2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #72 - Mother of the Ocean by The Primitive Hare

Another Primitive Hare today, and another nice chart. I'm fairly happy to stitch these despite not being electronic since they are pretty large and the instructions are clear. I love this one, so fun with the whale and I decided on a different fabric to sort of tie in both ocean and sky. The chart looks like this:

 And I didn't get much of a start, all black so far as well. The whale is a few different grays, some of them WDW, so I'm debating on if I'll do that or not. For now I stuck with DMC 310. 

Mother of the Ocean by The Primitive Hare

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Iolite by Chromatic Alchemy

with DMC 310 so far

This will be a fun one, and really not too much stitching, most of which is block stitching, so once I get back to it hopefully it will stitch up quickly. I just need to decided on the WDW or not and go from there. There might be another specialty thread in this one as well, so we'll wait till it comes out again to decide what to do. For now, it's back in the banker's box again!

I hope you've all had good weekends! I was away and didn't get any stitching done, but did get some knitting in. 

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #71 - Harriet Tubman by The Primitive Hare

Time for another start with only a few colours. So, remember, this won't take as long because there's less colour changes. :)

Of course, there's still a lot of stitching to do! 

I think this is my first Primitive Hare chart. It won't be the last, there's another one coming up next in a similar style. So far I'm happy with the chart, even though it's paper and generally I'd prefer Pattern Keeper if possible. It's very big though, A4 I think, so it's easy to see all of the symbols. 

I managed a couple days of stitching on this one and 3 different colours of brown. There's several still to go though!

Harriet Tubman by The Primitive Hare

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Vellum by Chromatic Alchemy

with DMC as charted

In case you're not familiar with Harriet Tubman and her important work with the Underground Railroad to help slaves fleeing from the US, there's more info here on Wikipedia. 

I'll be glad to get back to this one and get it framed and up on the wall somewhere. Possibly at work so more people can see it? We'll see. The finish will need to come first. 

I hope you've all had some good stitching days!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #67 - The Gores by Sonova Stitch

This one is a little different. I've had at least one Sonova Stitch pattern on here this year, but this is a special one! 

You can order a custom design from Sonova Stitch for the sprites with whatever name you choose and what sprites you'd like. One year for Halloween, I dressed as Mario, DH as Luigi and DD as Toadette. That made this a perfect idea for a stitch! I'm looking forward to having this on the wall. 

I can't find the photo of the 3 of us together, so you get me (and Max) with DH. 

And here's the start:

The Gores by Sonova Stitch

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Minthe by Chromatic Alchemy

with DMC as charted

It's not a big start, but it is a decent one. I had planned to make Toad into Toadette, but not sure if DD will still want that. I'll check with them first before stitching in the colours. I have room to add Toadette's braids behind if needed. 

Hope your stitching has been treating you well!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #63 - Promise of Spring by Cottage Garden Samplings

My Weeks Dye Works order from 123 Stitch came in, so it was time to start another one of the Cottage Garden Samplings birds. If you want to see another stitcher working on it, Stitching Noni has put some stitches in hers recently. She mostly shows her progress on her FlossTube. 

I'm still sticking with birds that appear in my parents back garden/yard, and this is a common one:

I managed to put 2 full thread lengths of 2 different colours into this over the past few days. As always, stitching time can be hard to come by, but I'm happy with this start:

Promise of Spring by Cottage Garden Samplings

stitched 2 over 1 on 18ct Polynesium by Chromatic Alchemy

with WDW as charted

I like the idea of sort of outlining the tulips with WDW Charcoal, and hopefully it won't be too difficult to do some fill-in when I get back to this. It's a very fun design; these are really growing on me now. 

Hope you've all had some good stitching time!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #60 - Bigfoot Bunch by Plum Street Samplers

I was searching my blog and I think this is the first Plum Street Sampler design I've stitched! That seems odd since she has so many fun patterns, but I suppose the more primitive style isn't my favourite in general, so maybe I just haven't been inspired to start one until now. 

This one is really, really fun. I have a person in mind to gift it too when it's complete, so hopefully that will happen some day. 

This is part of her "stacks" style series and some of them are so creative. This has been my favourite though, so we'll start here. I even bought the CC colours on 123stitch for this one. I debated, but decided I hadn't had to buy anything yet this year for all of these starts, so why not go for it? 

I had a decent start after 2 days of stitching as well:

Bigfoot Bunch by Plum Street Samplers

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct experimental dye by Chromatic Alchemy

with CC colours as charted

There's an interesting aspect to this one, which I'm not sure is visible in the chart photo. You have to stitch some of the Bigfoot faces one over one. The little bigfoot baby on the right side is all one over one. That will be a bit tricky when I get there. There's a separate chart for those parts, plus different faces for the larger sasquatch in the central area. 

I chose this fabric because it reminded me of an X-files episode where Mulder and Scully seemed to have found evidence of Bigfoot/Sasquatch that had such good camouflage they would disappear in the forest. The colours will still stand out enough, but the background reminded me of the ending of that episode. 

Hope you've all had some good stitching days!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #52 - I Can Drive a Stick by Lizzie Kate

Time for another Lizzie Kate! And another fun saying. Her lettering is so much fun to do. I think I actually have 2 copies of this chart, so clearly I like it. 

I found a fun fabric to use in my Chromatic Alchemy stash, and dug out some Gentle Art threads to stitch it instead of just DMC 310. I had a busy weekend, but also needed some relaxation, so managed to get this done over 2 days of stitching. 

I Can Drive A Stick by Lizzie Kate

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Helikonios by Chromatic Alchemy 

with The Gentle Art Sampler Threads in Soot

Clearly Mega Maynia has made me reach for smaller projects. This was another fun finish. At some point I need to track my finishes and WIPs, but no time for that yet, too much stitching to do!

Hope you've all had good stitching days!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #49 - Moose Be Love by Designs by Lisa

What was I saying about more Designs by Lisa charts? :) Here's another one!

I think this might be a gift for my cousin and her spouse. I usually stay with them when I visit my hometown and he loves moose. They even have a big metal moose head sculpture. Much better than an actual moose head. My undergrad had one, so weird. 

My Chromatic Alchemy FOTM stash is pretty vast, and I think I found the perfect outdoor type fabric for this one. Here's my start: 

Moose Be Love by Designs by Lisa

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Aventurine by Chromatic Alchemy

with DMC threads as charted

I'm debating about putting their wedding date on this somewhere, but haven't decided if it fits or not. Maybe in tiny backstitch underneath? I like the dimensions of it, so didn't want to expand the border, but haven't decided what I want to do yet. There's still time! 

I hope you've had some good stitching days, and suggestions always welcome!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #48 - If Nothing Ever Changed by Designs by Lisa

I thought I had already posted about this chart, so sorry there was a longer gap than usual for the smaller starts. I think this is my first Designs by Lisa chart in this group of starts, but I have a few more in the offing. She's got some very fun designs, and they're generally not very big, which is helpful right now. 

Here's the cover of the chart:

And although it has some specialty threads listed for colours, I didn't have any of them, so chose a different variegated thread to work the border and lettering. I managed a decent start so far:

If Nothing Ever Changed by Designs by Lisa

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Meredith by Chromatic Alchemy

with Jodyri and DD threads so far

I do have an error I need to pick out. If you're looking closely, the little loops on the right side are not matched on the left. I need to pick out the outermost backstitch row, although I'm fairly sure I was stitching both somewhat together, so probably both vertical rows, and figure out the right placement for the loops. It won't be too much effort to unpick that. That's partly why I left a hanging thread, I realized I'd have to frog a bunch there, so didn't want to stitch any farther with the thread I'd need to remove anyway! 

I made another counting error, but I don't think it will show up, so I won't mention where it is. It was far enough back I wasn't about to undo everything, and I believe I figured out how to make it work without having to frog all the way from the top. 

I'm looking forward to getting back to this and determining what colours I might use for the butterfly. 

Hopefully you've all had good stitching weeks!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

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 #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 #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

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #28 - Antisocial Cryptid Club by Witchy Stitcher

Time to get out the black Cone of Doom! For yet another all-black Witchy Stitcher pattern. I actually am not using DMC 310 on this one though. Here's what it will look like when it's finished:

I had some fun fabric for this one, and instead of DMC 310 I grabbed some of my Madeira black silk. I picked up several skeins on deep discount when Stoney Creek was getting rid of them, and the coverage is better than DMC, so it should look great on this pattern. 

I didn't get as much done as I hoped, the lighting wasn't great at the conference, and this was the second day of it, after not sleeping well for 2 nights, but there's definitely a start. 

Antisocial Cryptid Club by Witchy Stitcher

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Midnight Tryst by Chromatic Alchemy

with Madeira black silk

Although the first cryptid is likely intended to be Nessie from Loch Ness, in my head it will be Champ, our local cryptid lake monster that was discovered before Nessie, by Samuel de Champlain, who Lake Champlain is named after. I believe Lake Champlain is the largest lake after the Great Lakes in North America. 

Here's a bit more on the Champ legend if you're interested. There is a photo of Champ that people use as evidence:

The person who took the photo disposed of the negative and didn't remember exactly where they took the photo, so that leads to some question about it. Plus the lake isn't very deep in that area apparently. 

More cryptids to come when I can get back to the stitching!

Hope it's been a good stitching day,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #27 - Acceptance by Bendy Stitchy

A new designer for me, Michelle Bendy Stitchy is newish on the scene as well. She's got lots of interesting patterns, and I think they're pretty popular as well. I'm not a huge fan of the prim style, but I liked the message this one had, so picked it up. I can't remember if this was maybe for a charity as well? She does that often, which is fantastic too. 

I was away over the weekend, so I had sort of more and less stitching time. I was at a conference, and it helps my attention span if I keep my hands busy, so I had time to stitch. However, the chairs aren't the most comfortable, so I usually have to switch to knitting at some point to give my neck/arms a break also. So I had the time, but not the ability. Plus I tend not to sleep well in hotels, so I need to keep any WIPs very simple. 

I've stitched and knit so many things over the years at that conference, the lighting matters for cross stitch as well of course, so knitting often takes over most of the time. 

Here's where it's at:

Acceptance by Bendy Stitchy

Stitched 2 over 1 on 18ct Aida "Cassia-Rose" by Chromatic Alchemy

stitched with stash threads

The border repeats, so it's an easy stitch so far and this should be fun to get back to at some point. I think I chose colours that fit well with the initial design, and all from stash, which is nice. I'm definitely whittling down some things and my overstuffed specialty threads bin is starting to close properly. :)

I hope you've all had good stitching days!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #15 Mystery? by FiddlesticksAU

Okay, I have a different idea this time. I've started this chart, and I think there's enough of it completed that if you know the movie, then you can guess what it is. If it's too soon, then I'll get back to it soon I hope. It's a fun stitch and not too complicated. First a floss toss:

There are several words and I think I have a good mix of threads that go together well enough, but are still quite different too. 

I managed to get most of 2 words completed:

Mystery by FiddlesticksAU

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Buttermilk by Chromatic Alchemy

with Silks4U advent threads

The second photo shows the fabric a bit better, it's a lovely light yellow, which is similar to parchment in a way, which fits this movie as well. I hope this isn't too vague. I would know it from these 2 words, but I've loved this movie since it came out, which I saw in theatres, even thought most people didn't. My dad read a review and thought it would be a great movie for the family, and it was, and still is. Fantastic movie in every way! Although I believe it fails the Bechdel test. 

Hopefully that's enough hints and you've all had good stitching days. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start # 14 - Michigan by Print and Decor

Today's new start is one of the ones I've intentionally bought to finish and gift for someone. We met this family at pre-school story time at the local library many years ago. DD and their second daughter became fast friends, meeting for the first time when they were only a few months old. They were in pre-school together, but didn't have classes together after this since teachers noticed they tended to distract each other from paying attention in class. 

They spent tons of time together over the years, but they had to move to Michigan to look after a family member a few years ago, so we don't see them as often. DD and her friend do video chat sometimes and we've managed to squeeze in some visits over the years as well. 

This chart seemed to encompass Michigan pretty well, and I can't remember if these were designs on quarters in the US or not. They've come out with several designs, and this might be one of them. 

This company still exists on Etsy and you can find other fun charts here. 

I found a nice variegated dark silk in my Gloriana stash, and a kind of stormy blue which fits Michigan well. Lake Michigan gets some truly epic weather. 

Again, this is a lake, but a Great Lake, so they can have some severe weather events. I grew up near Lake Huron, and it does not have the same extreme weather as Lake Michigan or Lake Superior. Even in areas of Lake Huron you can't see the other side though, so it's still really big. 

Random Lake Superior fact, it has an island in the middle of it that also has a lake in it! It's called Superior for a reason, it's the largest and deepest of all five of the Great Lakes. 

Back to stitching though, here are the materials:

And I managed to stitch on this for 2 days and got a decent amount completed:

Michigan by Print and Decor

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Rai by Chromatic Alchemy 

with Gloriana #001

I made an error somewhere on the right, but I think I can frog it and manage to keep it looking like the chart by the end. Hopefully I'll remember that when I get back to it too!

Fortunately this is on Pattern Keeper as well, so that makes it easier for me to keep track as well. 

I hope you've all had good stitching days!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #13 - Get the F*@! Out by Taylor and Cromwell

Okay, so there's definitely a curse word in this pattern, and I left it out of the title, like it is in the old comics, etc. It's perfectly okay if you don't want to read this post because of it, I know we all have different sensitivities, triggers, etc. The actual chart I'm going to stitch is meaningful at this present moment with all that's going on in the US, and we all react differently to stress. This one felt right to start at this point. 

Here is what the chart looks like:

I purposely tried to find the most rainbow fabric I could for this one and with DH's help, chose a single thread colour for this one, so it will be another monochrome. 

Here's my start:

Get the F*@! Out by Taylor and Cromwell

stitched 2 or 1 over 2 on 28ct Chromatic Alchemy fabric

with Silks4U advent threads

I don't know if I'll ever hang this one up, but it feels good to stitch it right now. Hope all your loved ones are safe and keep them close. 

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #12 - Burlington by Awesome Pattern Studio

Time for a sort of local cross stitch. I forget where I came across these city patterns, but they have one for the closest large city to where I live. I purchased this way back in 2018 and had not taken time to start it yet, so here we go! Eventually it will look like this:

 And the shop is still around, so the link is here to get it or something similar. 

Since this design is so colourful, and Burlington is on the waterfront, I chose a fairly plain blue/green fabric, again from Chromatic Alchemy. 

I didn't get a huge start, but it's definitely started! 

Burlington by Awesome Pattern Studio

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Eden by Chromatic Alchemy

with DMC threads as charted

If anyone is familiar with Burlington, technically the whale tails are in Williston, and they were originally moved from near Randolph (1+hr south), but you definitely see them on the way to Burlington on the northbound main highway. They even have lights on them now, which is kind of fun. When my mom first saw them, she thought they were like modern art cats, which I can kind of see now. I think I had been told they were whale tails, so that's all I could see before she said that. 

Also, there was this whole big deal that the artist didn't want them near the "big city", but they were purchased by someone who moved them, so the artist made new ones in Randolph. 

Here's what they actually look like:

Reverence by Jim Sardonis (1989)

and the new ones in Randolph:

Whale Dance by Jim Sardonis (2019)

They're made of granite, about 36 tons, and if you're curious why whales in the middle of landlocked Vermont, over 10,000 years ago this area of Vermont was under water. In 1849 the bones of a beluga whale were found in a swampy area a little south of Burlington. Since then, they've found 20 or so ancient beluga fossils. 

The artist's intention seems to be to show the fragility of nature. They're very beautiful. 

If you ever come to Vermont, try and see at least one set of them!

Hope your stitching day has gone well,

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #11 - Time Spent with Cats is Never Wasted by Valentina Stitch Shop

Another fun monochrome today, and I'm sure no one is surprised. I purchased this way back in 2020 on Etsy and the shop doesn't seem to exist any more, so I'm not sure if you can find it anywhere. I had a really fun fabric that I thought would work well for this, as I'm also working through my Chromatic Alchemy FOTM club stash with all of these starts. 

Here's what the chart will look like eventually:

and the materials:

Fun fabric, no? I thought it gave a kind of motley look that you get with some cat fur patterns. Here's my start so far:

Time Spent with Cats is Never Wasted by Valentina Stitch Shop

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Chocolate Orange

with DMC 310

Fortunately, this pattern is compatible with Pattern Keeper. I really don't know how well I would stitch without it now, it makes life so much easier. Less counting, less stress with stitching, it's excellent. If you're eagle-eyed, you may notice some of the letters are slightly tweaked. I grew up making bubble letters, as all Gen X did, and I like the idea of making the letters look a little more like those letters from my childhood. 

Hope you've all had a good stitching day, 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch