I did give a donation to FiddlesticksAU since I think all designers are having decreased sales currently. This is how it's designed:

And I decided to use up some stash threads, and managed to finish it:

Just Breathe by Fiddlesticksau

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Realgar by Chromatic Alchemy with WDW various stash threads (Dutch Iris, Purple Majesty?, Bethlehem, Camellia, Azalea and Foliage I think)

I'm hoping to frame this and give it to a friend that's a germaphobe. And this was before COVID, so she's even more so now. I think she'll get a kick out of it.

I hope you've all had good stitchy weeks!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge #9 - Ballerine Silhouette 2

Ack! I'm sorry to be a day late posting. It was a long day in many ways, although not a work day. :)

Here it is, another weekend of another new start, and are we tired of this yet? Heck no! So much stash and so little time.

Please check out Rachel and Annie's posts as well for their starts and please let me know if I need to tag anyone else's blogs. Even if you're not blogging and joining in, I hope you're having fun.

This weekend I went off the rails a bit from my blog page about this. I wasn't feeling any of the starts, and that could be all the national issues that occurred. I decided on something simple and kitted, although I did change out the fabric.

I picked up this kit while DD was taking some dance lessons, as sort of inspiration, or possibly after we went to see the Nutcracker? Here's the kit:

And once I again I misread the instructions since I stitched 2 over 2 instead of apparently 2 over 1. I didn't see where it said to stitch over one anywhere in the instructions, but it's possible I skipped over it in my haste to start. I chose this fabric:

L'Amour with hearts limited edition 28 ct Lugana from Chromatic Alchemy

and I didn't quite get a finish, but I did get a fair bit completed. I think I'll stick with it till it's complete as there's only a few hundred more stitches I think. 

I hope you all had good stitchy weekends and are staying safe. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch