2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #68 - Delivering Tricks by Country Spirit Collection

I really don't remember where I picked this chart up. It could be from one of the LNS's that closed in Vermont, or it could be from a destash. It's definitely a fun one though:

And the first, and possibly only chart I'll be stitching by this designer. It may be the only one I have. It is a paper chart, but is well marked and easy to stitch from. 

I had taken this with me while I was on a small vacation at my parents, but didn't actually get any stitching done there. So this was started just last night. I debated a bit on colours, etc., but then decided to just put a full thread length of black into it. Here's what it looks like now:

Delivering Tricks by Country Spirits Collection

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct gray evenweave

with DMC 310 so far

The chart calls for Weeks Dye Works threads, so I might pull out some of them for some parts of it, but haven't yet. The black is technically supposed to be Onyx, but I think if I use DMC 310 and try some specialty threads for the rest, that will help those threads stand out a bit better. That's my idea at least. 

It will be good to get back to this one. Probably just a few days of stitching would see it completed, so that would be fun. I'm going to have a lot of these kind next year I think. "just a few days", but those will add up!

I hope it's been nice weather where you're at, although let's all hope for rain out Clare's way. It's been almost 2 months with no rain there!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

July 2026 Stitching Update

It was a busy month, lots going on and not a lot of time for stitching other than the daily starts. However, I did get 2 small projects that had been lingering for years finished off. 

I believe the last time I touched this project was in January 2016, which means it's been lingering over 10 years!! Here's what it looked like then:

And it's now a finish!

December cat by Happiness is Crossstitching

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct aida tea towel

mostly with DMC as charted

This was part of my 2015 Crazy January Challenge and it's nice to have it finally complete! The towel had yellowed a bit, unsurprisingly, so I let the whole project sit in the wool wash I use for socks and knits and it came out very well. 

The next project was also from that same Crazy January Challenge in 2015 and I managed to complete it as well. I had left it here when I got fed up with stitching on afghan fabric:

And it's also complete!

Day 4 Dragonlet by Dragon Dreams

stitched 4 over 2 on afghan fabric

with DMC as charted and some Kreinik in the dragon

It was nice to see this one completed and finish another afghan one. I'm debating about the sixth one. I still don't love it, but then the entire row would be complete, and that would be a nice accomplishment. 

They're smallish as well, so even though they're a pain to stitch, at least they don't take too long. We'll see how the rest of the year goes and how I feel. 

I did start a new pair of ankle socks, but haven't taken a photo, plus another dishcloth mostly finished. I'll add those to next month when they're actually completed. 

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 #66 - Summer Bliss by Cottage Garden Samplings

This might be the last of these patterns for this year of starts! I can't remember if I have any more of the birds, but I do have some of the animals. 

My mom and Grandma both love orioles, and Grandma had this great peony bush near her walkway at her house. This is another one that has some good memories attached, so I'm looking forward to getting back to this one as well. 

Summer Bliss by Cottage Garden Samplings

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct Aida, unknown name and designer

with WDW 

I really like how this has stitched up so far. It's fun to get to the words first, that's a change from the other designs. Also getting some of the bird started is fun as well. 

I'm looking forward to getting back to these next year. I think I'll try and finish one at a time, because a few of the WDW threads are shared between patterns. The gold colour in this one only uses that colour for the fill in the letter B, otherwise it's not used any more, but it's in at least one of the other patterns I've started. 

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

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

                                                                                                                                                             

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #65 - In Another City by Lindy Stitches

Today's start is a very fun design. It definitely fits a lot of people I know. I'm going to change up the colours a bit, maybe make it rainbow? 

I used the other bit of fabric that has the blue dots on it in hopes that this pattern will cover the spots. They're fairly light, so I don't think it will detract from the eventual finish. 

In Another City by Lindy Stitches

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Weeping Wisteria 

with WDW Onyx so far

I'm sharing a larger photo than usual so you can see where the dots are. I think the pattern will cover most of it. If you have any colour ideas, I'm happy to hear them, but still thinking about a rainbow idea. 

I hope you've all had some time to get good stitching in!

Happy Stitching, 

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #64 - Have Courage by Cottage Garden Samplings

Another familiar pattern for most of you probably, back to Cottage Garden Samplings bird patterns! This is one of the more striking birds that will show up at the feeders in my parents backyard, the rose-breasted grosbeak. My grandma also used to grow beautiful gladiolas, so it's fun to have these two things together in this chart. 

I did manage to get two threadlengths into this one as well, and I feel like that's a decent start for these. There's so much stitching, but not too many colour changes, so you can get decent progress 

Have Courage by Cottage Garden Samplings

stitched 2 over 2 on 32ct Weeping Wisteria limited edition, unknown dyer

with WDW as charted

I had a fat quarter of this fabric, but half of it had dye spots, so I'm thinking I can use that part on a different chart that has more coverage. I think I picked this up in a destash, so I don't remember where it came from. This piece didn't seem to have any of the dye spots, but does have a nice area of green coming in on the right, so it should fit this chart well. 

The next start will be a different designer, but I might have another Cottage Garden one after that. I think I have enough threads that they're all separated out, but possibly not, so I might need to borrow from one project to another. 

They're very fun to work on, and I can see why they became so popular. Now that I've stitched a couple, I understand. I wasn't sure on the art style initially. I have a few of the next series, the woodland animals, so not sure if they'll come out this year or not. We'll see how we go. 

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

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