January Wrap-Up and a Big Finish!

 So I'm a little late with the January wrap-up, but there's a good reason. I did stick with my plan of trying to get 2K tent stitches into Animal Kingdom for 4 weeks, so there are over 8K stitches in it now. You can even see another animal and some books:

Amazing Animal Kingdom by Aimee Stewart

stitched 2 over 1 tent stitch on 32 ct Chromatic Alchemy fabric as charted

I'm looking forward to picking this back up this month and catching up a bit. I did get a little behind as I got a little obsessed by finishing one of my older projects. 

Was it this one? 

Full Moon by Cute Patterns by Maria

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Lazurite by Chromatic Alchemy as charted

No, although it was really nice to finish this one up as well. It's over 4500 cross stitches (in Pattern Keeper for easy counting) plus you have to add all that backstitch in. These are so pretty, but don't start them if you're not a fan of blends. There are always a lot in her charts. 

And it wasn't this newest finish either:

Love by Durene Jones (Facebook freebie)

stitched as charted 2 over 1 on metallic finish perforated paper

This will be for DD, just have to cut it out and add some felt and a ribbon to the backing. 

Then it must be this one:

Princess and the Dragon by Charting Creations

stitched 1 over 1 DMC 310 full cross on 28ct Amarinthine by Chromatic Alchemy

I still can't really believe I've finished this one. I started in 2015, around the time Nikki started up Charting Creations I think. This was my very first piece of Chromatic Alchemy fabric as well. I had won it from a giveaway Sam had on her FB page and that's what made me sign up for her FOTM club. 

It's over 53,000 stitches and although there are a few mistakes, no one will be able to tell what they are. Now to decide how to FFO this, it definitely needs to get hung up on the wall soon. 

I hope you've all been well and are staying safe. New plans for February involve getting back to the 2K stitches per week on Animal Kingdom and trying to focus on some small or medium size WIPs when I've accomplished that so I can get some more finishes in before the start of Mischievous March. I am looking forward to something new and I'll likely keep the starts small to not add too much to the WIP pile. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

WIP Wranglers Wrap-Up (Photo Heavy)

 And here we are to wrap up the last challenge of 2020, WIP Wranglers. This was a fun one, and I enjoyed getting some stitches into so many projects, even if I didn't get any finished. I did get a lot of them much closer to a finish, so that's something. 

We were at Loved You Yesterday at the end of the last post, so here was 1000 stitches added:

Loved You Yesterday by Cherry Hill Stitchery

stitched with stash threads

on 18ct damask aida by Silkweaver

There's an elephant on the other side of the quote, and some words at the bottom, but again, this should only take a few days to finish. 

Spooky Halloween was up next. A lot of the house from part 5 added for the 400 stitches needed:

Spooky Halloween by Durene Jones through Lakeside Needlecraft

stitched 2 over 2 with DMC 310, Jodyri Purple Planets and GITD Kreinik

on 28ct Icarus by Chromatic Alchemy

This one will show up again later!

Another project I've already stitched on showed up again, Butterfly Quote, for another 600!

Butterfly Quote by Jodyri 

stitched 2 over 1 with mostly Jodyri threads, Sunshine State currently

on 14 ct fabric 

This won't be a quick finish, probably a couple weeks, so this won't be on the quick-finish list for next year. It's a fun one though, and I'm looking forward to completing it. 

Finally rolled another new one, this is Blackwork Poppy that had 200 added to it:

Blackwork Poppy by Jodyri

stitched with DMC 310 over 1 on 1

on 18ct Galaxy by Jodyri

I feel like a couple days of good stitching could finish this one off as well. It's charted in red for the poppy, but I thought the fabric had enough reds that I'd stitch it all in black. The center is supposed to have green, so maybe a dark green would work, like DMC 890? Or WDW Okefenokee?

And here's Spooky Halloween for another 300:

Part 5 is almost complete now. The funny part about this one I stitched this while we introduced DD to The Princess Bride. Here's one of my favourite photos of her experience:

Note the blanket's proximity to her eyes so she can hide under it :)

Another WIP I hadn't stitched on yet was rolled next, Do Not Meddle for 200:

Do Not Meddle by Dragon Fire Designs

stitched as charted 1 over 1

on 28ct Monaco

This one shows up in a bit again as well. :)

My very first WIP that was rolled got rolled again, and Frosty Friends 1 came out for another 500 stitches!

Frosty Friends 1 by Dimensions

stitched as charted over 1

on 16ct kit fabric

That wasn't quite enough stitching to finish this one, but it's really close now. Probably 2 days knowing how much backstitch there is, not just 1 to get this one finished. 

One of the larger WIPs I'd chosen was rolled next, Magical Arrival for 400

Magical Arrival by HAED

stitched 1 over 1 full cross as charted

on 25ct magic guide evenweave

This is a longer term project, definitely not a finish any time soon, especially if I'm going to spend a lot of time on Animal Kingdom. 

Another fun one was rolled next, Evening in the Shire for 600!

Evening in the Shire by Cute Patterns by Maria

stitched as charted with full cross and half cross and backstitch

on 28ct Moonrise by Jodyri

So much backstitch! And this one shows up again in a bit. ;)

At this point I think there were 3 projects that still hadn't been rolled, fortunately I did roll another new one next, Full Moon for 400:

Full Moon by Cute Patterns by Maria

stitched as charted over 2 

on 28ct Lazurite by Chromatic Alchemy

I think this one might still need a week. A lot of these projects have blends, backstitch, etc. and they're a little longer than they seem. Fortunately they do work in PK, so I know I have about 1700 cross stitches left, plus backstitch after that. 

Another untouched one came next, and this has been untouched for a while, Snow Guide for 200:

Snow Guide by Lizzie Kate

stitched 2 over 1 with stash threads

on 14ct aida

This one will show up again soon!

And I think the last untouched one was rolled next, Frosty Friends 2 for 200:

Frosty Friends 2 by Dimensions

stitched 2 over 1 as charted 

on 16ct kit aida

Still a long way to go on this one, and I think Katie warned me these aren't as quick as they look. :)

I had touched all 20 WIPs by now, so I'm not sure if you could stop here, but I thought I'd see if I could roll them all a second time before the end of the year. If you looked at the top list, you'll note I didn't quite manage it. 

Animal Parade was rolled next for 600 stitches:

Animal Parade by Lanarte

stitched 1 or 2 over 1 with kit threads on kit fabric

There's a long, long way to go on this one. A giraffe is to the right of the elephant and I think there's a lion and an ostrich to the left of the rhino, plus most of the rhino to stitch, so this won't be done any time soon. It was nice to get it out to work on a bit though. 

Do Not Meddle was rolled again next for 100 stitches:

If anyone remembers, I am stunt stitching this for someone else. I would really love to get this one finished this year and get it mailed out. I definitely made some good progress last year and getting the first dragon complete, and the words are definitely reachable for this year, and a stretch goal would be to finish the whole project. 

Only 2 left!!

Snow Guide was rolled again for 100:

I may or may not put the bottom motifs in. I had chosen this fabric way back before I had such a large stash, and it's a little tight on the margins if I include those. I'll likely finish off the top and see what I'm willing to try before attempting the bottom. This is another one that should only take a few days to finish. 

And last, but not least, Evening in the Shire was rolled again for 300 stitches!

It's not exactly a mirror, but the right side is similar to the left, with another bit of the house and a lot of backstitch. I think this will be more than a week to finish as well. 

And that's it! Lots of WIPs worked on and lots that are really close to finishing. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can finish in 2021 and hope to work on at least one a week. 

I hope you're all staying safe and have a successful 2021!

Tiffstitch

September Crazy Domino Effect - Projects 7-9

This took a little longer than I expected to get this post up. I've done the stitching, but work has been busy and I haven't been able to write a post. Usually I have time at work to write a quick post because I almost never have time when I'm home now, or really, I'd rather get as much stitching done as possible, so I don't make time. 

Anyway, here we are for the next 3 projects! 2 of these have been WIPs for a long time, one possibly my oldest at this point. This first one is Sleigh Ride, which hasn't seen much work in the last couple years. It was last here:

and I think this was all I had done after starting it in 2016 or 2017. It's a kit from Dimensions. 700 stitches made it get a fair bit farther along since I'm in the half stitch section, so that was 1400 half stitches.

                                            

This one is still a long way from complete. I switched out the fabric, since the aida was so stiff and this is 25ct pewter Lugana stitching over 2. 

Next I pulled out another old one, possibly my oldest, In Harmony, also by Dimensions. There might be a theme on the abandoned projects... 

Here's where it was:

and now, after 800 stitches, which was really about 1600 half stitches

This one still needs a fair bit of work as well, and will eventually look like this:

My last project in this set of 3 was Full Moon by Cute Patterns by Maria. I started this a couple years ago I think and it's on Pattern Keeper as well, so when it started here, I was already about 1000 stitches into it, out of almost 5000. 

and 900 stitches got it a little farther along to here:

Full Moon by Cute Patterns by Maria

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Lazurite by Chromatic Alchemy

 You can start to see the fox that will be sitting beside her and more of the moon, so I'm pretty happy with the progress on this one. This is close to 50% complete now, so could still be a finish this year if I get back to it. Pattern Keeper is amazing at helping you progress on these older WIPs!

I've also finished projects 10 and 11 and am working on 12, so hopefully the next post won't take me so long. I'm completing it as DD is chatting with her grandparents over the internet since she listens better to them when I'm not in the same room. 

I hope everyone is staying well and Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

 

 

Gifted Gorgeousness - July Edition

I'm just squeaking in before the end of the month to get my gifted stitching in. As always, please check with our fabulous host, Jo to get everyone's links if you haven't already since I'm about 2 weeks late getting this up. :)

On to the stitching!

Butterfly Quote - for DD

 Butterfly Quote by Jodyri Designs

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct aida with Jodyri Pink Laydee, Sparkling Citrine and City of Oz and WDW 

I've had a burning desire to finish this one lately, so I'm glad it's fit into a lot of the recent prompts on Magical Stitches and the LOTR group. 

Princess and the Dragon - DD

 Princess and the Dragon by Charting Creations

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct Amarinthine by Chromatic Alchemy with DMC 310

Still filling in on this one, and it's going well. It will come up a few times this week, so I hope to get some more work done on this one. I'm not sure if I'll outline more or just continue to fill in until I move the Qsnaps. 

Maple Leaf - SIL

 Maple Leaf by Alessandra Adelaide Needleworks

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct unknown aida with WDW Fire

This one is so close! I definitely need to finish it soon, it will be another big finish for this year. 

Kiss for a Snowman - DD

 Kiss for a Snowman by Dimensions

stitched 2 over 1 on on 16 ct included aida and kit threads

I don't think this will be an Xmas finish this year unless I really get a move on. It's fun to work on, but as we all know, these kits are more complicated than they look. :)

See Ya Later Alligator - DD

 See Ya Later Alligator by Jodyri Designs

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Nuriel's Forest by Chromatic Alchemy with stash threads

I've still got a few more sections to finish on this one. I'm debating about using some metallic reds for the lady bug as that would meet a magical stitches prompt for this week. It wouldn't be very fun though, as it's 200 stitches worth!

Full Moon - DD

 Full Moon by Cute Patterns by Maria

stitched 2 over 2 on Lazurite by Chromatic Alchemy with charted DMC

Still loving this one when I get it out and hope I can fit it in again soon with the homework. 

April Flip-It

April Flip-It by Lizzie Kate

stitched 1 and 2 over 1 on 22ct ivory hardanger with stash threads

Now that it's finished I need to make this into a card and it will be ready for next Easter. 

Thanks for all your wonderful comments and encouragement! 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

School of Magical Stitches Year 4 Wrap-Up and Year 5, Week 1

Thank you Rachel for your good advice in finishing up Week 8 of Year 4. I appreciate it as it gave me some good ideas :).

If you want to check the post, I was missing a project for tasks 3, 5 and 6. For task 3 we needed to stitch on a gravestone or graveyard scene. I don't have one in current WIPs, and I found a good small I could start with an obvious tombstone in it.

Haunted House by Heart in Hand

stitched 2 over 2 on 18ct? aida with stash threads

For task 5, I needed to stitch something with an ingredient in polyjuice potion. Rachel's idea was to stitch on a person in one of my projects. I chose the girl in Full Moon as she's a witch too and moved it along to here (yes, you've already seen this photo)

Full Moon by Cute Patterns by Maria

stitched 2 over 2 as charted on 28ct Lazurite by Chromatic Alchemy

And for Task 6 we needed to stitch on something that makes us laugh. I was going to use Monsters again, but Rachel's comment about how I completely missed the door in Evening in the Shire made me pull that one out to put a little more work into it. :) 

Evening in the Shire by Cute Patterns by Maria

stitched 2 over 2 as charted on 28ct Moonscape by Jodyri

Thank you again Rachel for the help! I always appreciate assistance of any kind. 

Year 5, Week 1

At the opening of Book 5, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry and his cousin are attacked by Dementors. This week's tasks deal with the outcomes of that. 

Task 1 is to stitch 300 stitches on something boring because Harry's boring old babysitter turns out to be in the know of the magical world. I haven't decided on anything for this one yet, maybe Princess since there's a lot of filling in yet to do?

Task 2 is to stitch 300 stitches on something that has been suspended for 5 months or longer because there's some risk Harry will be suspended or expelled for doing underage magic, even though it was to protect both his and his cousin's life. I'm thinking about pulling out the AAN Maple Leaf for this one as it ties into the next task as well. It was last here in early 2018:

Maple Leaf by Alessandra Adelaide Needleworks

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct unknown aida with WDW Blaze

Lastly, task 3 has us stitch 300 stitches on something without a face because the Dementors always hide their faces. The maple leaf would work for that as well and I'd get 600 stitches in which would get it well on its way to completion as well I think. 

If you have any other ideas, please let me know.

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

Zodiac : Taurus

It's time again to talk about another astrological sign. One member of my immediate family is a Taurus, my younger brother. Check out Jo's post for more info on Tauri? Tauruses? and here's a little blurb:

The Bull represents a strong-willed character with great perseverance and determination.  In India Taurus is known by its Sanskrit name Vṛṣabha, which is occasionally given as a name for Shiva and his vehicle Nandi as well as the first of twenty-four Jain Tirthankara, Rishabhanatha.  In Egypt, Taurus was seen as the cow goddess Hathor.  Hathor was the goddess of beauty, love, and happiness, and she represented all of the riches seen in cattle as the providers of nourishment.  Roman astrologers considered Taurus ruled by Venus, the goddess of beauty, and Earth, the goddess of the earth and nature.

I'm going for some nature/earth type shoe horns this time, so let's see what I've stitched since last month that I can squeeze into this theme. :)

Full Moon got a little more progress:

 These lovely flowers....

 This snowy scene in Kiss for a Snowman:

 Wool is an all-natural fibre right?

Fishing - what could be more nature oriented than this one? 

Okay, maybe Mini Winter Magic:

Hope you've all had a good month and Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch