Hello friends! May was suppposed to be a rather boring month, in terms of my rotation, as I decided on Monoga-Maynia with Celtic Winter as my focus. Things unspooled a little differently than planned, however.
May 1-3 were devoted to Celtic Winter. On May 4th, our 2nd quidditch match in the School of Magical Stitches started at 3 AM (my time) and I got up and stitched 1,000 gold stitches on my Christmas Teddy by Joan Elliott. I did not win the snitch, another stitcher from my house beat me to the task. I learned 3 AM is simply not my time... it is either too early, or too late. It was great to get over 1000 stitches in one day, however. This piece had some additional time at the very end of April and a partial day later in May to work on the hat. Previous progress: Now, after 3.33 days:
After that, May 5-11, I worked on Celtic Winter. On May 12th, we got new magical stitches homework, and the District Games challenge (brown stitches) was almost due; I needed 1000 stitches for the former, 2000 for the latter, so I doubled up, and got 2000 on my Spring bellpull by Stoney Creek. I gave it a partial day later in the month, too. Previous progress:
After 2.33 days:
Yes, in the middle block, there is a shadow of the frog. I stitched the cutest brown bunny, then realized he was positioned one stitch too high and one too far to the right. This design is quite dense and I decided I could fudge in one direction, but not both. So I frogged. Little wonder that on the 14th, I was burned out, so I took a stitchy break and diamond painted. I diamond painted quite a lot in May, actually, finished 3 pages and a full row across. Only the partial partial pages across the bottom remain. It was high time to get those Monaga-Maynia finishes, so I put it away earlier this week; I will try to finish it in June, however.
On the 15th, I picked up Celtic Winter and got 500 stitches. May 17-18, I worked on Winnie the Pooh got almost 600 stitches, between finishing the cross stitch and backstitching Christopher Robin. I gave it another 2.5 days later in the month, to do more backstitch and french knots, and finished.
On May 19, another District Games challenge was almost due (1000 stitches on wood-built items), so I took out Spooky House with the house and tree. Previous progress:
After 2 days, I ultimately got over almost 1100 stitches, which doesn't look like much on this project because it is huge, and there are lots of tiny fractional stitches.
May 21, I decided it time to get back to business on Pooh, but all the backstitching and french knots were painful (literally, I had to use a sharp needle to punch through all the stitches and stabbed myself a few times), so I split the time with other projects. Save the Stitches got a nice chunk of time and over 500 stitches (backstitch counted as half). Previous progress:
After 1/3 day:
On May 24th, I decided it was time to start beading Celtic Winter. Celtic Winter before Monoga-Maynia:
Now, after 13.5 days, and hundreds of beads, she is finished as of May 25. I'm not quite ready to share her yet, so here's a teaser pic.
Discussion Topic: Where do you love to shop for stash? My favorite place to shop for stash is probably those new to me LNS I may find when I travel, most recently The Attic in Mesa, Arizona, a wonderful shop with an incredible sampler selection. But Needleworker's Delight in Metuchen, NJ, is definitely a favorite, with an unparalleled selection of fabric, a plethora of models, and tons of patterns both vintage and new (among other things).
We still have a week in May, and I will try to eke out another finish (Post Office on my Mill Hill Village). I also need 1000 stitches on trees for the District Games by Monday night. I hope to make a new start (currently down to 6 WIPs, oh dear!), stitch a little on Fantasy Triptych, Save the Stitches, and maybe another new start.
Pooh looks great! You got alot done in May
Posted by: cathy Broome | May 26, 2019 at 07:47 PM
They all look great!
Posted by: Quilting Tangent | May 27, 2019 at 01:33 PM
You got loads of progress in May, even if you weren't very monogamous! Spring Banner is growing nicely.
Posted by: Joanne P | May 28, 2019 at 03:56 PM
I already thought you'd been stitching a lot, and THEN I saw Celtic Winter - well done with all your progress! What are these District Game challenges? Not that I could h
andle any more challenges, but I'm always curious :D
Posted by: Leonore Winterer | May 29, 2019 at 11:05 AM
What’s the name of the diamond painting? It’s gorgeous!
Posted by: Erica House | June 03, 2019 at 10:51 AM