#24HoursofCrossStitch Marathon Weekend

I hope everyone had a great last weekend of January! I decided to join into the 24 hours of cross stitch marathon and managed about 16 hours total. Some people stayed up all night to get 24 hours straight, which seems insane to me, as I've fallen asleep stitching before, and the result is not pretty. But hey, if they can do it, awesome!

If you're interested in joining the group, it's on Facebook here. I believe this is a monthly event and they have other events too that you'll from other bloggers, like Rachel does some of the themed ones. Please check out her blog for more info on those if you're interested.

I've been trying to get 4K stitches each month on each of the new full coverage projects, Mini Faery Tales and Mini Waterhole Master, and because of this event, I have managed it!

I started here on Mini Waterhole Master:

and managed here at the end of Sunday:

I'm stitching on 28ct Sunrise by The Crafty Kitten and stitching 1 over 1 full crosses. You can see a bird in a tree at the top there now, and hopefully it will become clearer with more work. I'm missing a couple colours, or haven't found them yet, so the top left corner isn't complete yet. I'm working somewhat cross country, somewhat by 10x10 diagonal box. Basically, I'm choosing a colour in a box and stitching either across or down with it, depending on where it takes me, and when I finish one thread, go back to that 10x10 box and choose another colour. It's working so far. :)

This was a fun weekend to get things ahead on this one, and will likely be handy if I'm able to participate most months in getting both projects to progress. 

Hope all is well with you!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

IHSW - January 2020 Edition

Look, I'm posting again! We'll see if I can actually keep up with it this year; I will certainly try my best.

Today's post is brought to you by the IHSW last weekend hosted by Jo, naturally. :) Please check her post to see her progress on that amazing Discworld Mappe. Or check out everyone on Facebook in the IHSW group there.

I don't think I've actually posted anything there yet, but perhaps I'll try and keep up with that as well.

It was a fairly busy stitching weekend as I'm going to count the US holiday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day as part of my weekend. I worked Saturday, but was off Monday, so I think that works. I was also still stitching in the Serial Stitcher event in Semi-Sane stitchers. The murderer was caught, but there was enough time in the month that we're doing it again, so I'm still stitching almost every night. I hadn't stitched much the night the murderer was caught, so that was excellent timing on the Sheriff's part. :)

Also, Stitchy Quest for the One Ring had a team event these last few days, Hobbits vs. Spiders to represent Bilbo fighting them in Mirkwood forest. I was on team Hobbit and we emerged victorious!

On to the stitching, I managed another finish, so this is number 2 for 2020:

Sleigh Ride by Mill Hill 

stitched as charted 

This was a fun little stitch as long as you don't mind beads. There's always lots of beads in these kits, and many surplus beads too, so I have quite a collection now of just beads from these kits. I haven't used them in anything else and I don't mind French knots, so not sure how I'll use them. Maybe DD will be interested in them for something when she gets older. She loved this and immediately claimed it for her room. That was pretty amazing. 

 Mini Faery Tales by HAED

stitched 2 over 1 full cross on 18ct beige aida as charted, about 2800 stitches into it

I'm a little farther than this now, since all the black is good block stitching to try and accumulate stitch counts quickly for some of these events, but this is where it was on Monday night. :) 

Mini Winter Magic by HAED

stitched 1 over 1 full cross on 28ct Monaco

Since I had time Monday to stitch in the morning while DD had school, I decided to work on some confetti heavy areas. I'm still so amazed how easy it is to stitch these with Pattern Keeper. It is truly amazing and I'm so excited about actually finishing one of these some day soon. 

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Gifted Gorgeousness 2020 - January Edition

Look, it's the 15th! I'm posting on time! I think everyone knows this event by now, that we're stitching on anything we're going to give as gifts or has been gifted to us. It's hosted by the incomparable Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching and please check her post for everyone's gifted gorgeousness.

Jo always chooses some gifted stitching she completed in the previous year for the new badge. This beauty is Passione Ricamo I believe.

I haven't posted for GG in a bit because of life stuff, but will try and keep on track this year, all things being equal. I hope everyone has had a good start to the New Year and decade depending on how you think of it, whether 2020 is the end of the old decade or the start of the new. All I know is it's amazing how easily you can turn a '1' into a '2' when you're writing the date. :D

Since you've seen a lot of finishes, etc. from me recently, I'll try and see what I can find that you haven't seen lately.

Hogwarts in a Bottle by Cute Patterns by Maria

stitched 2 over 2 on 28 ct sparkly fabric that I think was a gift? 

I managed to fit 100 stitches in for this one on a challenge last week, and hope to get a lot more done this year. You can also put Maria Brovko's patterns in Pattern Keeper with a little PDF manipulation, so that makes it a lot easier for me. 

Do Not Meddle 

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct white evenweave with called for DMC

This is something I'm stitching for someone who can't stitch much any longer and I've had it for years now, so would really like to get it finished for her this year. 

 Sleigh Ride by Mill Hill

stitched as charted, 3 over 1 on perforated paper and starting on the beads. 

I always do full crosses on beads even when they call for 1/2. I like the extra security it seems to bring, plus it can make the beads stay in place better, at least it seems so to me. What do you all like to do? This will be a gift for Xmas this year if I can get it finished. 

Mini Faery Tales by HAED

stitched 2 over 1 on 18ct beige aida as charted in DMC

I'm hopeful to get this done within a couple years and have it hanging in DD's room if she likes it. We read some fairy tales, and I really loved fairy tales when I was younger, so maybe she will too. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Challenges 2020

I've joined several FB groups and there are many different challenges in each one. Instead of trying to keep up with blog posts, which only worked occasionally when I was able to keep up with everything, I'm going to try and have them all as pages. I'm not sure how well this will work with the Weekly Challenges, as they might get complicated. Possibly I'll add individual pages for each group if it gets too busy.

For now, if you check the top of my blog, there are tabs with Weekly Challenges, Monthly Challenges and Yearly Challenges. I'm hopeful I can maybe keep the pages up to date and post weekly a quick "Hey, check out the challenges if you'd like to help" kind of thing. :)

As of right now, I've worked on 3 full coverage projects this year. Mini Winter Magic, Mini Faery Tales and Mini Waterhole Master. They currently look like this:

HAED Mini Winter Magic on 28ct Monaco stitching 1 over 1 full crosses

 HAED Mini Waterhole Master on 28ct Sunrise by Crafty Kitten stitching 1 over 1 full crosses

HAED Mini Faery Tales on 18ct aida 2 over 1 full crosses

And for my non full coverage piece this year so far, I finished Ocean Curiosity!!

Ocean Curiosity by Who Knew?!? stitched 2 over 1 on 18ct aida with WDW Michael's Navy

I'll do my best to maybe update on Sundays with challenges, and please feel free to comment on the pages with suggestions or send me an email. I really appreciate the help!

I hope you're all having a good weekend. We had freezing rain and now it's snowed on top of everything, so it's time to stitch and not much else today. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Fully Finished Gallery - January 2020

And now it's time to show off what we might have managed to fully finish from our drawers of shame! Or if you're a one-at-a-time stitcher and finish everything as you finish stitching, please share your wisdom. :D I'm not saying I'll start doing it, but I'd like to know how you manage it. This is a great idea to get us fully finishing things and is hosted by the incomparable Rachel at Ten Hour Stitcher. Please check her post for everyone else's finishes as well.

Since I didn't blog a lot in the last half of the year, I do have a few things to show. Some were in my finishes post, and the rest are here:

 

Plaid Tidings by Little Stitch Girl stitched as charted DMC except the trees, stash Dinky Dyes oops thread, 2 over 2 on 28ct Tempest by Chromatic Alchemy

This was my first ever flat-fold! I used Vonna/Twisted Stitcher's tutorial and it went very well. I had to use DH's paper cutter for the mat board and that was much better than the circular tool I was using. I think I will be able to accomplish this more now that I have one completed and I really like the look of it. 

 

 Ye Old Santa by Mill Hill, finished with a cord from leftover kit threads and felt glued on the back. 

Caffeine and Chaos by Circus Stitches stitched with WDW threads 2 over 2 on 28ct Bacchus by Chromatic Alchemy

I'm fairly certain I forgot to post this finish on my 2019 finish post. Whoops! It was so quick and fun to stitch as well. I gifted it to a friend that lives up to this phrase. The box was an older one from BendyStitchy destash on Instagram. FYI, it's a dangerous place. 

And that's it for fully finished objects since my last FFO post. I hope you've all done very well! (said as Young Mr. Grace from Are You Being Served? as that's always the voice I hear when that phrase is said or read). 

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

People's Choice SAL - January 2020 - Lizzie Kate!

The first Saturday of the month is the People's Choice SAL, hosted by the indefatigable Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching. Please check out everyone else's posts at her blog here.

I've stitched several Lizzie Kate projects over the years and mostly I enjoy her patterns as they're fairly quick and fun to swap out colours, etc. to make them your own. Some of her later patterns were a bit too sampler-like for me, as I'm not a huge fan of the prim craze. Fortunately, she created so many patterns over the years, you can pick and choose what you like from her patterns.

On to what I've actually finished from LK. These are in descending order somewhat, from most recently finished or FFO to earliest.

 Dog Lessons - unknown beige fabric, 28ct I think with WDW, changed colours to blue and green for mine and DH's favourite colours and modified the dog to look more like our basset hound.

April Flip-It with stash threads, 1 or 2 over 1 on 22ct hardanger

 LK line Flora McSample with stash threads and fabric, 2 over 2 on 28ct scrap

Snow Rules on 14ct aida with stash threads

 Hop and I think this is LK? can't find any info right now, with stash threads 2 over 2 on 28ct Chromatic Alchemy fabric, maybe Realgar?

 Ho Ho Ho with stash threads and bought Wisper for the first time to use on his beard. Weird to use, but looks fun

At our House, gift for co-worker and with stash threads 2 over 2 on beige unknown 28 ct fabric

Oh Baby! with stash WDW threads on 28ct unknown fabric and this one was a lot of fun because you can choose whatever motifs you want to add, out of 16 or so choices.

Housework Never Killed Anyone with stash threads on 28ct white evenweave and this is still languishing in a drawer. I need to give it to my friend that cleans houses :)

March Flip-it (maybe?) with stash threads on 14ct aida

Life's a Stitch for a co-worker who was moving on, again, stash threads on 28ct white monaco

I have a fair bit of LK stash because when she was retiring, I wanted to get as many charts as I was able to that I really, really thought I needed. Have I started any of these? Of course not. Here's some of what I picked up:

I should have known there'd be no rush, but oh well. It's nice to have them for a quick stitch some time once I get some more WIPs complete, or to meet some of the challenges. 

Again, please check out Jo's blog to see everyone else's post and I hope you've been having a good start to the year! Next month penguins, and I'm pretty sure I've never stitched any. 

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Crazy Ideas for 2020

Here we are, a new year! I hope you all had safe and fun celebrations. We kept it very low-key this year as my parents were supposed to arrive on the 31st, but had to cancel last minute because of the weather. They'll hopefully be here today some time.

WHAT'S NEW IN 2020?

- No Magical Stitches - they've changed to a Disney book theme and I'm not as interested, so I'm not going to participate in this group

- Enchanted Stitchers Challenges - this is a Disney themed stitch, but mostly based on the movies and the challenges are a good way to make sure I'm getting a few different WIPs out

- Full Coverage Fanatics - this is a different Facebook group I haven't talked about on here yet. It's based on working on all full coverage designs, including little Durene Jones ones and the BAPs from HAED/Tilton, etc. The challenges this year involve stitching around the world and through the National Parks

- Semi Sane Stitchers - this FB group is a little different than all the rest. The challenges are usually month long vs. weekly with Enchanted Stitchers and they have all kinds of interesting ones. There was a murder mystery one in October last year and this January there's Serial Stitcher, which has one participant as the murderer and another as the Sheriff. The murderer can "kill" off other stitchers, but only if they've stitched more that day than the other stitchers. And the Sheriff is trying to figure out who the murderer is before they get caught. If the Sheriff perishes, a different stitcher still hanging on will become Sheriff. There's also an A-Z challenge I'm skipping, stitching around the world, and tracking your stitches to see if you can complete landmarks. They have counting and non-counting challenges as well

- YOW (Year of WIPs) - I've participated in this the last couple years, but haven't really accomplished that much finishing up of all these old WIPs. The group admin, Melanie, is changing it up a bit this year and the months will have themes based on old SALs. Hopefully I can get a few things done here too. It's a good place to keep track of all the WIPs besides on my blog.

 - Stitchy Quest for the One Ring - I'm still participating in this one and we're still finishing up the Hobbit. The challenges are more relaxed than the Magical Stitches ones and there's always catch up events every month. Once in a while there's sort of maximize your stitching challenges, so it fits in well with the rest

I think that's it? There's so many. I'm technically part of the 24 hours cross stitch group as well, but haven't managed to fit my stitching in, plus I tend not to keep track of how long I actually stitch each day, so haven't done the time challenges either.

Here's the crazy bits. I'm sure a few of you have seen this before right?

That's right, I'm starting Faery Tales! And not just Faery Tales (mini version), but also:

Mini Waterhole Master

AND.....

Mini Morning Gossip.

And this is all because of Pattern Keeper. I love this app so much. I still have a ton of work to do on the other full coverage projects I've had in hiatus for months years, but I'm looking forward to being ridiculous as well.

Hope you all enjoy your 2020 plans and I hope to keep up with blogging on a more regular schedule too. It was a fun in the summer getting input on the stitching challenges, so I'll try and keep that up more this year.

Happy New Year everyone!!

Tiffstitch