May WIPocalypse - Mini Maynia

As many of you know, May is the month of Stitch Maynia. I have to admit that I hadn't heard of this event until very recently and when I did, my first thought was "WHAT?? Start 18 new projects??!!" But then I learned that stitchers decided for themselves how many projects were doable for them personally. I did hear that some were starting 31, one for each day in the month!

I came up with my own plan. I would start 5 new projects, because May is the fifth month. Made sense to me because it was something I was totally comfortable with. Here's how it went: I started a new project on the first of the month, then after that, I started one on each Monday of May.

My first of May project is Lizzie Kate's "Coffee Time". I'm stitching the "But First Coffee" design which I will put into my coffee pot trivet frame. I'm stitching it on 30 count Tin Roof linen. I know that once I get back to stitching this one, I'll finish it quickly.

Next, I started "No Bees No Honey" by Birds Of A Feather. I've had this one kitted up for some time. It's being stitched on 20 count Lugana in an off white color. I kitted it up with all DMC and decided to leave it that way. I did make a mistake by attempting to use two threads on the 20 count fabric. No. That doesn't work. So it's one over one and it's turning out nicely.

That little bee skep is so cute and the coverage is very good with one thread.

The next Monday was time to start the Little House Needleworks "Farmhouse Christmas" series. I'm stitching them individually on the recommended fabric.

I know that a lot of people are stitching these, and you've seen them a million times, but just look at this. So cute. And that Classic Colorworks "Cherry Cobbler" thread is my new favorite.

On Monday #3 I started "Quaker Diamonds" by Rosewood Manor. I'm stitching this on 32 count Flax linen and using overdyed threads. I received a silk-to-overdyed conversion from a fellow Flosstuber.

The color conversion seems to match the silks very well and the colors are amazing!

Today is the fourth and last Monday and I will be starting "Salute To Abigail" by Blackbird Designs from their book "Sweet Land Of Liberty". If you like patriotic stitching, please take a look at the patterns in this book! Each one is gorgeous. I will begin stitching it on 32 count R&R linen in Mink. I have converted the silks (called for) to overdyed floss.

These colors will work extremely well for this pattern and the bonus is that I had them all in my stash!

I really liked my version of Maynia. It was in my comfort zone and each new project was something I wanted to stitch. The biggest problem I had was stopping stitching on them to start something new! It was difficult to put each one down! Now my WIP collection is up to 15, which is something I never thought I'd do. But the more the merrier I say!

My plans for the next month are to work on (and maybe finish!?) some smaller projects like the Snowflower Diaries "Joyful World" July and the Lizzie Kate "Coffee Time". I'd love to have some finishes at some point soon!

Question of the Month: Where do you love to shop for stash? Sadly, there are no cross stitch shops near where I live. I would have to drive probably several hours to get to one and it would be in a different state! I really depend on online services for all of my supplies. My favorites are: 123Stitch!, Stitch And Frog, and Cross Stitch Felicity. I also like to shop on Etsy and have just found The Cottage Needle there. In addition, when we travel, I always look to see if there is an LNS wherever we will be. I was so lucky to visit Dyeing To Stitch in Virginia Beach, VA this month while on a trip. And yes, I did my share of shopping there!

Thanks to Melissa at Measi's Musings blog for organizing the WIPocalypse! If you'd like more info, just visit her blog.

Thanks for visiting! I love all comments. Please visit my Flosstube channel "CraftyCat Stitcher"!

WIPocalypse For April

During this month, I started doing a true rotation of my cross stitch projects. But first I zeroed in on finishing something - Christmas Sentiments.

There it is, all finished. Stitched, that is. I still have to decide on framing for this. I am happy to have an actual finish though.

So after I put the last stitch into Christmas Sentiments, I decided to start rotating my WIPs. I devoted two or three days to each one before moving on to the next. I stitch mostly in the evenings, so maybe get in a couple of hours of stitch time.

First up this month was Light Upon The Lawn by Blackbird Designs.

This is the one that I'm stitching on fabric that I tea and coffee dyed. The fabric must have gotten distorted in the process and a bit stretched out because when I started stitching two over two (it's 28 count), the stitches were gigantic. I then switched to one over one and I like the results! But you can see the distortion especially in what is supposed to be an oval. It's now a circle. I think it'll still turn out nicely.

Next was my Linen and Threads 2017 Mystery Sampler. I know, I know. Not much of a mystery anymore. At least I get to see everything I'll be stitching and know I'll like it.

Yes, I'm still working on January. Sigh. It's such a large section. I did make significant progress on it though!

My Joyful World by the Snowflower Diaries July piece is coming along nicely. I did work on this one a lot at my April stitch day with the Sisters In Stitches.

I know I'll have this one done in time to display in July. Don't you love the colors?

I did start working on my UFO, The Angel Of Divinity by Dimensions. It was difficult to orient myself as to where to begin continuing. Begin continuing? Wow, that sounded weird. But you know what I mean. I chose to work on some dark blue background. It was unbelievably slow-going.

I had to reacquaint myself with the colors. What's "dark blue", "medium blue", and "blue"? It's a kit, so......

Here's one that I haven't picked up in a long time. It's Tulip's Praise by Gracewood Stitches.

I even started a new section. I didn't want to put this one down when it was time to rotate to the next project!

Finally, I had a birthday start! I'm stitching Life Tree by Rovaris.

I'm stitching this one over one on 25 count Lugana. I tea dyed the fabric, the color of which was called "potato". I will be stitching the entire chart in DMC 815.

Question of the month: Talk to us about your longest-running WIP or UFO.  That would have to be the Angel Of Divinity (see above). I think I started stitching it about 15 years ago and stopped for some reason. Was I overwhelmed by all of the different colors, or the specialty stitches? I don't know. I found it in my craft closet and showed it on one of my Flosstube videos and was then urged to continue stitching it. So into the rotation it went. I do like it and know that it will be worth the time put into stitching it.

I will be keeping to my new rotation, and have a few more projects to work on that I didn't get to in April. I also plan to join Stitchmaynia, but in a very small way. I will be starting 5 projects, as a tribute to May being the fifth month (and also my favorite month). So look for me next month, and hopefully you'll see a lot of new stitching! Until then, have a great month. Happy stitching!