Challenges & SALs – Page 2 – Feather Stitching

I’m a 50-something crafter in Australia who’s been stitching for approximately 35 or so years and I’m never happy unless I’m learning something new and being challenged by my crafts. After a number of very stressful years due to the loss of my parents, I’m finally ready to get back to my stitching again on a regular basis, while trying to juggle other crafts as well (sewing/patchwork, crochet and cardmaking).

My goals are relatively simple for 2025. The aim is to finish a couple of projects, but also make ‘some progress’ on other existing WIPs as well.

2025 Craft Goals:

Stitching:

Finish three stitching projects (at least one should be a current WIP)
Finish Mill Hill’s Three Kings
Hit the 80% completion mark for HAED’s Mini Sunflowers
Finish six pages of HAED’s 2025 SAL Jellyworld (this might be a lofty goal)
Participate in WIPGO (at least one hour or one length of thread progress on each project)
Make progress on one canvaswork project (new start)
Stitch four Christmas ornaments
Finish-finish at least three items in my finishing pile (make into pincushions, ornaments, framing etc)

Crochet:

Make progress on a crochet blanket or shawl
Finish at least one project from Crate Crochet (WIP or new start)
Finish at least one project from Crochet Society (WIP or new start)

Sewing:

Start a bed quilt
Make progress on at least three class/kit sewing projects (eg Tilda Club, Fee’s SALs, Kitty Rose kits – WIPs or new starts)
Finish at least one existing sewing WIP

Other crafts:

Complete at least one cartonnage project
Start at least one mosaic project
Complete at least two cards per week

Here are photos of most of my WIPs/UFOs as they stand now, just to keep track of any future progress I make.

Cartonnage, Challenges & SALs, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse 2024 recap

29 December, 202429 December, 2024 Anne S

My mojo didn’t last long at the start of the year, so there’s not a huge amount to recap from earlier, but I’m super happy that during November and December I got a big chunk of stitching done. I also loved getting a couple of finishes under my belt early in the year before my mojo disappeared again for a while. And considering I changed my goals to just have the single goal of “finish at least one needlework project by the end of the year“, I guess I can call 2024 a success 😀

I joined the WIP Warriors Facebook group this year – and got made redundant from my job in November, where I’d been employed for just over 24 years. The timing of the WIP Warriors group was perfect, because their challenges really helped me to get back into my stitching on a regular basis again over the last month or so – and that’s been really therapeutic for my emotions and my sense of belonging. It also meant some reasonable progress on a few WIPs these last few weeks to close out the year.

Finishes for 2024

“Lahaina Breezes” by Laura J Perin

“Quaker Diamonds” by Rosewood Manor

Scarf from a 2020 Crochet Society subscription box (to be donated to charity)

2024 progress on WIPs

I’m so thrilled to see some decent progress on Three Kings and Mini Sunflowers this month – they’ll be two of my focus projects for next year, with the aim to finish Three Kings so it can be on display next Christmas.

Challenges & SALs, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse Nov 2024

26 November, 2024 Anne S

I can’t believe it, I have another stitching update – maybe the mojo really IS back again?! I joined a new-to-me Facebook group called WIP Warriors and I’ve joined in with one of the challenges, and that’s really helped me get back my love of stitching. Still working on getting a comfy stitching spot worked out in the lounge, but very day is one step closer to getting settled …

This week I’ve managed progress on two of my WIPs – I managed just over 200 stitches on Quaker Christmas II by ByGone Stitches, and 300 stitches on HAED’s Mini Sunflowers.

Here are photos of most of my WIPs/UFOs as they stand now, just to keep track of any future progress I make.

I have to say it feels really good to have a needle between my fingers once again – hopefully this is the start of continued progress. I’m especially loving working on the Mini Sunflowers, and that will remain one of my three focus pieces for next year.

Question of the Month: How do you begin planning for the next year with your stitching? Tell us your process.

I have to admit while my mojo has been absent each year I’ve planned and failed, and so each following year I whittle down my goals to what may be more achievable. This year is no different, so I had a closer look at my WIPs list and realised a lot of them don’t give me a lot of joy – because of that I decided it was time to freshen up my WIP list with some new starts, hoping that would help give me momentum to continue stitching regularly instead of being such a chore. I’ve decided to still have my WIPGO board, which will help me do a small amount of stitching on my oldest, and less loved, WIPs – but instead of lofty goals I’ve decided to just focus primarily on 3-4 projects to get them closer to a finish, and just chip away slowly at the remaining ones. Maybe next year will be the year I finally have something to show for all my planning … although I love the planning stage, even if I rarely tick of achievements – it’s fun to do all on its own.

Cross Stitch, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse February 2024

2 March, 20242 March, 2024 Anne S

I started well with my stitching at the start of the year, then got sidetracked with life again. But last weekend, I finally had a stitching finish – I went away to a Mirabilia Retreat in Brisbane, and I didn’t have any current Mirabilia or Nora Corbett WIPs to take with me. Nora said she had no issue with me taking other projects to work on, so I decided to put the final few stitches into Quaker Diamonds by Rosewood Manor. I think it’s the most I’ve ever stitched at a get-together, and definitely the first time I’ve finished something. It’s been feeling really good getting back into stitching again such a big hiatus. Life is finally starting to return to a bit of normality again, after four years of trauma in one way or another – yay!!

“Quaker Diamonds” by Rosewood Manor
Started 2 January 2016 – Finished 24 February 2024
Stitched with Valdani floss as charted
on 28ct Mello Cahsel linen by Picture This Plus (as charted)

While at the retreat I also put a few more stitches into Lahaina Breezes by Laura J Perin, and started the mermaid chart that we received as part of our retreat event that was designed by Nora.

I missed last month’s WIPocalypse stitcher’s question, so I’ve added both now:

28 January – Tell us about the oldest WIP you have in your stash
I think maybe I’ll choose the English Garden Sampler by Teresa Wentzler as my oldest WIP. I have other projects that were started earlier than EGS, but EGS is one project that I really want to see finished one day, whereas the others I kinda feel ‘meh’ about. I started English Garden Sampler way back in January 2002 and it’s been a bear trying to match DMC threads due to starting with the oldest dye lots – I then switched to an Anchor grey which seemed a lot closer to my original and I was much happier. It’s currently stalled because I can’t decide what saying/quote to include in place of the charted alphabet – I’m really not an alphabet lover in cross stitch, but I really love inspirational quotes, so I want to chart something up as a replacement. It’ll get finished one day …

25 February – What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year?
Because I haven’t had a consistent run with my stitchy bug, I haven’t joined any SALs this year, with the exception of the Just Cross Stitch Ornament SAL on Facebook. I haven’t joined in with the stitching as yet, but I hope to do that in the future. I have, however, rejoined the WIPGO challenge, which will hopefully keep giving me a nudge to bring my needles out throughout the year regularly.

Challenges & SALs, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse 2024 – goals for the year

8 January, 202428 December, 2023 Anne S

I’m a 50-something crafter in Australia who’s been stitching for approximately 35 or so years and I’m never happy unless I’m learning something new and being challenged by my crafts. Stitching has continued to be an emotional trigger for me since my Mum’s decline in health and not being able to speak to her or hear her voice, so I’ve been cardmaking for the last two years instead of stitching. My mojo started to return a bit more at the very end of 2023, and hopefully 2024 will continue to see this side of my crafty endeavours return in strength again – and maybe I’ll finally dust my sewing machine off again as it hasn’t been touched in 2 1/2 years now.

My goals are very simple for 2024 – and that’s just to finish at least one needlework project by the end of the year. The aim is to also make some progress on other existing WIPs as well, but that’s not the primary focus. I don’t want to place high expectations on my needlework activities next year, hoping that my mojo will return on its own, and I’ll automatically increase activity without having it defined as a goal.

Here are photos of most of my WIPs/UFOs as they stand now, just to keep track of any future progress I make.

WIPocalypse, Works in Progress

WIPocalypse 2024 – goals

7 January, 20247 January, 2024 Anne S

It’s been a loooong time since joining in with the WIPocalypse. Hopefully this year sees me back on track again with my stitching and I can finally see a few projects getting some love … and maybe even a finish or two? I’m going to try to keep my goals really minimal this year, though, I’ll be happy just to make any progress on WIPs – but it wouldn’t be a new year without setting at least some goals.

My crafting goals for 2024 are:

Progress on at least 12 WIPs (helped by the WIPGO challenge) – progress can be 1 stitch, 1 strand of thread, 1 day or 1 week, as long as it’s some sort of progress
Sew an item – whether clothing, quilting or finishing
Work on a crochet item WIP
Find a good balance to work on both needecrafts and papercrafts/cardmaking

To kick off the new year, I managed to pick up an old canvaswork WIP, Lahaina Breezes by Laura J Perin. I was supposed to work on my WIPGO projects in cells 9 and 22 but they didn’t call to me – I figured I can just swap my numbers around and work on any two projects each month initially while I’m continuing to get my stitching mojo back again … and Lahaina Breezes felt like it needed some love. Here are the before and after photos after a few days work. My thumb is sore from pulling the needle through the back of the stitches, and I’ve run out of the main thread, so it’s being put aside again for now … but gee I’m happy with the progress on this one!

I’m adding a gallery of all projects sitting on my WIPGO board and how they looked at the start of this year – hopefully 2024 will see them all get a bit of progress and love.

Cartonnage, Challenges & SALs, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse Jan 2024

7 January, 20242 March, 2024 Anne S

Oh my goodness I just realised this was still sitting in draft!!

In January I managed to make some decent progress on Lahaina Breezes by Laura J Perin. I also finished my most challenging cartonnage project to date – a toolbox for my cartonnage tools!! I’m so in love with that box 🩵

2023 recap

Goals partially met for 2023:

Progress on 12 WIPs/UFOs

I only made progress on four projects, instead of 12.

Kathy Rees: Banded by Bargello (FINISH) – I made some decent progress at the start of the year before losing my mojo again, but ended the year on a high as it was the only project I wanted to work on when my mojo returned a bit. I’m so excited to show that this was 100% finished too, woohoo!

HAED: Mini Sunflowers – I really love every moment I spend stitching on this one, it’s a really good mix of confetti and larger sections of colour. It’s my first HAED stitched on 18ct Aida too, and I’m quite enjoying it.

Un chat dans l’aiguille: Août – I had to do a lot of frogging on this one, so not as much progress as I would have hoped

Rosewood Manor: Quaker Diamonds (I thought it was going to be a finish, but then realised I’d missed a couple of the over-one small letters, so it’s in the naughty corner until I can find a set of spare Qsnaps for that one section – it may end up being my first finish of 2024)

Progress on three canvaswork projects

I only made progress on one project, although it was a LOT of progress, as I actually finished it!
– Kathy Rees: Banded by Bargello

Goals not met at all for 2023:

Progress on a crochet project
I didn’t make progress on an older WIP, but I did start a new project and made progress on that one (Uptown Poncho) … which I guess will be a WIP for 2024 now
Complete 12 Christmas ornaments (as part of the JCS ornament SAL on Facebook) – not started
Sew an item of clothing – not started
Finish and frame the Ronald McDonald charity stitching – not started
Start a bed quilt – not started
Complete at least three sewing projects (eg pouches, pincushions etc – WIPs or new starts) – not started
Finish-finish at least 12 items in my finishing pile (eg Christmas ornaments etc) – not started

Cartonnage, Challenges & SALs, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse 2023 recap

28 December, 20237 January, 2024 Anne S

My mojo didn’t last long at the start of the year, so there’s not too much to recap for the year, but I’m super happy that at least there are a few projects that got some love, including a couple of big finishes.

Goals fully met for 2023:

Complete at least one cartonnage project

The first goal I met completely (and I realised I forgot to post about) – I finished two cartonnage class kit projects.

Progress on at least one project with specialty stitches

I’m using my progress on Banded by Bargello by Kathy Rees for this goal, which is constructed almost entirely out of specialty stitches (progress photos below).

Goals partially met for 2023:

Progress on 12 WIPs/UFOs

I only made progress on four projects, instead of 12.

Un chat dans l’aiguille: Août – I had to do a lot of frogging on this one, so not as much progress as I would have hoped

Progress on three canvaswork projects

I only made progress on one project, although it was a LOT of progress, as I actually finished it!
– Kathy Rees: Banded by Bargello

Goals not met at all for 2023:

Progress on a crochet project
I didn’t make progress on an older WIP, but I did start a new project and made progress on that one (Uptown Poncho) … which I guess will be a WIP for 2024 now
Complete 12 Christmas ornaments (as part of the JCS ornament SAL on Facebook) – not started
Sew an item of clothing – not started
Finish and frame the Ronald McDonald charity stitching – not started
Start a bed quilt – not started
Complete at least three sewing projects (eg pouches, pincushions etc – WIPs or new starts) – not started
Finish-finish at least 12 items in my finishing pile (eg Christmas ornaments etc) – not started

Challenges & SALs, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse for January

1 February, 20231 February, 2023 Anne S

I can’t believe it, thanks to my stitchy bug coming back very sporadically thanks to attempting WIPGO, I actually have a stitchy update this month … may wonders never cease!?

My first project called was for Mini Sunflowers by HAED – I loved stitching this one so much I kept going well after the 5 hours were up. Here are the before and after shots.

The next project called ended up having a bit of frogging to do, so reverse stitching ate up a lot of my 5 hours – most of what I put in on the first day had to be removed again … oops. Anyway, here’s my progress at the end of the goal. I think I’ll probably keep on going to get this one finished, though, as it took me a long time to find my groove with the various stitches and I think it’d make sense to keep going while I’m in the right headspace. I swear I’m the slowest stitcher on the planet when I’m working on this one!!

If you have been to retreats, what are your must-bring items and supplies?

I pretty much just bring along my standard stitching kit of highlighter or tablet (depending on whether I’m working on a paper or digital pattern for my working copy), scissors, needles, etc – and depending what type of stitching retreat either one focal project to work on or a number of smaller ones if I can’t make up my mind … more often the latter.

Challenges & SALs, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse 2023 – goals for the year

5 January, 20235 January, 2023 Anne S

I’m almost reluctant to set any goals this year, but what the heck … go big or go home, right? I’ve pretty much copied over the goals I set two years ago before my stitching hiatus, with a few adjustments and removals. I originally wanted to finish Quaker Diamonds by Rosewood Manor and also Three Kings by Mill Hill, but I don’t want that pressure if my mojo doesn’t stay so most items are for ‘progress’ instead of finishes.

My needlecraft goals for 2023 are:

Progress on 12 WIPs/UFOs (WIPGO should hopefully help me meet this goal)
Progress on three canvaswork projects (WIPs or new starts)
Progress on a crochet project
Complete 12 Christmas ornaments (as part of the JCS ornament SAL on Facebook)
Sew an item of clothing
Finish and frame the Ronald McDonald charity stitching
Start a bed quilt
Complete at least one cartonnage project
Complete at least three sewing projects (eg pouches, pincushions etc – WIPs or new starts)
Progress on at lease one project with specialty stitches or non-cross stitch (eg stumpwork, hardanger etc)
Finish-finish at least 12 items in my finishing pile (eg Christmas ornaments etc)