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

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