The topic of the month is: "Talk to us about your longest-running WIP or UFO."
Well, it all depends on what you want --- WIP? UFO? The project I will talk about has aspects of both.
My longest running WIP (I still consider it that since it resides in my work bag in my stitching area and not in the cabinet of long-unfinished pieces) is Elisabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" blackwork sampler; I started it February 24, 2014:
Well, it all depends on what you want --- WIP? UFO? The project I will talk about has aspects of both.
My longest running WIP (I still consider it that since it resides in my work bag in my stitching area and not in the cabinet of long-unfinished pieces) is Elisabeth Almond's "Save the Stitches" blackwork sampler; I started it February 24, 2014:
and last worked on it April 9, 2015:
It is stitched in DMC 310 with touches of three or four different DMC blue and green threads in select areas, on 28ct white evenweave. Peacock blue-green beads will go in some of the more open blocks as centers of motifs. It has all the outlines done and a little more than half the filling stitches (13 blocks) done (except for beads — that was to be last).
I truly can't remember why I stopped working on it ... perhaps it was working on the "Roll Your Own" SAL project from InkCircles (which took nearly a year and which I completed in August 2016, too late to enter in the fair that year, which had been my goal), compounded by the broken left wrist in October 2016 (which meant surgery followed by two or three months of therapy). After I got the use of my left hand back, I found I would get finger/hand cramps after using that hand for any prolonged period of time. While working on hand strength exercises, I lost my mojo for stitching of any kind. While I attempted to get back to stitching in February/March of 2019, I still suffered periodic episodes of finger and hand cramping which made holding frames, hoops AND needles difficult at best. Then I reinjured that same wrist (ruptured tendon) in July 0f 2019 which meant more surgery and therapy. It wasn't until this year that I really have gotten back into stitching on a regular basis , and by that time...
This piece is a really BAP which means a large hand-held Q-Snap frame is necessary. I wasn't at all sure, when I started stitching again post-therapy, if my left hand would hold up to dealing with Q-Snap frames. So I put off working on it again, resorting to small hand-held needlepoint canvases and smaller Q-Snap frames or round hoops on medium-sized cross-stitch projects. I also wasn't sure if I could handle blackwork, so...
At the beginning of 2020, I decided to try a SAL to encourage me to keep at a larger project - and went overboard, signing for four (yes, counted FOUR) SALs, one of which is blackwork. As it is, now four months into my stitching, I find that I can handle blackwork (with magnification) and hand-held frames (although not for as long a period as I used to) without finger cramping, so I'm hoping to get "Save the Stitches" back into a rotation again...
Now, for what I have been doing this month.
~~~~~WIPs~~~~~
We are still "stay at home" orders here in Ohio, at least through May 1, so I have had the time to do quite a bit of stitching.
Since WIPocalypse is dedicated to finishing all those outstanding WIPs, I did stitch on "Love Is...". Not much, But some.
I actually hate stitching all this back-stitching and French knots, especially on this loose linen weave. I started this back in 2016 (!) to be a first anniversary gift for my niece. Clearly, that isn't going to happen! And I'm not sure what else to do with it - I don't really like this that much and I have no-one that I know who would like it so it may be finished eventually and end up in a finish-finish pile...
~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~
Not likely to be travelling anytime soon (I strongly expect the National Daylily Convention in Savannah to be cancelled) so not likely to be stitching on "Butterfly on Scroll". No progress to report.
~~~~~Completions~~~~~
I do have one "completion" of sorts... Given that my husband is the "designated" shopper in the family now (he may not be aware of this, but he is! I have asthma and diabetes 2, and am NOT averse to total social isolation if it keeps me healthy!), and the new guidelines call for wearing masks where you might encounter other people, I made two masks for him to wear on his trips to town (to wear and a spare!):
~~~~~Travelling Needlepoint~~~~~
Not likely to be travelling anytime soon (I strongly expect the National Daylily Convention in Savannah to be cancelled) so not likely to be stitching on "Butterfly on Scroll". No progress to report.
~~~~~Completions~~~~~
I do have one "completion" of sorts... Given that my husband is the "designated" shopper in the family now (he may not be aware of this, but he is! I have asthma and diabetes 2, and am NOT averse to total social isolation if it keeps me healthy!), and the new guidelines call for wearing masks where you might encounter other people, I made two masks for him to wear on his trips to town (to wear and a spare!):
A week later, my husband gave one of his masks to his brother so I made two more. After one broken sewing machine needle, three reloading of a bobbin and at least seven rethreading of the needles (AAACK, I HATE HATE HATE that sewing machine), I cobbled together two more masks and told my husband that 1) he owed me and 2) no more masks from me!
Not skillful (I have a love-hate relationship with my sewing machine) or pretty, but functional!
If I decide to "open up" soon, I will sew some for myself. After all, I don't think this virus is going away any time soon. Of course, in anther week, I may have changed my mind...
~~~~~SALs~~~~~
And I have stitched --- on four SALs...
1. "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of pink, purple and blue DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed weekly installments Week 14 through Week 17,plus some additional borders. Week 18 comes into my mailbox on April 29.
If I decide to "open up" soon, I will sew some for myself. After all, I don't think this virus is going away any time soon. Of course, in anther week, I may have changed my mind...
~~~~~SALs~~~~~
And I have stitched --- on four SALs...
1. "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of pink, purple and blue DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed weekly installments Week 14 through Week 17,plus some additional borders. Week 18 comes into my mailbox on April 29.
2. Linen & Threads 2020 SAL "Friends and Family", stitched on 28ct "Lavender Sunset" (not very lavender) Jobelin using Threadworx "Rocky Mountain (1070). April installment completed on April 12, 2020. May installment due out May 1.
3. "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler" by Faithwurks Designs & Just CrossStitch. Installment 2 is in the "box" to the left, roughly 2/3 finished (not counting beads and other embellishments) on 28ct slubby white linen. Installment 3 due in the next issue (digitally June 2020, hard copy some time later ) of Just CrossStitch.
If you are familiar with this pattern, it was meant to be stitched in pieces that fit into a divided "tray". I don't have the tray (they come in sets of six and I really don't need six...), so I decided to see if it could be stitched on one piece as a sampler. I have started marking off the installments and it looks like it might well work...
4. Stitchonomy 2020 SAL, part 2 "Colorful Critters", officially started April 16, although I had joined her pattern and received four pattens in the eight days before official opening. Sadly, I stalled out and am behind even the unofficial opening! Below, from right to left, are critters 1 (Arctia caja, the garden tiger moth), 2 (Campsosternus auratus, the jeweled click beetle) and 3 (Trithemis aurora, the crimson marsh glider), using the "general" color scheme, DMC floss on 14 count white Aida, but I have added blending filament to each critter so far, in areas where, in nature, they might have shown some iridescence of sparkle.
4. Stitchonomy 2020 SAL, part 2 "Colorful Critters", officially started April 16, although I had joined her pattern and received four pattens in the eight days before official opening. Sadly, I stalled out and am behind even the unofficial opening! Below, from right to left, are critters 1 (Arctia caja, the garden tiger moth), 2 (Campsosternus auratus, the jeweled click beetle) and 3 (Trithemis aurora, the crimson marsh glider), using the "general" color scheme, DMC floss on 14 count white Aida, but I have added blending filament to each critter so far, in areas where, in nature, they might have shown some iridescence of sparkle.
There are mistakes in all three bugs but I discovered them well after getting most of the beastie(s) stitched, but since my stash of floss is limited (who would have guessed that a pandemic would lead to DMC floss being in sold-out status on many online stores?), I decided to fudge and live with them.
~~~~~ In the Pipeline~~~~~
It is embarrassing to admit that I have actually downloaded (or am downloading) at least three other pattern sets for other SALs. I may or may not get to them in future, but, because I seem to be in a SAL-state-of-mind, I can't help seeing things that really appeal to me!!!
~~~~~Goals for May~~~~~
My gosh, do I ever have goals for May. Not being certain whether Ohio will "open up" in May or not, I am not at all sure if my daily life will change. Meanwhile:
What I HOPE to do is complete installment 2 of "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler" (without beads, ribbons and buttons), doable in roughly two more nights of stitching. Since installment three is roughly a month way, that gives me some wiggle room to...
Meanwhile, I'm saying home, keeping healthy and hoping the same for all of you!
~~~~~ In the Pipeline~~~~~
It is embarrassing to admit that I have actually downloaded (or am downloading) at least three other pattern sets for other SALs. I may or may not get to them in future, but, because I seem to be in a SAL-state-of-mind, I can't help seeing things that really appeal to me!!!
~~~~~Goals for May~~~~~
My gosh, do I ever have goals for May. Not being certain whether Ohio will "open up" in May or not, I am not at all sure if my daily life will change. Meanwhile:
- I am watching many more online chats, tutorials and the like for paper crafting which can take up at least 8 hours a week which otherwise could be devoted to stitchery.
- I am enrolled in a "Spring Card Camp" which is a daily "lesson" in card making. Each class takes up an hour of listening/wathing followed by two hours of actual card-making. I am behind in this as well!
- There is only 14% of my storage space left on my DVR so I have several recorded television programs to catch up on, some of which do not lend themselves well to stitching at the same time.
What I HOPE to do is complete installment 2 of "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler" (without beads, ribbons and buttons), doable in roughly two more nights of stitching. Since installment three is roughly a month way, that gives me some wiggle room to...
- a) keep up with "52 Weeks of Blackwork": the installments, weekly on Wednesdays, are small, and, along with some additional border stitching, is doable in one night of stitching per installment
- b) catch up with "Colorful Critters": currently have 5 installments in hand with a new one coming out every two days, so that will be hard to accomplish
- c) start and complete the May installment of "Friends and Family" which is due out on May 1.
- d) try to stitch a word or two on "Love Is..." in any open days
Meanwhile, I'm saying home, keeping healthy and hoping the same for all of you!
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