OhSewCrafty

Framing / Finishing HDs: Christmas

Towards the 2021, I started addressing my finishing goals.  Though I'd planned to finishing things monthly, plans were derailed when I fell down the stairs and got a level III ankle sprain in January of that year.  At first I couldn't walk, then it was months of physical therapy..... Framing is an active, physical activity, so it wasn't in the cards for awhile.  Enough dithering....

The first thing I framed was Charmed Santa / Father Christmas by Sandy Orton for Leisure Arts' "Charms of Christmas", stitched on opalescent Raw Gold Belfast.

The frame is antique gold with leaf detail over a green patina on the outside edge, and also a much smaller floral motif on the inside edge.  The mats are Treeline (dark green) Suede and White, both from Crescent Select Matboard.  I like how the green picks up the holly leaf detail in the border, and that's echoed in the frame detail as well.  I love this so much, and when the morning light comes in, the brass charms simply glow.  I don't put glass on my Christmas pieces since they are not up long enough to get dusty.

Gingerbread Grove by Glendon Place / Cheryl Granda was stitched on Haven Cashel by Picture this Plus, and finished in 2020.  I saw this molding on Pictureframes.com and it quickly sold out, when it was restocked, I snapped it up.

The frame is antique gold with huge beaded detail all around.  The mats are rich red (Bainbridge) and white (Crescent Select).  There are so many colors in this piece, I thought it needed double mats to bring it all together.  I really love this piece, it's bright and cheerful and looks fantastic in the playroom.  

So, I stitched a lot of ornaments in 2021 and 2022.  Eventually, I realized you don't really need a 10 x 10 piece for each ornie.  These days I use a corner, or edge of a fat quarter, or buy a fat 1/8 and get at least 6 ornaments on it.  But I do have some older pieces on individual pieces.

First is the Toys ornie from Better Homes & Gardens Cross Stitch Christmas "Timeless Treasures", on white opalescent Cashel.  I finished it as a flat circular ornie, with trim and hanger from cording, that I made with DMC 334 and gold Kreinik, which are used in the chart.  

Then I sewed the Snowman Mitten Ornie by Ursula Michael / JCS Ornaments 2005, on Silvery Moon Edinburgh linen, into a shaped pillow.  The edges are trimmed with, and the hanger is from, white iridescent twisted cording (purchased). 

After Christmas 2021, I full finished 3 older finishes, Mill Hill kits on perforated paper, by hot gluing to stiff white sparkle felt, with hangers in between.  The hangers are green & white sparkly twisted cording, and red rat tail trim, all purchased. 

Just recently, for the Daily 30 Full Finishing Weekend Challenge, I sewed up the Silvery Lace Snowflake ornie (Arlene Cohen / JCS Ornaments 2020) on Winter Solstice Belfast (Hand Dyed by Stephanie).  I did a diagonal (square) flat finish with mat board in between the stitched piece and blue cotton backing.  As I was hand sewing the open side, I decided to stuff the top side with fluff.  So it's flat on the bottom and puffy on top.  The trim and hanger are from white iridescent twisted cording (purchased).   I really love this... maybe I should stitch it again on green.  Or check out Arlene's pattern catalog, maybe she has another similar design that would suit.  I have already stitched her Golden Filigree, on red.  

So, when I mentioned stitching several ornies on 1 piece of fabric, a few of those pieces are almost full, and I should be able to cut apart and full finish several more ornies this year.  I've set up a full finishing challenge in my FB group, Stitch from Stash, that will run for the last week of every quarter.  Hopefully that will be a good time and incentive to craft full finishes.

2019 WIPocalypse: November update

Welcome back, friends.   November was a long, strange, stitchy month.  I started the month with We Do Harry Potter, since I needed to finish my Magical HW with it.  Previous progress:

Now:

Overall, I gave it 3 days and managed to get the chart half done.  This is not the quick stitch I imagined it would be.  First, some elements of the chart are weird (IMO) and required re-design.  Secondly, the fabric (Vintage smoky white Cashel) is whisper thin and carrying the Dark Shadows waterlilies, even short distances, makes the front look messy, so I'm constantly needing to secure my thread, snip, and start again. Nevertheless, I will try to finish it next month.  I really don't want to carry it into 2020, and it might makes  a a good travel project.    

Spring Bellpull was my focus piece for the seasonal sal in my group Stitch from Stash.  Hey, it's spring in the Southern hemisphere.  Previous progress:

Now:

I gave it almost 6 days, stitched and finished the I block and made good starts on the N and G blocks.  

I did all that stitching on the N & G blocks in a 24 hour period.  It was the Stitcher Games, with Semisane Stitchers.  It was an interesting experience, but I wouldn't do it again.  I had a target on my back, apparently, and some aspects of the game seemed unfair.  Anyway, on that particular occasion, I had been "attacked" and managed to "heal" with 5.2 k stitches over 28 hours (with this project and Rainbow Fairy).  A personal record in output and stupidity.... I don't recommend that sort of thing.  But the borders and letters stitch relatively quickly.  And I learned that I need a little more Waterlilies Budding Leaf to finish it.

The other project that got a lot of time for the Stitcher Games was Rainbow Fairy, mainly because it's mostly chunks of color.  Previous progress:

Now

Over about 6 days, I did 8,861 stitches.  Yes, the Stitcher Games were insane, as mentioned above.  The upshot it, well, I could probably finish her at this point without too much trouble.  I'm not going to push for a December finish, mostly likely, but will aim for early next year.  

Fantasy Triptych was another monthly goal, I would really like to get another page finish this year.  Previous progress:

Now:

Over about 4 days, I managed ~2550 stitches on the knight panel.  It's coming along and I plan to give it more time this week and next month.  

For Save the Stitches, my goal for this year is to finish part 12, which would get me halfway.  Previous (part 11):

After one long day (long days being the theme this month, with the Stitcher Games), I did 1000 stitches which was enough to stitch part 12, a little border, and a tiny start on Part 13.

I need to go back and do the metallics on parts 9-12, though.   

Twilight Bridge got some love, mainly because I needed it for Magical Stitches extra credit.  December is traditionally not the greatest stitchy month for me, so I tried (and succeeded) to finish all the Book 7 extra credit in November.  Previous progress:

Now:

Ovver 2 days, I did 1500 stitches and I feel like it's really coming along.  I am over to the left edge of the chart, though it's not entirely filled in.  This project is slow going because it's primarily tent stitch with 4-5 strands in the needle, which I need to wrestle through the 18 count aida.  The kit included a hefty and sharp needle, but I don't like stitching with sharps.  A friend suggested trying a 26 (I always use 28) so we'll see how that goes.  

Finally, I spent some time working on ornaments.  First Batty Belinda got 300 stitches for a HW challenge.  

Then I decided to start Gingerbread Boy from the newest JCS because I thought it would be perfect for my son.  In one day, I did 928 stitches, and it's almost done, just needs a little backstitching. I'm stitching it on white opalescent Cashel.  

At last, I started Winter White sleigh because I needed a quick 500 stitches and this is mostly solid rows of B5200, (and I liked it, of course). It had a bit over 1 day to finish with 691 stitches, and I love how it looks on the Ruby Wine Belfast I bought for another project, but could easily spare an edge for ornaments. 

Question: What new stitches or techniques did you learn this year?  Well, I learned how to sew project bags.  This one was made for a gift exchange at the retreat and I'm very happy with how it came out.

I learned it's possible to speed stitch and pound out a lot of progress in 24 hours, if I forgo or minimize sleep.  In the course of the month, I set one personal record, then another.  I also learned that it removes a lot of the enjoyment for me.  A stitchy challenge is great, but there is a line.  

For December, I have a number of goals.  I want to finish We Do Harry Potter, Batty Belinda, Gingerbread Boy, Prancer, and my model stitching.  I would also like to create some ornament FFOs.   Happy Stitching and enjoy your holidays.  

2018 WIPocalypse: December

It's time to review!  I had 18 goals, here we go...

Goal 1. Maiden and the Unicorn by Vermillion Stitchery was finished on January 23rd after 3 days of backstitch, beading, and ninja stitches.  The victory was particularly sweet after rescuing this piece from the UFO pile.  

Goal 2.  Fall Fairy ..... 35 days effort to finish, most of the bottom half, including 8 days at the end to backstitch, quite torturous yet a great lesson, backstitch early and often!  It was great to get my oldest WIP out of the pile.

Goal 3.  King Arthur's Court was finished February 25th, after 15 days of effort to stitch the last 1/3 of the pattern, add the backstitch, and gold metallics.  This piece has personal meaning, the Arthurian legend is dear to my heart.  

Goal 4. Water Goddess, barely started in January, was finished October 8th, she took 34 days, a long haul at times but it was worth it to finish the elemental goddess series.  

Goal 5. Enchanted Mermaid was finished August 24th, she took 27 days to stitch 3/4 of the pattern, do all the metallics, backstitch, and extensive beading.  She may be my favorite finish of the year, the sparkle never ends on this regal ladyfish.  

Goal 6. Trick of Treat Fairy was finished October 7, she took 6 days to finish the last 1/3 of the stitching and do the extensive metallic and beading.  Her spooky glamour is awesome and I recently got a frame for her so she should be up on the wall next year.  

Goal 7. Bright and Beautiful was finished April 3, it took 11 days to stitch 2/3 of the pattern and do the copious backstitch, but it was so worth it!  The detail on this piece is almost photo-realistic.  

Goal 8. Charmed Santa got 26.5 days, but it wasn't quite enough time to finish, he needs more fill in, especially his face and some of the holly leaves.  Also, there is a ton of backstitch to do on the top half.  Still, I stitched most of the pattern, including the metallic border and did all the backstitch on the bottom half, which was extensive, in several colors.  I am quite pleased with the progress.

Goal 9. For Winnie the Pooh the aim was 20,000 stitches and I fell short, with about 14,500.  After September, I took a realistic look at my WIPs and realized with 3 full coverage WIPs, something had to give.  So Winnie went on temporary hiatus.  Still, I did make a fair chunk of progress.

Goal 10. Boo Club... 18 days was enough to finish, and that included a few days to frog and restitch the border due to placement issues... but in the end I jazzed it up with some brass charms and I'm happy with it.

Goal 11. Mill Hill Christmas village got 4 new buildings as planned, and it only took 26 days.  The bigger this project gets, the more I like it.  My favorite building this year was the Cathedral.  With all the luminescent beads and stained glass windows in 5 colors of Kreinik, it's surely the prettiest building I've ever stitched. 

Goal 12. My new starts were The Lord's Prayer, which I finished in 16 days, and Spooky House, which languished after 31 days.  I am pleased to report that backstitching the bottom half is a lot of fun, highly satisfying.  I would have liked to finish the bottom half, but I ran out of time and put this on hiatus after October.  

Goal 13. As for knitting, the goal was partially met.  I did manage to finish an old WIP, sort of (it needs buttons).  Yarn stash continues to dominate my craft room.

Goal 14. I did not spend much time sewing this year.  The big exception to that was a gift for a friend, a quilt project.  Each piece is cross stitched by a different individual (I did the one in at lower left corner) but I did all the piecing, sashing, quilting, binding, etc.

Goal 15. Felt Applique.  Nope.

Goal 16. Home Dec Crafts.  Nope.

Goal 17. Painting.  Nope.

Goal 18. As for framing, I framed 5 of my 7 goals, including Midsummer Night Fairy (below).  Come visit my blog again a few days for framing details on 3 projects.

Overall, the 2018 WIPocalypse was a success.  Most of the WIPs got finished, or at least to 75% progress.  Thanks to Measi, our fearless leader, for organizing this SAL, I love it and it goes along swimmingly with my baby, Stitch from Stash (FB group)!   

 

2018 WIPocalypse: Intro & Plans

Hello, my name is Stephanie, aka Ms. OhSewCrafty on Youtube & Instagram (@msohsewcrafty).  My main goal for 2018 is to finish projects in a timely fashion and make new starts only when they are justified by finishes.  I do have a hefty list of goals (18 in 18) so without further adieu...

Goal No. 1 involves my oldest WIP, Maiden & Unicorn by Vermillion, which was started over 10 years ago... egads!  I tried to finish her in 2017 and got close, but did not have the stitchy time I anticipated in December.  I would like to finish her this month (she is almost done as you can see).

Goal No. 2 involves my second oldest WIP, Fall Fairy by Dimenions Gold, which I started about 3 years ago.  Hopefully I can work on her throughout the year and finish when she's seasonal, in the Fall.

Goal No. 3 is King Arthur's Court by DMC, which I started last January.  It's high time to finish; my plan is to focus effort early in the year.

Gold No. 4 is Water Goddess by Joan Elliott, which I made a tiny start on last August.  I would like to finish (the last of the elemental series, hurrah!) and start another big JE piece.

Goal No. 5 is Enchanted Mermaid by Mirabilia, which I started last November.  I would love to finish her and start another big Mira like Stargazer.

Goal No. 6 is Trick or Treat Fairy by Nora Corbett, started last October.  I would love to finish her and start another witchy project.

Goal No. 7 is Bright and Beautiful by Leslie Teare, started last May.  I should be able to finish this small piece in the appropriate season, Spring.

Goal No.8 is Charmed Santa by Sandy Orton, which I started last May.  This piece is full coverage and confetti-tastic, but it's not huge.  I hope I can finish by Christmas.

Goal No. 9 is Winnie the Pooh by MCG Textiles, fabric and floss substitution from kit, started last April.  My goal is to stitch 1,680 stitches per month, which represents two columns, from top to midline, or midline to bottom (20,160 stitches).  That will not be quite enough to finish, but I'm comfortable with the pace.

Goal No. 10 is Lizzie Kate Boo Club, which will be started in January.  My plan is stitch 1 word per month and share it on Jo's Halloween Ornie Blog (link).  

Goal No. 11 is my Mill Hill Christmas Village, specially the General Store, Cathedral, Village Bakery, and Needlework Shop.  I will work on each one with a goal for quarterly finishes.  All will be started in January.

Goal No. 12 involves new starts, specifically The Lord's Prayer by Stoney Creek and Spooky House by X's and Oh's. Both are finish goals, but Spooky House is pretty solid stitching with lots of fractionals & blends and Stoney Creek patterns are not be trifled with, lol.  Other possible starts are posted here.

Goal No. 13 is knitting- Old WIPs and a new summer sweater are my goals.  The Cotillion Shell is stashed & ready... (photo credit to Tahki Stacey Charles)

Goal No. 14 is sewing- garments.  Costumes, pajamas, holiday outfits, whatever.  I want to sew more.

Goal No. 15 is felt appliqué.  I've got ornaments and several larger kits for various holidays, I'd like to finish at least one large kit.

Goal No. 16 is home dec crafts.... I've got plenty of ideas (and a few undone projects) rattling around, time to finish stuff.

Goal No. 17 is painting (my kitchen).  I have some touch ups and special touches to add to my DIY kitchen that I renovated a few years back.

Goal No. 18 is framing.  I want to frame several projects, work through most of my framing stash, and especially frame Celtic Autumn, the Spirit of Christmas, Siren & Shipwreck, Toil & Trouble, Castle by TW, Midsummer Night Fairy, & Titania.  That is a hefty list and though I frame myself, and save a bundle on costs, it's still not exactly cheap since I order custom frames, buy acid free mats (which I cut myself), etc. However, if I stick with my focus on WIPs, I should save money on stash purchases, and it will work out.  

This is a hefty list and I'm seeking greater balance this year, more time dedicated to fitness & health, so wish me luck!  

 

2017 WIPcalypse: Recap & December Update

 Time to recap... happy New Year everyone!  

Goal No. 1 was Maiden and Unicorn by Vermillion Stitchery was about 50% finished and now it's about 95% percent after 29 days this year, I suppose.  It needs a bit more xstitch (feather on her headpiece), lots more backstitch, and beading, and cleanup of all the parked thread of course.  I have allotted 5 days for her in January 2018 and that should be enough time to finish.

Goal No. 2 was Snowman & Friends Stocking by Dimensions Gold was a half done UFO, which I finished July 14 after copious backstitching, couching and french knots (hello swirling snow!)  Christmas in July for the win!

Goal No. 3 was Castle by Teresa Wentzler, was 70% complete and I finished May 23 after ~ 7 evenings of backstitching that dragon with various metallic fibers.  Yay for Maynia (serial starting event), which lights a fire under me to finish stuff!  

Goal No. 4 was Fall Fairy by Dimensions Gold, which started about 3% done, it's now about 50%, after 22 days effort this year.  As for the finish goal, I fell short obviously, having drastically underestimated the time I would need for completion.  Hopefully I can finish it next year.

Goal No. 5 was Summer Bellpull by Stoney Creek, which was 80% complete, I finished March 13, after ~2 hours of backstitching on each of the 6 blocks, well in time to sew it into a bellpull before Summer, but that didn't happen, oh well.  

Goal No. 6 was Earth Goddess by Joan Elliott, which I finished February 27, with copious backstitch especially that green Kreinik vine.  I do love her so, one of my favorite finishes all year.

Goal No. 7 was Aphrodite by Mirabilia, which I finished March 24, and actually framed during the summer.  The secondary goal was to start another mermaid, which I did in November and made a nice little start.

Goal No. 8 new starts, especially King Arthur's Court (31 days effort), Fire Goddess (finished August 30), and Titania (finished December 4).  Besides those, I started 22 other projects... egads!  What happened to the Year of WIPs?  I managed to get 24 finishes, so my wip count remains decent.  I did meet most of my finish goals, but seriously I don't want or need to be starting so many projects.

Goal No. 9 was handknits.  I did not work on any of the projects mentioned in my intro post, but I did start & finish a rather epic sweater project, Shakespeare in Love.  No pics yet, sorry.  Soon, I promise!   I also started another "Christmas" sweater... Coraline by Ysolda.  It's beautiful and easy but slow, with 200+ stitches on US 4 needles.  

Goal No. 10 was sewing clothes and home dec projects.  I sewed my son's Halloween costume, which took a lot longer than I supposed it would when he chose the pattern, but I did manage to finish it, and he loved wearing it to trick or treat, and as dress up clothes since.  I wasn't really feeling the home dec projects, but at least I managed to decorate for Thanksgiving, then Christmas, in timely fashion(s).  I suppose framing falls under this category... I framed 12 projects in 2017 and I am very proud of that number, it went a long way towards reducing the backlog and using the frames I had stashed.

As for my December stitching, early in the month I had a bee in my bonnet to finish Titania, which I managed Dec 4th.  I worked on King Arthur, and Winnie the Pooh, Maiden & the Unicorn (pics above) and started a new project on December 10th, the Mill Hill Wagon ornie, which I did finally finish Dec 30.

Honestly December wasn't the greatest stitchy month because I spent an a lot of time framing and on various Christmas prep, gifts, decorating, baking, wrapping, family fun, travel... I was too tired to stitch most evenings and then I got sick before Christmas.  Hopefully I can get back into a groove in the New Year because I have big plans!   

 

Sewing FO: Dinosaur Costume

• Pattern: Simplicity 1765, View B minus wings & spots
• Materials: Royal tie dye Blizzard fleece, felt, cotton lining, polyfill
• Size: Child size 4
• Time to sew: About 20 hours

My 3 year old son picked this costume from the pattern book the fabric store.  He's very much into dinosaurs for the past year or so.  It was a bit more than I bargained for however!

The first hiccup was in the cutting.  This pattern has dozens of pieces, mostly cut from polarfleece and felt.  My shears were not quite equal to the task.  I actually gave myself a blister on the base of my thumb from wielding the shears with such force.  Fortunately I started a few weeks before Halloween.  The cutting took maybe 5 hours.  Then I had to search for something to mark it... Chalk didn't work.  Graphite pencil didn't work.  Eventually I found a yellow pencil which did the trick.

The pattern is fine but it has a gazillion steps.  And whenever I started winging it, I had to break out the seam ripper because I forgot to install the elastic channel on the interior of the mittens, that sort of thing.  My only real problem is the directions say to glue on the plates that embellish the front.  Perhaps I was using the wrong sort of glue (Ailene's tacky glue) but I glued each one several times and they kept falling off.  Eventually I had to sew them down, which was not easy to do with the costume fully assembled.

My favorite parts are the long spiked tail (stuffed firmly) and the spiky-claw shoe covers.  The mittens are similar, sewed into individual claws and stuffed.  All the work and seam ripping was worth it when my son tried on the costume and started stomping around and roaring with great gusto!  It's also a very warm costume, good for the chilly Halloween night we had with temps in low 40's F.  Sorry for the blurry pics.  It's very hard to take photos of my busy toddler!  

 

Monthly Ornament Challenge: 2017 Q1 & Q2

Today I'd like to share the start of my 2017 effort to stitch monthly ornaments for my Christmas tree.  This idea was inspired by the flosstube channel of Vonna the Twisted Stitcher and also dovetailed nicely with an opportunity to earn points for Stitchwhats on FB in the monthly ornie challenge.  Alas, Stitchwhats is no more, but I'm continuing with my personal challenge (for now).

January's effort: 

• Pattern: Christmas Festoon by Patricia Ann Designs, JCS 2015 Special Holiday
• Materials: 28 ct white monoco by Charles Craft, threads and beads as charted except subbed the metallic
• Size: 3" x 3"
• Time to stitch: 1 day

I really enjoyed this pattern, which is mostly backstitch.  I did not have any red Kreinik in my stash, but I did have some red Maderia metallic that came in a freebie chart with a mag.  The Madeira was very thick so I unwound the braid and used about half of it, which seemed to provide good coverage.  As for fully finishing, I followed the instructions in the JCS 2015 mag  (sewn finish) and it took about 2 hours plus another hour to sew the beads around the edge.  It was also the maiden voyage with my Kreinik cording drill, and I made bicolor cording with the Madeira metallic and DMC 666 (which is used in the pattern), with help from Vonna's flosstube tutorial.  The tassel is made from the same threads.  I'm very pleased.

 February's effort

• Pattern: Noel Biscornu by Poppy Benner / Cross Stitch Christmas "A Heartwarming Holiday"
• Materials: 28 ct white monoco by Charles Craft, DMC, Mill Hill, Ribbon
• Size: 2" diameter (tiny!)
• Time to stitch: 2 days plus 1 more to fully finish

My first biscornu!  I opted to make my ornament two sided, which added to stitching time of course, though I altered the design on the reverse side to include my initials and the date.  My only quibble is I think it would be slightly easier to sew the biscornu together if the sides have an even stitch count. (the chart is 29 stitches square)  I didn't have any trouble following the thorough directions provided in the book, however.  Polyfill is used for the stuffing, and a little green ribbon, for the finishing.  While I think the biscornu is cute and will make a lovely ornament for the tree, I don't see myself stitching a bunch of biscornus.  I wouldn't dream of using it as a pincushion and I don't keep lots of knickknacks around with a curious toddler.

 

March's & June's Effort

• Pattern: Chalkboard Ornies- Xmas Coll. Part 1, by Hands on Designs
• Materials: 32 ct "Shadow" belfast by Picture this Plus, DMC subs as charted
• Size: 4" diameter, 3" x 4" rectangle with corners rounded by tracing around a thread spool
• Time to stitch: 2 days for Be Jolly and 1 day for Be Merry

 

Stitching on this fabric was hard at first and I had to frog.  My mighty bright LED light helped, a lot.  I did really enjoy the project once my eyes adjusted a little. The fabric is so pretty, dark grey with a bit of purple, kind of like a dusty chalkboard.  I was so pleased with my finish of "Be Jolly", my fingers itched to start "Be Merry" on the other half of the fabric, but I pulled out my knitting instead.  I stitched Be Merry a few months later.   Anyway, I did full finishes as a flat ornies (mainly glued), following this tutorial by Vonna.  Though I laced the stitched piece because I felt like I had more control that way, mounting on a round shape.  The cording is made from DMC 347 (which is used in the pattern); the holly leaves & buttons came with the pattern.

 
April's Effort

• Pattern: Hardanger Learning Piece from Stitching with a Smile's FT tutorial
• Materials: 22 ct hardanger fabric, DMC pearl cotton 5, Kreinik #8 braid, Mill Hill beads
• Size: 3.75" x 3.75"
• Time to stitch: 3 days   

 My first crack at hardanger went pretty well, I suppose. I wasn't crazy about the technique, but it was good to learn and I won't shy away from it the future.  I chose my favorite color (green) for the satin stitch, and gold Kreinik for the needle weaving because I love sparkle.  It seemed just a tad bit plain in the center so I decided to jazz it up further with beads.  The cutting and pulling of threads was so fun!  Cutting around the blanket stitch at the end was not fun.  Next time I will try scissors with curved ends.  I gave it a bath, as I would anything that was stitched in hand, but then I wasn't sure how to finish it.  I wanted to preserve the openness, but it was rather flimsy.  Ingeborg (A Stitch Too Far) suggested I might use mat board cut into a narrow frame.  That worked a treat! Though it did require painstaking measurements and very gradual, patient trimming.  I glued the frame to the reverse side.

May's Effort

• Pattern: Seraphina kit by Mill Hill, blogged here.

I've already blogged this but here's another pic for you!  The back is just sparkly white felt, nothing special.

So, will I continue with the monthly ornaments in the second half of the year?  Honestly, I don't know.  One benefit, it is a way to have a small start each month as I work on some big WIPs.  On the negative side, how many stitched ornies do I really need, as I'm sure to do some in future years, do I really need 12 this year?  Still, there are a several more on my to-do list that I'm really excited about.  We'll see, I suppose.

2017 WIPocalypse: Intro & Plans

Hello, my name is Stephanie aka Ms. OhSewCrafty and I'm an incorrigible crafter.  Name any craft, I've probably tried it, but cross stitching is my enduring love.  2016 was my year of starts.  This year, though I will certainly make some starts, the focus will be on WIPs.  It is in fact, the Year of WIPs (Soulful Stitchers FB group).  Here are are my WIPocalypse goals.

Project 1.  Maiden & Unicorn by Vermillion, started in 2007, resurrected from UFO pile in 2016.  50% complete.  The goal is to finish.  (Spoiler alert: finishing everything is the goal!)

Project 2.  Snowman & Friends Stocking by Dimensions, started in 2014.  Currently a UFO though I did work on a bit in 2016 (a few hours).  Goal is to finish and sew into stocking by December 1.  As a subgoal, take apart my other cross stitch stockings and refinish in a way that befits their splendor.

Project 3.The Castle by Teresa Wenztler, started in 2015. 70% complete.  Finishing is the goal.  Starting Fantasy Triptych would be a bonus.

Project 4.  Fall Fairy by Dimensions Gold, started in 2015, 5% complete, currently a UFO.  I want to finish this one, too.  There's a long way to go but a significant portion is tent stitch.

Project 5. Summer Bellpull by Stoney Creek, started in 2016.  80% complete.  The goal is to finish and sew into bellpull by June 1.

ic

Project 6.  Earth Goddess by Joan Elliott, started in 2016.  65% complete.  Finishing by July 1 is the goal.  Starting Water Goddess would be a bonus.

 

Project 7.  Aphrodite by Mirabilia, started in 2016.  45% complete.  I want to finish.  Starting another mermaid would be a bonus.

Project 8. New starts, especially King Arthur's Court, Titania by Mirabilia, and Fire Goddess by Joan Elliott.  I want to finish those.  I also want to try some new to me designers this year, like Sue Hillis, Ink Circles, Glendon Place, and Passione Ricamo.  For these, progress is the goal.

Project 9.  Handknits: several knitting projects need finishing, or the very minimum photography & blogging.  These include Ruched yoke tee, Baudelaire jacket, Retro jacket by Classic Elite, Frost Tapestry set (cowl & mittens), and Kingscot cardigan.

Project 10.  Sewing clothes & Home dec, the latter which also encompasses general crafting.  Bat bunting.  Pumpkin witch ceramic bisque.  Vintage Santa car felt applique.  Felt applieque ornaments.  Elf dolls.   Peppermint wreath. 

As for the cross stitch finishing goals, at least 2 weeks each month will be spent on those projects, until such time I feel that all will completed during the year.  2016 was my first year with a more formal (weekly) rotation, and it worked well for me. My rotation is both time and goal based.  Most months have a few extra days beyond 4 weeks so those days at the end are bonus, often devoted to focus for a finish.

 

2016 WIPocalypse: December update

2016 is almost over and I'm still pressing for a few finishes!  Those hopeful-finishes were 2016 new starts, though.

As for the WIPocalypse, let's review!

Goal No. 1 was Celtic Christmas, there was a bit of stitching left plus the beading.  Happily, I finished her in February. The bonus goal was to start Celtic Autumn, which I did in May, and she is now ready for beads.

Goal No. 2 was Midsummer Night Fairy, to finish, backstitch, and bead.  It nearly drove me crazy, but I did finish in March.  The bonus goal was to start another Mira, like Titania.  I did not get around to Titania, I stitched a lot of other things besides Mira this year and I did not have room in my rotation.

Goal No. 3 was Mask of Colors QS by Heaven & Earth designs- to progress from 50% to 75%.  I finished in June!

Goal No. 4 was Maiden & Unicorn by Vermillion, a UFO from 2007, to progress to 50%.  I worked on it 24 days to achieve that goal, this project is no joke!   Fortunately there is not as much stitching on the top half.

Goal No. 5 Merlin & Arthur UFO.  Nothing to see here, folks, sorry.   I'm not ready to give up on the project yet, but it can wait for a while longer.

Goal No. 6 The Castle by Teresa Wenztler, progress from 45% to 75%.  I worked on it 15 days to achieve that goal.  The rocky cliff is backstitched, too.  That was fun!  Backstitch is gratifying when you've stitched so many fractionals, really brings it into sharp relief.

 

Goal No. 7 was new starts.  So, I did the Year of Starts, 16 new starts, actually I've started 17 to date in 2016.  I even finished 11 of them!  There are enough pics already in the post, but I'll do an end of the Year Wrap-up with pics of all my 2016 finishes before the year ends.

Goal No. 8 was sewing, home dec, and felt applique.  Well, I made 2 cute Winnie the Pooh ornaments.  No other home dec sewing, sadly.

Goal No. 9 was sewing- garments.  I did make Oliver's Halloween costume- he was adorable junior vampire.  No pics, sorry.  The outfit was black and it's hard enough to photograph a toddler much less one wearing black!

Goal No. 10 was knitting.  Very small progress has been made to date- in the process of seaming a pullover I knitted last year.  Maybe I'll have an FO before the year ends, I hope!  

In the past lunar cycle, I've worked on Maiden & Unicorn (pic above), Celtic Autumn, Aphrodite, an ornament, Gigi, and The Spirit of Christmas.  A few of those will hopefully be finishes this month, so pics will be posted soon enough.  Here is Aphrodite- the bottom half is mostly complete.

As the year ends, I will attempt to finish Celtic Autumn (ready for beading), Spirit of Christmas (almost done), and 12 Days of Christmas (needs french knot and beads).  We'll see!   

2016 was a great WIPocalypse year, overall.  I did meet all my stitchy goals and racked up a bunch of finishes, that was cool.  Knitting and sewing did not receive much attention, unfortunately.  Apparently I'm too obsessive to share my time among various crafts, and the Year of Starts was very consuming.  So I did the Year of Starts, I saw what it was all about, and I can say now that serial starting is not for me.  I will make new starts next year, I'm thinking 12 perhaps, and some of those will be small projects.  WIPs will be the focus.

Stitching HD & FFO: Train Ornament

• Pattern: Stoney Creek Magazine Summer 2016
• Materials: 34 ct ecru linen, DMC as charted
• Size: 2.5" x 2.75"
• Time to stitch: 2 days plus 2 hours to fully finish as ornament

I started this ornament on a whim, because of the Stitchwhats weekly challenge (start & finish an ornament, bonus points for FFO).  And I wanted an ornament to commemorate Oliver's first Christmas, which was a few years ago.  Better late than never!

 The pattern is fine, simple enough with about 10 colors.  There's a good bit of stitching in that small space, though.  I added some backstitch, to personalize it.  I cut the fabric piece quite small, so stitching in hand was my only choice, and that slowed me down a little.  

I finished it as a pillow ornament, with help from Vonna's excellent tutorial.  I also followed her directions to make cording with 2 colors of DMC  (2 of each color for 4 strands total).  I don't have a cording drill, so I twisted it by hand and used a sharpie (with the cap on) to weigh it down in the center.  Sewing the cording on took a while, but it was worth it.  I think the cording makes it special.  

I'm pleased with my ornament, it's the first one I've sewn to finish and I think it's cute, though not exactly perfect.  I look forward to doing more ornaments in the future and trying more techniques.