2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #40 - Vermont Mini Block by Hinzeit

And another designer makes a return to the 100 starts year! I think I might have been able to do 100 starts with all different designers, but that's maybe more than I was up for. So many of these patterns have been hanging around just waiting for their opening, and I'm so glad 2 Martini Stitcher did this last year to give me the inspiration for this year!

The previous chart, the Canada Mini Block, had a lot more stitching because each charm will be on a maple leaf. I was debating about that for this chart as well, since the "colours" are always a big deal here each autumn. However, in the hopes of actually finishing more projects this year, I left them off and stuck with the pattern as charted. Here's their mock-up of the design:

And I stuck with this one for 2 days to get it finished! I stayed up a little later than maybe I should have last night attaching the charms, but it feels so nice to have it complete. 

Here's what it looks like:

Vermont Mini Block by Hinzeit

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Bridget's Garden by Chromatic Alchemy

with stash threads, Jodyri and Silks4U

In case the charms are difficult to see, in order from left to right, there's an evergreen tree, an apple, 2 skis and 2 poles, a maple leaf, a cow, a canoe and the Vermont state shape with a maple syrup bottle. 

The charms are well made and I did a kind of buttonhole stitch around the hanger so they would be secure. I do like this finish. The outline looks like the mountains here in autumn:

And the darker green fits the "Green Mountain" translation of Vermont. 

This one definitely needs to be finished, just have to decide how. Possibly a horizontal flat fold? For now it's in the "drawer" and someday I'll get the inspiration to finish it. 

Hope you've all had good stitching days!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #39 - Winter Evergreen by Fireside Originals

I think we've all been cross stitching long enough that we've seen some of these older patterns, the ones that were hand drawn and photocopied? I picked up this one several years ago, possibly over a decade ago, again I think from a LNS that was closing near where I live. Check this out!

Definitely the old style design and the finished design photo is an actual photo with the photo data of 1996 on the back. The copyright on the chart is 1983! 

I had the feeling this one would take me longer that it did, and I'm not sure why. There's not many colours to it, possibly just the hand drawn chart was throwing me off? Anyway, I ended up finishing this in a different way than it's charted, and please let me know your thoughts. 

Winter Evergreen by Fireside Originals

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct scrap fabric

as charted with DMC

If you can tell from the finish photo, there is dark green (DMC 895) in between the white areas of snow. I finished all the white first, then the cardinal and the highlight green, but after that I kind of like how it looks without the dark green stitched into it. So I'm calling it a finish. It somehow makes me think of my Grandma, she had a big blue spruce tree in her yard for many years, and loved cardinals of course. 

Let me know your thoughts! 

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #38 - Holly Jolly Mandala by Ink Circles

Another Ink Circles pattern! This makes 3 Ink Circles starts this year I believe. I've had this pattern for many years, and had it kitted up, but for whatever reason I'd never made time to start it. That time is now! Here's what it will look like when finished:

I haven't found a good way to photograph paper patterns to make them entirely straight, but this is pretty close. I really like how this one has both winter and Christmas motifs. 

I really enjoyed stitching on this one and ended up using an entire skein of DMC Blanc. The pattern calls for 3 skeins, so this is about one third complete now:

Holly Jolly Mandala by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 on opalescent 28ct Flotsam & Jetsam

with DMC Blanc

Despite having a paper pattern, I don't think I've made many errors in this one. I had one counting error so far, but that happens with Pattern Keeper too sometimes. It's certainly possible this one could be finished by Christmas. I was wondering if there was some way to make it into a 2-sided pillow, with one of the Halloween style mandalas on one side and this one on the other side. I'm not the best at finishing, so this will take some brainstorming. 

I hope today has been a successful day of stitching for you!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #37 - Purrfect Stockings by Swallick Stitchery

Time for another small! I think this is one of the series of 12 monthly ornaments from Jo's JCS Christmas ornie Facebook group. I tried to do it a couple times, but usually only got the first month complete, then other things took my interest for the rest of the year. I had printed out all the patterns to be ready, so this is one from that pile. I don't remember which year this was. 2021 or 2022 maybe? When I thought I had all this stitching time because of COVID, etc. 

Apologies for the black and white photo, this is from the pattern I printed out. 

And this looks small, but there's a fair bit of stitching in the stockings, so I actually have not finished this one yet. I think I will probably skip the text at the bottom. This might be a gift for someone with a black cat. I have 2 friends with black cats, and we have one as well, so possibly I should stitch this again. 

Here's where it's at so far:

Purrfect Stockings by Swallick Stitchery

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Jamboree by Chromatic Alchemy

stitched with DMC 310 and stash threads so far

There's 3 colours in this so far, the stocking hangers are a dark green colour. I will likely stitch the stockings in red and possibly use some Wisper or metallic for the white tops of the stockings. Might as well jazz it up a little for the season!

This fabric was a leftover scrap and I think it fits the pattern well. Very colourful, almost like fairy lights/Christmas lights. I also love the "chicken leg" lounge pose of the cat, it's always funny to see cats with their back leg stuck out like this. Hopefully I can get back to this one soon. 

Hope you've all had a good stitching day!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #36 - Ruth Bader Ginsburg pattern by XcrossstitchpatternX

I purchased this pattern from the Etsy shop way back in 2022. There are lots of fun patterns in their shop, and I decided it's finally time to start one of them. Eventually this pattern will look like this:

The Etsy shop shows lots of finishes, and hopefully mine will be one of them at some point also. Here's where I managed to get to after a couple days of work:

RBG by XcrosstitchpatternX

2 over 2 on 28ct Brittney colourway Kolga by Chromatic Alchemy

with DMC 310

Now, should we all say it together? "It's monochromatic, so shouldn't take too long to finish" :D

It's another fun word pattern, just a different idea with the outline of RBG's face and her dissent collar. It feels like the right time to work on this one as well. 

So far this works in Pattern Keeper, and that makes it easier to keep track of the pattern and progress. I really do love this app and am happy so many designers can make use of it. 

I hope you've all had good stitching days!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #35 - Tis the Season by JBW Designs

Here with are with the second designer I've repeated so far in this epic journey. This first was also a finish, as is this one. Fortunately JBW Designs has many fun smalls,  so there's a lot of choice for seasonal or just-for-fun stitching. 

The chart shows the finish like this:

And my finish is similar, but a little different since I used some scrap threads. Some Jodyri, some Carrie's Creations, Dinky Dyes, maybe WDW as well. Lots of different threads and they all melded together to bring us this finish:

Tis the Season by JBW Designs

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct? linen?

with scrap threads

I  have a thought this fabric was called Alexandria from one of the online LNS' that has since closed, but I really do not recall. It's similar to linen with the slubs and not being quite even, but I didn't mind it as much as I do some linen fabrics, so I'm really not sure what it is. Technically the star should be a bead, but I didn't have a star bead, so I just stitched a star in with the same thread that is used on the gifts for the ribbon. It's a Dinky Dyes oops thread that is a yellow orange and makes a nice gold colour when looped together. 

This took a couple days to finish, and was an easy stitch. The hardest part was finding scrap threads that had just enough for a gift so I could finally toss the old paper bobbin they were wrapped on. :)

I think this might be a good fold finish, and will be easier to store that way as well. Someday I'll get it out for that. For now it will go in the box of smalls finishes to work on when I have a chance. 

I hope your days were pleasant!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #34 - Halloween Dress-Up Mummy Cat by Durene Jones

I think most people are familiar with Durene Jones' patterns. Many of them are small, but often time-consuming because of the colour changes and backstitch. They're so fun though, and I've stitched several of them. One of my favourite finishes was the Halloween bat, which I think was a freebie from her Facebook group. 

See? So cute, but lots of colour changes to give it that look. Very worthwhile though. 

Today's project is a sort of small like this one where it's full coverage in a smallish design. However, since it's full coverage with a decent amount of backstitch, it will take a while. Eventually it will look like this:

And I found a fun Halloween style fabric scrap I'm going to use for this one, and I've finished one colour so far. 

Halloween Dress-Up Mummy Cat by Durene Jones

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct scrap aida

as charted with DMC

These patterns will go in Pattern Keeper. What you need to do is select only the pattern you'd like to stitch and not the other 3 that come with this one. I purchased this from Durene Jones' Etsy site and there are 3 other characters that might get stitched at some point. This was my favourite one, even with all the backstitch! 

I don't know if I can make this into a Halloween finish, but there's always a chance. For now it's back in the big box of WIPs that I've kept separate from all my other WIPs. 

Hope your stitching days have been favourable!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #33 - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by The Witchy Stitcher

Through the short story by Washington Irving, the Disney short film, the Johnny Depp film, and the TV show, I think most people  have heard of Sleepy Hollow. Do you know it is an actual town still? It's located in New York state, and I've been through it a few times when I worked in southern NY. It was also known as North Tarrytown during the Industrial revolution and was likely called "Slapershaven" originally (300+ years ago) by the Dutch settlers. More info here!

Somewhat related to this, when I was working in southern NY, my parents and aunt and uncle came to visit and almost got locked in the Sleepy Hollow cemetery. They happened to get to the gate just in time for the gatekeeper to let them back out. 

Anyway, on to the stitching! Here is what the finished piece will look like:

And I managed to get an entire strand of DMC 310 into it, so this is where it's at now:

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by The Witchy Stitcher

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Midas by Chromatic Alchemy

with charted DMC

Not a bad start, and lots of black to go. It's an interesting one and I'm looking forward to getting back to it. I really like the fabric I had in my stash as well. Being a member of the FOTM club from Chromatic Alchemy is really helping out for all these new starts. And yet, there's still some fabric left! 

I hope your day is treating you well!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

March 2026 Stitching/Crafting Update

Another month sped by and here we are in April. Although we're still getting occasional snow up in the Northeast US, hopefully the weather is better wherever you are. 

First day of spring where I live

A new pottery painting place opened in the nearby city, and the whole family went to check it out. There were many painting options, and I ended up choosing a knitting bowl. The finished projects were ready during March, and here's what mine looks like:

KNITTING is around the outside

BECAUSE MURDER IS WRONG on the inside

I was debating on colours, etc. and finally figured out a good phrase to write in this one. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with it. 

The 2024 Advent KAL (knit-a-long) is getting close to completion as well, only a few more colours to go:

2024 Advent Mystery KAL by Renee Strout

knit with fingering weight sock yarn scraps with 3.5mm needles (you need 2 sets)

I only worked on the HAED SAL for WIPs this past month. And not too much work on it either, but I think you can tell a difference. Here's where it was:

and now:

HAED SAL - Whisper of Wishes

stitched 1 over 1 full cross on 28ct easy count

as charted with DMC

I'm somewhat focused on finishing a page, and it's maybe 1000 or so stitches away from that at this point. I will get back to i t, but I keep wanting to stitch on the new starts instead right now. I figure I'll go with what my interest is for now. 

Hope you've all had good stitching days!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #32 - Joyeux Noel by Susan Ache

Today's start is one of those epic projects designers came up with in 2020 when a lot of us had more stitching time all of a sudden. This is still free from Aurifil on their blog. Although I have some Aurifil, I don't have the colours they asked for in this, so I'm going to try and use up more of my Silks4U Advent threads. Here's what the project will look like eventually:

And my floss toss looks like this:

I managed a bit of a start over a couple days of stitching as well:

Joyeux Noel by Susan Ache

stitched 2 over 1 on 20ct opalescent aida by BeStitchMe

with Silks4U Advent threads

I was debating about the green, it has a faint hint of blue to it, which I think holly leaves do sometimes,  so I think it will work out well. The floss toss shows the full hanks, and I only took about half a hank for most of the colours and set it aside with this project. I don't think I'll need a full hank for this, even though there's a lot of stitching to go. 

This is probably going to be one of the ones that sits for a while since there's so much more to go, but that's okay. It's about getting to these projects that I've really wanted to start, not so much about the finish. 

I hope you've all had good stitching days!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #31 - Stained Glass Christmas by Ink Circles

Time for another Ink Circles design! I think this is the first time I've used a designer twice in the 100 starts frenzy. I really love her designs though. Here's another one of my Ink Circles finishes from a few years back: 

Wings and Things by Ink Circles

Stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Haunted by PTP?

with 001 Kreink #8 braid and Dinky Dyes Down Under Blues

Tracy Horner has brilliant design ideas and excellent colour sense. I purchased this from her website a few years ago, and this seems like a good time to start it. 

I haven't quite decided if I'm going rogue on the colour scheme with some of my stash threads or will stay with her charted colours. For right now I plan to do the black outline first, then deal with the colours another day, probably far in the future going by my start. Here's where it is so far:

Stained Glass Christmas by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct light blue Jobelan

with DMC 310 so far

Not much of a start yet, but I think you can see that I'm working on the chart that is in the top left. These are Pattern Keeper friendly, which is very helpful. A long way to go on these though, so don't hold your breath for a finish any time soon. 

Hope your stitchy days treated you well!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch