2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #95 - Nothing Worth Doing by Circus Stitches

This is one of the first projects I had picked out last year, as I really like the message. I had initially chosen a very distinct fabric for it, but couldn't decide on thread colours. So last night, I decided to choose a different fabric and then it was easier to find the right colours quickly. 

Sorry it's teeny, sometimes it's really hard to find good photos of these charts on Etsy. 

I'm using a different colour palette than I often do since I tend to stick to blues and greens most of the time. Here's my start:

Nothing Worth Doing by Circus Stitches

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Amortentia by Chromatic Alchemy

with Silks4U advent thread and PR105

This chart went into Markup R-XP easily as well and I know this is about 20% complete. So with any luck it won't take too long to complete once I get it back out again. I haven't used that line in a while! :)

We're getting so close to the end, only 5 more projects to go!! 

Hope it's been a good stitching day for you, 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #92 - Blue Dot Carl Sagan by Taylor and Cromwell

This chart also piqued my interest while I was going through my patterns. It's a great quote by Carl Sagan and always timely as well. 

I debated a bit on the fabric and threads, and finally found some only to realize my fabric was too small. Good thing I had doublechecked the size! So, I had to search for something else. I like the idea of having it seem like space, so I decided to try a dark fabric with some opalescence. And I ended up starting this twice:

This was the first start. I tried 2 over 2 with the letters, but I think they're more difficult to read, so I started it again with only one thread:

Blue Dot by Taylor and Cromwell

stitched 1 over 2 on 28ct Nox by Chromatic Alchemy

with Silks4U threads

I'm still not 100% sure this is the right combo, so I decided on one thread only for now. I had already tossed a couple threads from the first attempt, so this was enough stitching on this project for today. I'll have to decide if it's worth adjusting the fabric and threads again or continuing on as it is. Thoughts always welcome!

Hope your stitching had less complications!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch 

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #91 - Blackwork in Blue by Elizabeth Almond and Lakeside Needlecraft

Another smaller start today! I went through what I had remaining from the projects I'd picked out last year and a fair few of them were pretty big, so I had a look through my digital files to see if anything else caught my interest, and happened to be a bit smaller. I came across this one, which was a free SAL from Lakeside Needlecraft. 

The next decision was what fabric to use and if I wanted to keep the colours the same. I decided to keep the palette similar and chose a light blue/grey neutral from my fabric stash. I also found some of the Silks4U threads I had from advent calendars would work, and managed a decent start:

Blackwork in Blue by Elizabeth Almond

stitched 2 over 2 and 1 over 2 as charted on 28ct Bryophyte by Chromatic Alchemy

with Silks4U threads

Choosing fabric was a bit of a challenge with my new "helper" that we're fostering for a friend going through medical issues. 

Bandit lives up to his name, and is generally mischievous while awake. He is more cuddly than our other cats, but also more destructive. He is still only a little over a year old though, so the kitten is strong in him. 

Hope you've all had a good stitching day and have less destructive helpers!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #84 - Joy by Seba Stitches

I felt like a bit of a change, so pulled out this free design from Seba Designs. Due to restrictions in her county, she cannot sell her designs online any more, and I believe this one is still free in her Facebook group. 

I did a floss toss with a scrap of bright fabric with some Silks4U advent threads

It seemed like this would work similarly to the photo, it's a Dinky Dyes thread, the precursor to Silks4U, so figured it would be somewhat similar. I thought the blue could be some of the outlined part that's the darker purple in the top photo. 

Joy by Seba Designs

stitched 1 over 2 on 28ct scrap fabric 

with PR178 by Silks4U

This didn't get that much work on it. I had to frog a bit early on, and then I was stitching another part, realized it didn't line up and I have to take out the whole box with the specialty stitch in it. So this has gone away to think about what it's done for now. 

I think given how many new starts I've had this year, only having one start get me so frustrated I had to put it down is a pretty decent average. And I might have forgotten one by now if it was early on. 

I do like how the colours work on the fabric, so it will sit and rest for a bit till I figure out what to do with it when it comes out again. 

I hope you've all had better luck with your stitching!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #82 - Four de Lys by Ink Circles

This will be the last Fleur-de-lys for this year I think. Possibly the last pattern I have? Although a friend told me about a Restash store in the local city and I've got to check that out. They have just crafts that need a new home that were donated by the owners and their families to clear out their stashes. I think I can probably find some stuff to donate there too if they accept donations from anyone. 

Today's chart is another fun Ink Circles pattern. I don't remember when I picked it up, but it's the physical chart vs a digital one, so likely at a LNS. 

I debated a lot on fabric and threads for this one. I have a couple traditional blue fabric/white thread ones already, and then I found this fabric in my stash:

I think the design would fit perfectly in the middle, which is a bit of a wrench given how much fabric it will leave at the top and bottom, but those bits will be good for small charts, so it's okay, I think. 

Too late anyway, I've started it:

Four de Lys by Ink Circle

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct linen club exclusive by Chromatic Alchemy

with Silks4U unknown thread (advent?)

It does look really good so far. This is 2 full threadlengths of the Silks4U. I love their thread, so nice to stitch with, and it's nice to use up the advents as well. This is 3 years or so that I've been in their advent club, and it's nice to be using up some stash. 

I think this could be a quick finish when I get back to it as well. Hope you've had some good stitching days!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #81 - Alphabirds by Crossed Wing Collection

Clearly I've chosen too many big ones, but this one is really cool, and I'm excited to start it. Again, this might be for my parents when it's finished. 

Since it is a big one, I only had one piece of fabric that would work, which is a pretty big piece of light grey/blue 25ct. Therefore I needed to adjust the colours of the letters since they would have been almost invisible. I went with some light purples and it stands out well. I also chose a nice green for the leafy border and here's where I got to:

Alphabirds by Crossed Wing Collection

stitched 2 over 2 on 25ct grey evenweave

with DMC 210 and 211 for letters and Silks4U PR 130

This is a giant paper chart that you have to unfold for each letter. It's kind of involved, but fun to work on as well, besides one of my cats deciding it had to be his hidey hole and tried to dig through it. He's a little odd, inherited from a co-worker going through some medical issues. He's not 2 years old yet though, so the kitten is still strong in him. He's much cuddlier than my other 2 cats which is nice, and he's getting along with DD really well. 

Bandit

He's learned quickly that cross stitch is not a toy, so that's a good thing. Even my older cat likes to chase the threads sometimes while I'm stitching if he's on my lap. 

I hope you've all had a good day or two of stitching!

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 #30 - Your Future by Lollypop Stitches

This is one of the charts designed for the Michelle Bendy Stitchy January 2020 Fundraiser for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Fittingly, it's a quote from Back to the Future, one of the best movie series out there. Eventually it will look something like this:

I think I'll stitch the side parts since it has the flux capacitors, but I was most concerned about the right fabric and threads for this one. DH and DD helped with the floss toss and here's my start:

Your Future by Lollypop Stitches

stitched 2 over 1 on 18ct opalescent Bedrock by BeStitchMe

with Silks4U threads

I really like the look of it so far, and maybe the colour will pick up the blue in the flux capacitors as well. It's interesting to switch between aida and evenweave. I think I still prefer evenweave over all other fabrics. 

Hope everyone had a good stitching day!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #29 - Be A Cupcake by StitchLife

Does anyone remember StitchLife magazine? I had joined for a while, they were on Patreon I think and it was fun for a while. I don't think they still exist, I couldn't find much online. I still have some of the patterns that came with the subscription, and I thought this one would be a fun start. 

There were a few different options as far as chocolate or vanilla icing, and I chose vanilla, here's the floss toss with the vanilla icing:

And my total progress:

Be A Cupcake by StitchLife

stitched 2 over 1 on 18ct mauve aida

with Silks4U threads

The fabric got a little washed out in this picture, but fortunately I took a photo of how well my cat was helping me stitch, and the fabric is pictured correctly there:

Such a good helper right? And why all my stitching has "specialty thread" added, whether I want it to be or not. :)

Hope your stitching day went well! 

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #17 - Mini Block: Canada by Hinzeit

 Although the Olympics are over now, I started this one a few days ago while watching Canada in speed skating and hockey. It was quite the Olympics, and although I'm a little sad Canada lost both gold medal games in hockey to the US, at least both the men's and women's teams played really hard. The men's team sang the national anthem at the end too, and that was pretty amazing to see. 

Here's what it will look like eventually and the fabric I chose for it:

These have been around for a while, and the charms are pretty fun for each individual chart. I believe this was purchased at one of the LNS' that closed here in Vermont, as are so many of my charts. Hard to pass up 50% or so off when they're trying to sell up. 

I was debating on following the straight DMC for this, but instead I think I have enough red leftover from the reindeer finish to do the red in this one. I might choose plain DMC for the letters, or possibly WDW Kohl or something similar. The fabric is very plain, no variegation, so a little in the letters might look nice. You'll see below there is some in the leaves, but they'll mostly be covered by the charms, so I'm not sure how noticeable it will be in the actual finish. 

Here's where I got to:

Mini block: Canada by Hinzeit

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Jobelan light blue

with Silks4U advent threads so far

A decent start and you can maybe see that I figured out a kind of rhythm to the red to make sure everything lined up properly. I'll be happy to get back to this one, again, it shouldn't take too long once I can. 

I hope everyone that watched the Olympics enjoyed them! One of my favourite sports that isn't hockey is short track speed skating. It's so chaotic, you really don't know what to expect. Lots of different countries seem to do well in it also, so that's nice to have things spread out. There's an Italian woman that's been to 5 Olympics and has 13 or 14 medals! That's incredible. I definitely wouldn't have been speed skating still at that age (mid 30s), but my fun pick-up hockey groups are great. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #16 - Frogs in Your Underpants by Nebby Needle

This pattern has been around for a while, so maybe you've already stitched it up? I've been wanting to stitch it for ages and finally purchased a few years ago, so now it's time to start!

Eventually it will look something like this:

I wanted something a little more cheery in colour, plus a lot of green since I think it's a cheeky Irish blessing. Here's the floss toss:

I found a lovely parchment style fabric as well, so that will showcase the colours well too. 

I don't have a massive start since I was still trying to get some stitches into the HAED SAL, but this was 2/3 of a full thread length of 6 threads. 

Frogs in Your Underpants by Nebby Neddle

stitched 2 over 2 on 32ct Scroll by BeStitchMe

with Silks4U advent threads

I plan to do the words in blue and the accents and other objects in green. I haven't decided if I'll pull out other colours for the motifs, that will likely wait till I get there. 

This should definitely get hung up when it's finished, maybe in my office? How can it not make someone smile when they read it?

I hope it's been a good stitching day for everyone,

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 #10 - My Beautiful Village by Maggi Co's Village

Okay, so this isn't a small, but it's something that can be stitched mostly in one colour, so let's pretend it won't take very long. 

I debated about what threads to use for this one, and what fabric. I ended up choosing a fairly simple blue fabric without much variegation, and that made me think about some variegated threads instead of black. I dug through my Silks4U advent threads, again, trying to get through them instead of just having them sit there, and here's what I chose:

And here's my start after a few thread lengths of the PR124:

My Beautiful Village by Maggi Co's Village

stitched 1 and 2 over 2 on 28ct blue evenweave

with Silks4U threads

The top photo shows the fabric much better, but the variegated thread seems to show fairly well in the lower photo. I think this will work well, and be a little more interesting than plain black. I have enough black stitching in my WIPs and new projects to come, so I'm glad to have some colour. 

Hope your stitching is going well and the weather is treating you well,

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #9 - Green + White by Bent Creek

Time for another Irish themed stitch! And a nice small project too, I told you I had some in the boxes. :)

I had a scrap of what I think was 14ct aida in white, so chose that and two of the advent threads from Silks4U. 

Then, as I was stitching, I realized I didn't actually need or want to do the white/cream colour, so I stuck with only the green, and it's a finish:

Green+white by Bent Creek

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct scrap white aida

with Silks4U advent thread

A nice quick finish, and with any luck I'll actually turn it into a card to send for St. Patrick's Day. We'll see. That might depend on how the rest of the month goes. 

I hope you've all had good stitching days,

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #8 - Hobbit Book Cover by Faylens Designs

I don't think this pattern is still available, and I can't get a good image of what it should look like, so here's an actual book cover:

The chart doesn't have the title or the signature, mostly just the gold mountain tops and the red sun. 

I can't tell you how many times I've read this book and watched the old '80s cartoon version. I will say I wasn't a fan of the Peter Jackson choices for the movies, but at least they didn't leave anything out? I've been trying to read it to DD, but she's very concerned about what's going to happen, so we haven't finished it yet. 

Here's the fabric and threads I found to use:

and my first day start:

Hobbit Book Cover by Faylens Designs

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct black linen

with Silks4U advent threads

It's very tempting to keep this out for a while since it's only 2 colours, but I would like to catch up on the new starts and my other stitching. Finishing Yellow Submarine felt amazing and was definitely what I needed to do, but it did make me adjust my timing for everything else. Worth it!

Hope you're all having a good stitching day!

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start # 6 - Irish Sampler by The Sampler House

The next new start might start to look familiar over the year as I think I've accumulated a lot of these Irish themed projects since my parents had a vacation in Ireland. They said it was the best place they'd ever visited, and they've been on quite a few vacations to different locations around the world. 

This is what the project will look like when completed. It has some specialty stitches and instead of just green and white I plan to throw some orange in there as well, so it will have the colours of the Irish flag. I managed to find some close colours in my stash of Silks4U Advent threads and will be using them on some stash fabric. I believe it's 25ct Jobelan since it's a looser weave than some evenweaves I've used. 

Here's my start after a couple threadlengths were added:

Irish Sampler by The Sampler House

stitched 2 over 2 on 25ct stash fabric

with Silks4U advent threads

I'm fairly happy with this start, although I kind of wish I'd stitched the zigzag line in orange. I didn't think of it till it was almost complete though, and it's not worth frogging the whole thing. Accents will be fine. I will very likely not stitch the alphabet on the bottom, although maybe I'll come up with something, like my parents initials or something like that. There's already a beautiful Irish phrase, so I don't think it needs another one. Unless I want to throw in something a little naughty? Pog mo thoin perhaps?

Probably not if it's going to be a gift for my parents. My dad would definitely look it up to see what it meant. 

This was lovely to stitch on so far and I'm looking forward to getting back to it. Hope your stitching days have gone well. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #4 - Carré by Jardin Privé

And another new start, and another new start, another new start today! In case it isn't obvious, to the tune of "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen. 

I wish I'd kept better track of where I've picked up all these charts, but I believe this one is from one of the LNS's that closed in Vermont over the past several years. It's a fun little chart that I think I can stitch monochromatically as well. 

The combination of cross stitches and backstitches in these is fun for me. I know it's not for everyone, but I like how it adds some dimension to the project. Here's my start after one full thread was added:

Carré by Jardin Privé

stitched 1 or 2 over 2 on 28ct evenweave Elpis by Chromatic Alchemy

with Silks4U Advent thread

A decent start to what I hope will be a fun one to get out again when I need something less fussy to work on. Having just one colour helps this be easier to work on for me, even if you change up stitches now and again. 

This one is back in the banker's box for now, and on to the next new start!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #3 - French Country Reindeer by JBW Designs

I think many of us have accumulated these little charts from JBW Designs over the years. They're small, monochromatic and have so many fun little details in them. I believe I've stitched some in the past, but can't remember for sure, however, I'm happy to start this one. I picked up this unusual fabric somewhere and decided I could use it for these charts to make them useful for decoration as well, therefore less finishing work will be needed! 

I don't love stitching on soft, afghan style fabric, but with the Qsnaps I was able to get this tight enough that it wasn't too difficult to stitch. This is 18ct Zweigart Tannenbaum, which I stitched over 2, so ended up being 9ct. This was pretty fun to do, and although I did get off center a bit and changed up where the words go, I'm happy with the start and finish!

French Country V Reindeer by JBW Designs

stitched over 2 on 18ct Tannenbaum by Zweigart

with Silks4U PR 126

I'm thinking this will be a gift, but there is one more JBW with this fabric in the box, so we'll see if I keep this one or that one. I believe just some interface on the back will make this finished enough for use, although possibly something iron-on to make it look fancier would be nice? Suggestions welcome as always!

Hope today was a good stitching day!

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #2 - Walk With Mom by Handblessings

I have a very scientific way of picking my next project. I open one of the boxes they're all stored in, and look through till I find one I want to start. We'll see how this experiment works throughout the year, and if I end up changing anything out. 

I was definitely feeling like something fairly easy, so although this is a little larger than Start #1, it could be done with just one colour. I decided on 2, in a similar way I finished it's companion piece several years ago. Here's the companion piece:

    

Walk with Dad by Handblessings

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct scrap evenweave with WDW Lucky and DMC 895

I've had this chart for a while, but it was finally time to start Walk With Mom!

I pulled some of my Silks4U advent threads to use and had a decent start:

    

Walk With Mom by Handblessings

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Bryophyte by Chromatic Alchemy

with Silks4U Advent Box threads (2023 and 2024)

I've received the Advent Box from Silks4U the last few years, and I'm so impressed they managed to still get it out last year with all the postage issues. I'm not sure if they're having one this year, and I might skip anyway as I'd like to work through all the threads I have. This will definitely help. 

It might be obvious, but green is DH's favourite colour, and blue is my favourite colour, so that's why the colours are different for each one. 

Hope things are good and you've had a good stitching day!

Tiffstitch