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 #31 - Stained Glass Christmas by Ink Circles

Time for another Ink Circles design! I think this is the first time I've used a designer twice in the 100 starts frenzy. I really love her designs though. Here's another one of my Ink Circles finishes from a few years back: 

Wings and Things by Ink Circles

Stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Haunted by PTP?

with 001 Kreink #8 braid and Dinky Dyes Down Under Blues

Tracy Horner has brilliant design ideas and excellent colour sense. I purchased this from her website a few years ago, and this seems like a good time to start it. 

I haven't quite decided if I'm going rogue on the colour scheme with some of my stash threads or will stay with her charted colours. For right now I plan to do the black outline first, then deal with the colours another day, probably far in the future going by my start. Here's where it is so far:

Stained Glass Christmas by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct light blue Jobelan

with DMC 310 so far

Not much of a start yet, but I think you can see that I'm working on the chart that is in the top left. These are Pattern Keeper friendly, which is very helpful. A long way to go on these though, so don't hold your breath for a finish any time soon. 

Hope your stitchy days treated you well!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

2026 Year of 100 Starts: Start #5 - Arranging Microbes by Ink Circles

I'm fairly sure it's obvious I've been a fan of Ink Circles for years. I've stitched some smalls and one large Mandala that I still love!

Reflections of Canada by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 on 25ct Jobelan 

with Ruby Slippers by Jodyri

So many fun details in that one, although I think my favourite is still the hockey sticks. 

On to the new Ink Circles start! Again, this looks like something I picked up from a LNS and I found a great fabric to stitch it on. I've been trying to go through my stash of Chromatic Alchemy since it really accumulated over the years I was a member of her fabric of the month club. 

And I didn't have any of the called for colours, but found some close matches in my stash threads box:

Note my new Caterpillar scissors that Santa brought this past year!

And I managed a decent start so far:

Arranging Microbes by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Fruit Salad by Chromatic Alchemy

with stash threads (mostly WDW)

The tiny little motif that kind of looks like an alien is a bacteriophage and I did a project on this subject in Virology back in undergrad. It's kind of fun to remember that while stitching this. 

I'm debating if I can hang this up at work when I'm finished. Maybe in my exam room instead of the office bathroom? It's going to take a while, so no rush on deciding. 

Hope you've all had a good stitching day!

Tiffstitch

Fully Finished Gallery - December Edition

 You may not believe this, but I have multiple finishes this month! I had extra days off over American Thanksgiving and had an urge to do some organizing. Part of that involved going through the "drawer of shame finishes" to see what materials I had, what I wanted to get done, etc. And I managed to fully finish all of these!

Life is Tough by Circus Stitches

stitched 2 over 2 with stash threads, mostly WDW 

on 28ct Rainbow ltd edition by Chromatic Alchemy

framed in a 6x6 inch frame

2018 Ink Spot ornament by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 with Caron Waterlilies

on 28ct Tempest by Chromatic Alchemy

and here it is on the tree. Note the hidden basset hounds :)

Squirrelly by Mill Hill

stitched 3 over 1 as charted

backed with maroon felt and hanger with DMC variations brown thread

Celtic Ice by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 on called for fabric

with Carrie's Creations Night Storm and Blue Dreams

backed with blue felt and hanger with DMC variations blue 

Haunted House by Heart in Hand

stitched 2 over 1 with stash threads

on 16?ct fabric scrap

backed with burnt orange felt and hanger with WDW Trick or Treat thread

Boo! by Bent Creek

stitched 2 over 1 mostly as charted with WDW Trick or Treat border

on 16ct Galaxy by Jodyri

backed with burnt orange felt and black DMC hanger

Joy Snowglobe by Dimensions

stitched 2 over 1 on plastic canvas as charted

backed with red felt and extra red thread from kit for hanger

Woodland Santa #8 by Mill Hill

stitched 3 over 1 as charted

backed with dark green felt and green hanger from extra thread

I'm sure you're all surprised by the amount of finishes, although you'll notice most are smalls. But it's still nice to have them all finished, and possibly ready for gifts this year. Don't expect this kind of productivity again though. ;) 

Stay well and Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge #15 - Celtic Ice

Can there really only be 2 more weekends of starts left? It's hard to believe. I've definitely enjoyed each new start, even when they have issues or need frogging. That is a theme again this week, and I'll get into that below.

Rachel and Annie have started new projects this weekend as well, so please check their posts to see which projects they decided to start and maybe there's a finish if you go look!

This weekend I chose to start Celtic Ice. I think I got this one from Michelle BendyStitchy on one of her destashes. It came kitted up.

I believe this is OOP now, so I don't know if it was a kind of special release. It also came with another celtic design bonus chart. I managed to get here:

and then I realized my stitch count was off for the top left "knot", so that had to be frogged. I did frog it all, but haven't restitched it yet. This should be an easy finish once I get back to it though.

Speaking of finishes, I purposely delayed my post by a day, instead of accidentally forgetting like most other weeks, to get another finish in:

Woodland Santa (#8?) is complete! This was a fun one, a lot of cross stitch compared to some of the other Mill Hill kits I've completed and maybe only 100 beads or less, and only 3 colours, so a very easy starter project if you've never used beads before. The beard is 4 strands knotted and tacked down, then you clip a couple for a mustache area and sort of spread the rest so he seems to be walking into wind.

One more finish for the books for this new start binge! It is exciting to have finished so many new things as well. I don't think it ever became a grind, and there's only 2 weekends left now, so the time to choose more projects is at hand. I have a few options I need to narrow down for the last 2. One may not be Xmas themed because I had a project all kitted up to start, but I'd forgotten about it, and only recently came across it again. We'll see what I decide. That might be the final project for this session.

I hope you've all had good stitchy weeks!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge #11 - Visit Mordor

Hello everyone! I hope you've all had a good weekend and have been staying well. It's Monday, and time again to talk about my latest new start. Rachel and Annie are part of the craziness as well, so please check their blogs to find out their latest starts as well.

So, you know how I was being kind of smart about my new project choices and keeping them smallish? I fell into the Country Magic Stitch hole and decided I couldn't wait until starting one of the many interesting "travel" posters she designed. I don't know if I can admit how many I've purchased, but I started with this one:

Not to be an enabler (ha!), but she does have a sale at her site, not sure if it also translates to her Etsy site.

I debated a bit on fabric, and ended up choosing this one:

Visit Mordor by Country Magic Stitch

stitched 2 over 2 as charted on 28ct Britney Lugana Feronia by Chromatic Alchemy

I have some idea I could skip stitching the orange in the sky with this fabric, so I'll leave that till the end and decide how it looks. It might give it an interesting dimension. I wish these charts worked with Pattern Keeper, but they're captivating enough that I'm sticking with it. 

I also worked a bit on some other starts and have a couple finishes here:

 Lanarte Ballet Silhouette #2

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct L'Amour with Hearts Ltd Edtn by Chromatic Alchemy

Wings and Things by Ink Circles 

stitched 2 over 2 with Dinky Dyes Down Under Blues and Kreinik

on 28ct Haunted (PTP?)

I need to update my page with all the finishes and changes, and I'm very happy with being able to continue on and get some finishes. Of course, this does mean a lot of my other WIPs aren't moving on very fast, but that's okay for now. 

Stay well, and happy stitching!

Tiffstitch

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge #8 - Squirrelly

I did it! Another new start and another finish. I was enjoying Wings and Things from the previous week so much that I purposely chose a small chart so I could hopefully finish it and get back to Wings and Things for a finish.

The title of this post has nothing to do with the craziness of the new start binge that Rachel, Annie and I are participating in and Jo has joined in with some Just Nans as well, especially in April.

I chose Autumn Harvest this weekend, a kit that I think I picked up at a small LNS, Battenkill Stitchery, in Sunderland, Vermont, USA. Her shop has a lot of needlepoint and she said most of her shoppers stitch that exclusively. Her cross stitch section had a ton of charts that I didn't have enough time to sort through, but that would be fun given unlimited time.

Since it's a kit, everything is included and here is the finish:

Squirrelly from Autumn Harvest Collection by Mill Hill

stitched 3 over 1 as charted and 2 over 1 for beads

I have a friend from the Cross Stitch Forum that goes by Squirrel, so I'll make this into a card and send it to her for her birthday. Hopefully it will arrive in time, it's in July and she's in Australia.

And I went back to Wings and Things again and it's now here:

Wings and Things by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 with Dinky Dyes Down Under Blues and Kreinik 001 #8

stitched on 28 ct Lugana Haunted

and I think I've moved on in the Wish Ornament since you've seen it last as well:

Wish Ornament by Dimensions

stitched 2 over 1 on kit fabric (16ct Aida?) as charted

And that's where we're at so far! If I have a good stitching week maybe I can get Wings and Things completed and that would be one less WIP added to the pile. 

I hope you all have had a good weekend and stay safe in the U.S. over this Memorial Day weekend. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge #7 - Wings and Things

Hello everyone! The new start madness continues for Rachel and Annie and me, so please check out their blogs, linked above, for their new starts as well.

I wasn't feeling like starting any of the projects I had earmarked for this event, so I chose one that's been sitting in my stash for a few years now. I've wanted a good excuse to start it, and even though I didn't pick it on the first go for this, I'm very glad to have started it now. It had the right feeling I needed for stitching this weekend.

I purchased the chart, fabric and threads from Thread & Eye, a now retired LNS in London, Ontario. It was the first store I'd seen that had Dinky Dyes on the wall, and that was a lot of fun to check out all the different colours in person vs. online. I settled on Down Under Blues and had some stash Kreinik for the central spider web. It looks like this so far:

Wings and Things by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 on Haunted, maybe PTP? 

with 001 Kreink #8 braid and Dinky Dyes Down Under Blues

I hope you've all had a good stitchy weekend, whether that's joining in with us or Maynia, or however you enjoy this hobby, happy stitching!

Tiffstitch

Fully Finished Gallery SAL - September Finishing Frenzy

It's the 10th of the month, so check out Rachel's blog to see all her lovely finishes and the link up for everyone else's.

I had today off, and it was a school day, so I drove off to the local ReSource (Habitat for Humanity thrift shop) and Goodwill stores. I found all I wanted at the first ReSource store, 3 canvases and one rectangular frame. I decided to stop there for now and finish with the materials I had instead of collecting finishing materials as well as finishes.

As an added precaution, I actually measured the size of each finish in my drawer of shame finishes, so I knew what I was looking for and what might work. In the end I have 4 finishes to show you. One was finished before partly, but not fully complete and hanging up.

If you've picked yourself up from your chairs in shock at all these finishes, here's the photos! :)

 Somebunny from WOXS 

Stitched 2 over 2 as charted on 28ct Aether by Chromatic Alchemy

 I Love You More Today by Jodyri Designs

stitched 2 over 2 with stash threads on 28ct Eye of Newt by Chromatic Alchemy

Canada Mandala by Ink Circles

stitched 2 over 2 with Ruby Slippers by Jodyri on 28 ct ivory fabric 

Dog Lessons by Lizzie Kate

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct beige fabric with some thread changes and modified the dog to look more like our dearly departed basset hound. 

The bottom 2 are already hanging up in the house and Somebunny might be a birthday gift for DD, and I Love You More for DH's birthday in a few months. 

Happy Stitching and thanks again for the inspiration Rachel!

Tiffstitch

WIPocalypse January 2018

I'm a little late getting this one up, but have a bit to show. Also, this month's question is about what SALs we might be signed up for and if we're going to attempt Olympic stitching of any kind. 

So far I've managed to finish 3 of my 18 in '18 projects, although the others will likely take a little more time. Some have progressed though!

Finishes are:

Covered Bridge

Here Comes Treble

Christmas Train

You've seen the first two, although I think I maybe forgot to post about the train. I'm very happy to have these finishes already and hope there will be several more crossed off the list by the end of the year. 

I finally joined the Christmas Ornament stitch a long and finished my first ornament, and even posted about it on that blog. 

January's theme was Deck the Halls, note the holly! :) This is a small from WOXS I think, one of their batches of several patterns on a theme. 

I don't think I've signed up for any other SALs at this time, unless IHSW counts, but the it's early in the year yet. I have at least 4 unfinished SALs to stitch, so I might get to those at some point this year as well. 

For Olympic stitching I plan to spend a lot of time on Ballerina Dreams, but I may rotate a different project per day and try and get at least one thread length into each project. We'll see how it goes. 

I need to go and catch up on everyone's posts and hope you've all had good stitching days.

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch