2021 Goals

As you you've seen from my review of 2020, it was a busy stitchy year for me, I can't promise to top it in 2021 with a new job, looking for something permanent and moving house again at the end of the year, but I'll have fun trying!

I've decided to use WIPGO again, and use 11 designs to fill in my squares, with one design - Millennium Sampler in 4 squares so that I can prioritise it more.

I counted my stitches last year, a habit from Magical Stitches, but I think it slowed me down, so I'll stop doing that and instead record when I stitched on a design and any milestones, e.g. finished 1 block, finished a teddy etc.

1. Made to Create SAL - Start and finish

I was fortunate to received the materials for the Made to Create SAL by Caterpillar Cross Stitch for Christmas, and the first part is sent on the 25th January!

I'm really excited to start this since I've wanted to try CCS for over a year, and this design seems to be really fitting and will look perfect in my new craft room.

2. Millennium Sampler - Finish all squares

BEFORE:

My WIPGO Board will actually be 2 squares each time it's called, but since there are 12 outstanding blocks, I will try to do more than that if possible.

3. A Day in the Life of Hello Kitty - Finish Page 2

I need new up to date phot of this one, but here's the most recent picture of page one:

4. Snowy Friends - 1,000 stitches

BEFORE: 

I absolutely love this design, but think 2 over 1 on 25 count was a bit ambitious. I'm going to try to do a bit more of this sine I've had a long break and would love to make more progress on my first ever HAED.

5 . Project X - FINISH date & frame

I can't show you a picture of this, but will do as soon as I've given it to the recipiants receive it. It's a beautiful design and can't wait to share it!

6. Love Spring - FINISH

BEFORE:

I'm really excited to finish this and it will be done this year.

7. Mini Think Pink - FINISH 1,000 STITCHES

BEFORE:

I absolutely adore this chart, and 1,000 stitches doesn't seem much, but it'll almost finish half a page. 

7. Teddy Tags - FINISH LAST 4 Teddies

BEFORE:

Picture to be added.

8. Frogs Kissing - FINISH 1,000 STITCHES

BEFORE:

In theory, this is so close to a finish, but the confetti is terrible. However, I'm hoping wth my new stitching technique, and Pattern Keeper, I'll be able to make real progress on this one in 2021.

9. Blossoming Hedgehog - FINISH

BEFORE:

10. Lakeside Village - Finish Page 2

BEFORE:

I think it's time this one came out again this yea, so it's going on my WIPGO board and page 2 shouls be completed this year.

11. Beacon Ridge - FINISH 1,000 STITCHES

BEFORE:

I don't normally like stitching backgreounds, but this sky is beautiful and will be coming out again in 2021!

12. Ladybug Love - FINISH 1,000 STITCHES

Due to me doing cross country on this one, I'll have to roughly count the stitches, but I'm so happy this will get stitched on this year, albeit just a small amount.

Overall, I think my goals, albeit many, they are achievable and I'm excited to know the WIPGO numbers each month. January has already been called - Mini Think Pink and Teddy Tags, which ahould be fun! 

Happy New Year & Happy Stitching!

2020 Review

Well 2020 has been a surreal year for everyone wherever you are in the world, but on a personal note, it’s been a momentous one for me!

In February I was made redundant from my long term job, and then CoVid happened, so the job hunt was tricky to say the least. When the 1st lockdown was lifted, I visited my sisters, nephews and niece and realised how much I missed them, so when we returned, we put the house on the market, and accepted an offer a week later! So now I'm here in our new home in Lincolnshire after living in the North East for over 17 years. I also have a new job starting in January, so an interesting future and I dearly hope that we come through the Pandemic very soon.

Anyway, back to the stitching, if you remember, last year I enjoyed joining in with Magical Stitches which had a Harry Potter theme. this year I had hoped to join in again, however, the theme was Disneyland parks and I know very little about them and it got really complex, so I slowly stopped doing that.

However, I joined WIPGO devised by Jessie Marie Does Stuff. If you've not heard about this, it basically means you select 24 projects to put on a bingo board and each month 2 numbers are called by Jessie Marie to stitch for that month. I've done several rotations, but none really worked for long, however being a monogamous stitcher has really suited me and you will see it resulted in some great finishes this year.

Here were my goals for 2020:

1. Playtime Kitten - FINISH - COMPLETE

BEFORE:

AFTER:

A big 'yay' from me! I absolutely loved this design and the fabric choice. Some of that backstitch was a nightmare, however, it's worth it.

2. Greek Steps - FINISH - COMPLETE

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Another longstanding project, I'm so pleased how quickly it pro0gressed once I focused on it solely. 

3. Project X - START AND FINISH - PARTIALLY CLOMPLETED

Unfortunately I can't share this new start (and finish) because it's a gift and the event was sadly postponed until 2021, so I'll re-stitch the date and share once given to the recipients. 

4. Love Spring - FINISH FULL CROSSES  - COMPLETE

BEFORE:

AFTER:

So after all the full stitches, I had to go on, right?

I was on a roll, so here are the backstitches:

I'm really pleased with how it's looking, but want to get a new iron and press it well before adding the embellishments and getting it framed. So happy in the progress I made. I do have Love Tree in my stash, so maybe that'll come out in the near future.

5. Mini Think Pink - FINISH PAGE - INCOMPLETE

Whilst I didn't get anywhere close to finishing the page, I am proud of what I did complete, I adjusted my annual goals when I joined WIPGO, and did complete my 10 squares (1,000) stitches, so I'm pleased how it's coming on.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Whilst this may not seem a lot, in comparison to others BAPs, I'm really pleased to have hit my revised target and make some decent progress.

6. Millennium Sampler - FINISH 2 SQUARES - INCOMPLETE

Again, I just fell short of my target, however, I'm really enjoying this design again after it become a UFO for so long. 

I can't find a before picture, but ere's my after picture.

AFTER:

And the square I have focused on this year:

I really want to focus on this next year to see if I can finish the squares around the centre - see my goals post for more information!

7. Teddy Tags - FINISH LAST 4 Teddies - INCOMPLETE

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Will add this later.

I think I'd have done more of this had my stitching group been on, but as you know everything has pretty much closed down. I wish the group all the best since I won't be returning now.

8. Frogs Kissing - FINISH PAGES 2 & 5 - INCOMPLETE

I just did a few stitched on this and not worth a photo, I'll add one onto my 2021 goals page for you to see.

NEW STARTS

Of course, with all these finishes, I had to have a new start, right?

There's actually 2 of them, but the first one was while on holiday and had nothing else to stitch, so pulled out this small kit from World of Cross Stitching:

Hello Little One

14 count white aida, 2 over 1

Started: 21/02/20

Finished: 09/11/20

The second one, I've only just started as a SAL with my stitching buddy Manx Cathy.

Here's my start:

So not much to see so far, however, I'm really enjoying stitching on the hand dyed fabric.

Summary

So it's been a great year in terms of finishing small and medium sized projects. I think next year, I'll give some love to my full coverage designs and spread it around a bit more.

WIPs at beginning of the year:17

New projects: 2

Number of finished objects: 3 (2 others almost complete)

Number of WIPs at the end of the year: 16

Happy Stitching!

2020 Goals!

After such a productive 2019, I’ve been thinking hard about which challenges to pick for this year!

I’ve also just downloaded Pattern Keeper onto my kindle, so trying to think which full coverage designs I can make progress on this year. I really want to have some more finishes this year, but some definite WIPs as well.

So here’s my goals:

1. Playtime Kitten - FINISH

2. Greek Steps - FINISH

3. Project X - START AND FINISH

4. Love Spring - FINISH FULL CROSSES

5. Mini Think Pink - FINISH PAGE 

6. Millennium Sampler - FINISH 2 SQUARES

7. Teddy Tags - FINISH LAST 4 Teddies

8. Frogs Kissing - FINISH PAGES 2 & 5

EDIT: I did draft this early January, but put to one side whilst found pictures. I’ve decided to post as is as a note of my goals for this year. 

Happy Stitching! 

2019 Review

Wow, what a year! And a lot of it not for good reasons.  Now the New Year is here, I'm looking at the positives and hoping for a fabulous personal and stitchy year.

For now, here's a review of my stitching during 2019.  I didn't have many concrete goals for 2019 since my stitchy bug had only just got back, so lets look at those first.

First, my planned finishes:

1. Bands of Variation SAL(BOV) - Finish - COMPLETE!

Yes, you read that right, I had a finish! I'm so happy about that! Here's the before and after picture:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Working on it just one evening a week didn't work for me, so I decided to focus on it to get it finished.  So happy I did!

2. Safari Friends - Finish - COMPLETE

START:

FINISH:

I'm so happy with how this turned out! Unfortunately it's not framed yet because my iron wasn't working properly.  As soon as I get a new one, I'll iron it and get it framed and of course share the FFO (Fully Finished Object) with you!

3. Playtime Kitten - progress, finish page 1 and maybe finish completely?! - PART FINISHED

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I know she's in the frame in the finished picture, but I'm so pleased with how much I've got done.  I finished the leaves, flower and butterfly, along with the back stitch and making progress on her back.  I hope you'll agree that she's sooooo cute!

4. Love Spring - finish all cross stitches and start back stitches - INCOMPLETE!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

So not a great amount done on this, but I'm happy on balance on getting so much progress elsewhere.

5. Mini Think Pink - Finish page 1 - INCOMPLETE

FINISH:

Although not a page finish, I almost completed a quarter of the page in the first 4 months of the year, I then moved on to focus on the 2 finishes above, so I'm not so sad about this.  I've also been enjoying the new parking method and only using 1 needle, rather than 80 odd! 

6. Christmas at Home - start if 2 of the above finished - INCOMPLETE

I didn't start this because by the time they were finished, I had other new starts in mind!

So now for the unplanned new starts!

7. Teddy Tags 

START:

FINISH:

I won this mini kit off Kerry In Stitches Flosstube and intended on doing all 8 of the teddies for my stitch group ladies, unfortunately I ran out of time due to me being ill,, and my little boy being ill at other times, so I am pleased I got these 4 complete, and I shall finish the other 4 in 2020 for the ladies that missed out.

8. Penguin Christmas Tree Decorations

I actually completed 2 of these decorations, I had planned just the one for my secret Santa - so if you see this - SURPRISE! However, my colleague got wind that I was making gift tags and decorations and asked if I would make one for his son - this one was for him.  The actually finishing was rushed, and not great, but I hope they liked them.

So, me being me, couldn't stop there...I joined a group called Magical Stitches in April, which really spurred me on to do a certain amount of stitches in a week or month based on certain Harry Potter themed tasks.  So below is the progress of a few more WIPs!

9. Paris

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I didn't get that much done here because the confetti is dense, and I didn't like the cross country stitching that was there before, it can be fixed to be like Mini Think Pink, it will just take some time.

10. A Day in the Life of Hello Kitty

BEFORE:

AFTER:

So after all that confetti, it was nice to have some blocks of colour.  However, I'm not going to lie, it got pretty boring, quite quickly!  I do love the design though, so I will finish it sometime.

11. Greek Steps

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Another WIP used for a task or two, I really did enjoy this and it's not to far off a finish, so maybe 2020 - a finish?  Who knows?

12. Millennium Sampler

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Although this is only 100 stitches, I’m so pleased this has come out again. Hopefully it will star in 2020 too. 

13. Frogs Kissing

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I literally only did a handful of stitches, I'm not sure you can tell any difference! Oh well, this is another one I need to sort out the parking situation.

Wow 13 WIPs worked on! I didn't realise it was that many! I have done a lot of stitching in 2019! Still not as much as pre pregnancy, but I'm happy that I'm stitching at all.m

So in conclusion, that’s 3 new starts, 3 finishes and 13 designs stitched on. I’ve decided to stop counting the hours I stitch for since it was so hard to remember to do and a headache I didn’t want to get in the way of my stitching.

And here are some kits I have been gifted.  The first I won on Facebook!

So surprised! But I think this one would be another one for me to stitch for my little boy's room, what do you think?

This one is a gift as part of my Secret Santa:

I love the kit, and it's certainly one I'll do at some point.  As for Michael Powell, I adore his designs, so if I need a Christmas design, I'll have plenty to choose from!

So that concludes my review, watch out soon for my plans for 2020!

In the meantime, Happy Stitching!