Mill Hill – Feather Stitching

Challenges & SALs, Finishes, Mill Hill, Sewing, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse – May 2026

30 May, 202628 May, 2026 Anne S

Thanks to Maynia I started to get a tiny bit of stitching progress this month – I named my challenge ‘Mix-it-up Maynia’, and the goal is to complete at least 100 stitches or 1 hour of progress on stitching projects. The projects could include existing WIPs, some new starts, or finish-finishing projects. Sadly I only lasted about 6 nights before getting distracted by other projects that weren’t eligible for the group running the challenge (it’s for cross stitch only). My stitching mojo definitely comes and goes, that’s for sure – I’m learning not to stress about it and to just go with the flow, and to embrace whatever craft is tempting my energy at that moment in time 🙂

Stitching progress:

Mill Hill – Conch Shell – as this was a new start I managed to get 300 stitches into, and it was a really enjoyable stitch. It’s nice to add some ‘new blood’ into my WIP pile, it keeps it fresh and makes me want to take the time out to stitch.

When Witches Go Riding by Prairie Schooler – This one has pretty much gone as far as I can go now until I rip all the dark theads out – there are basically three different shades of the thread due to dye lot issues that in hindsight really bother me. The only option to make me happy(-ish) is to rip it all out and replace with one dye lot, which has been ordered.

2024 Mirabilia Retreat Mermaid – I’ve somehow managed to misplace my entire skein of Bermuda Reef silk, so I’m plodding along with the hair for now. It’s still an enjoyable stitch, made even more enjoyable by stitching almost entirely with silks, just lush …

Finch Song by Shepherd’s bush – I’ve been jumping around a bit with this one, partly because one of the challenge items at the end of April was to stitch with a pink thread so I scrolled up to start the quaker block in Dried Pink Roses. I managed to finish that in this month’s Maynia session, along with 9 other stitches in a tiny sampler spot near the tree. I think I’ll be returning back down to the border again soon, if nothing else so I can finish off all those loose threads 😉

Stitching question

Give us five projects in your stash right now that you’d really love to start – and why you haven’t yet.

Oh boy, how do we narrow it down to just five? I have sooooo many projects I want to start, and most of them are for the same reason … I despise kitting things up. Lots of people love selecting their fabrics and pulling all the threads, but for me it leaves me cold – I’m much more likely to start something if it’s already been kitted up, and more so if it’s been migrated over into Pattern Keeper – especially these days when lots of my challenges are based on stitch count, anything not in Pattern Keeper seems to take a lower priority unless I have a day or two spare to create a working copy manually in PC Stitch then exporting it for use in PK. But seeing as the question says to choose 5, let’s see …

Freshness of Cold by Leonid Afremov / Artecy. The overall size puts me off because I’m still just getting my feet back into water stitching-wise again and I worry I’ll never get it finished. Of course I never will if I never start, so there’s that … This one is actually about 70% kitted up, and just needs to have the fabric cut …
Walking the Water’s Edge by Diane Herrmann. This one is soooo high up on my to-do list, I really really want to get this one done and one the wall … and I have to admit I’m getting closer to starting. I don’t know why, but I’m intimidated by it for some reason. It uses stranded cotton floss with a laying tool, which isn’t my favourite thing in the world to do … but it will be so worth it I think – it’s a stunning project!
March Aquamarine Fairy by Mirabilia. The two reasons this isn’t started yet is 1) I want to rechart it a wee bit which means putting it all into PC Stitch to play with it, and 2) I can’t for the life of me decide on a fabric. But she’s another one I really really want to see up on my wall, so I really should make an effort!
Bright Bouquet by Sue Spargo. To be honest I actually bit the bullet a couple of months ago and started to cut out all the various pieces of fabrics etc that I need for this. And there it stalled again. I’m so far out of my comfort zone with this one, I really need to concentrate on it, and I’ve been struggling to do hand-sewing/embroidery lately … I just need to get out of my own head and ‘do it’, preferably before year end 😉
My Treasures Workstation by Judy Odell. I bought the finishing kit for this one years ago when it was first released, but I could never decide on fabric and threads to use for it. I just need to pull my finger out and make a decision – the stitching itself is really simple, and I know once my decision is made and the fabric is all marked out that I’ll whip through the stitching quite quickly. Seems such a waste to have the hardware etc sitting there unused …

Sewing progress:

As mentioned in my last post on 28 May I managed a few stitching projects this month – some are still in progress and some were fully finished … and I’m really proud of every one of them!

The finishes:

New starts, still in progress:

Challenges & SALs, Finishes, Mill Hill, Sewing, Tilda, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse – April 2026

25 April, 2026 Anne S

Another month without a big number of projects being worked on, and after completing over 1,000 stitches on one big project I’ve decided to scrap it and start again … oops.

Sewing finishes

I managed one small finish this month as a practice piece for me … I came across two squares of ‘printing samples’ from a fabric order about 7 years ago and rather than try to find a home for it I decided it would be perfect to create a small basket try with Kam snaps. I still have two more squares to use up yet – I’m just awaiting inspiration for those 😉

My finish sewing finish for this month was completing an older (2020) sewing kit called the Little Box of Creativity by Kitty Rose Cottage. These monthly mystery kits contain all the fabric that you need for the project, and you just have to supply the sewing machine and thread usually. This project’s pattern was called Market Day Bag, and it’s an awesome size tote bag! I’m going to use this one for my crochet WIPs I think, but I definitely see myself making more of these, the size is awesome – of course my versions will use my favourite blue/teal fabrics, and I’ll leave off the lace and felt flowers in the next ones. Such a great project!

Next up I decided to put the final stitches into these two items from back in 2020 – the mannequin pomander only needed the bottom closure to be sewn up (!), and the lavender wardrobe sachet was waiting for the embroidery to be done before I could sew it all together. I still have one more lavender sachet waiting in the wings, but that’ll be for another day.

Stitching progress:

Sea View by Luca-S – I managed to reach 20% completion of this project before deciding I’m not happy with it, and really want to stitch it over-one on 28ct fabric instead of the Aida in the kit. So far now it’s been put aside until I cut out a piece of fabric and start again, then it’ll regularly continue to be my focus piece for the year. This is the stopping point for me.

Finch Song by Shepherd’s Bush – After putting Sea View aside, I turned to Finch Song for the remaining challenges for the month. While this hasn’t been my favourite one to stitch, thanks to not much variation in the green threads and the cream disappearing on the fabric etc, I’m already hankering to start another Shepherd’s Bush sampler kit …

Stitching is the Berries – I actually made some progress on this one in January, but forgot to post about it, so I’ve included it here for my own records. Those berries were taking me forever to work on so I decided to take a break from it – I really should get back to it again, because it’s sooooo close to a finish now, I think it’s just the berries, a handful of queen stitches, and my initials left to go.

2024 Mirabilia Retreat Mermaid – I managed to work on a bit of her hair this month. I’ve managed to mislay my skein of Bermuda Reef silk so her hair is the only focus for now. I swear sometimes I live in the Bermuda Triangle, I’m forever losing things!

Stitching question

What is your oldest WIP? Tell us a little bit about it.

I’d probably say it’s Mediterranean Scene from an old magazine – started in 1998. I was never happy with the colours of the blue shutters etc and it just fell into the UFO basket. Now the projects are so much more realistic these days I wonder if I’ll ever finish it. Perhaps if I add a bunch of embroidery stitches to give it a little more depth and texture I might like it a bit more. I’m thinking if I did that perhaps it’d work as the front of a zippered project bag or a tote bag – not sure. Then again, another part of me just wants to just ditch it and use what time I have to work on other projects that bring me joy … I wonder which side of me will eventually win out?

Challenges & SALs, Finishes, Mill Hill, Sewing, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse – March 2026

11 April, 2026 Anne S

My needles were on hiatus during March, so there’s little to show – I almost didn’t bother posting (hence the late publishing), but I think it’s good to remind me that at least I made some progress.

Sea View by Luca-S – I used this one as my focus piece for a Facebook group challenge in March. Not much stitching was done on it, but progress is progress 🙂

Stitching question

Which of your current WIPs do you consider your most difficult piece to stitch?

That would have to be Chatelaine’s Egyptian Garden Mandala. I absolutely detest the fabric I chose for it – the fabric is tightly woven with metallic threads in it, and it’s so difficult to see the holes for stitching. I’ve had to stretch it tightly on a huge cobbled-together Qsnap frame which worked for a while, but I stupidly added some treasures and beads as I went, assuming I could keep growing the frame and working outwards – I’ll never ever do that again! It’s such a chore working on this piece, I really struggle to give it any love. It’ll be amazing once (if ever) it’s completed, though.

Challenges & SALs, Finishes, Mill Hill, Sewing, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse January 2026

2 February, 20262 February, 2026 Anne S

Oops I missed the posting date last month – I haven’t managed much stitching throughout January, but I did manage a bit of sewing, as well as sharing the bigger finish of 2025.

The final (BIG) finish of 2025:

I finally put the final beads in place on 31 December, with just 20 minutes to spare before midnight! It was my biggest goal to finish this piece by the end of 2025 and I miraculously found the two missing sets of beads on New Year’s Eve – of course that was after I’d ordered replacements – I couldn’t believe my luck!

“Three Kings” by Mill Hill / Jim Shore
Stitched on recommended linen with purchased embellishment kit
Started 14 August 2018 – Finished 31 December 2025

Sewing finishes

The small drawstring pouch was finished on 31 December 2025 (before I found the missing beads for Three Kings), and the remainder were staggered throughout January. I’m determined to upskill myself to be able to tackle a larger ByAnnie project so I’ve been working through the beginner projects as they’ve recommended.

Stitching progress:

Sea View by Luca-S – this will probably end up seeing some monthly progress using some challenges, as I’d quite like to see this one finished by the end of the year (that could be a lofty goal, mind you, considering the small amount of stitching I achieved overall in January!). I managed 629 stitches overall, which I guess is relatively decent progress, as that takes me to 13% overall completion. I’m currently in the progress of stitching my way up to the top so that I can start working top-down. The colours make this a really pretty one to stitch.

When Witches Go Riding by Prairie Schooler – I managed 928 stitches on this one, because I used it for a few challenges. Once the main stitching is finished, I’ll need to decide which sections to rip out. Unfortunately when I converted the DMC threads to hand-dyed ones, I didn’t have enough of the dark chocolate thread – I then tried another skein of the thread from a new order and it was substantially different. I then reverted back to the DMC colour and that was totally different again … which means for me to get a consistent look I need to reverse stitch those of those dark brown colours pfffft Oh well, at least I’ve almost finished the rest of the stitching now, so then it may have to sit in the naughty corner for a while as I mull that challenge over for a bit longer …

2024 Mirabilia Retreat Mermaid – I worked on the hair during January, with a total of 410 stitches.

Finch Song by Shepherd’s bush – this was mostly stitched using white thread, so I took a close-up of the stitched area for the progress. I completed 219 stitches in January.

Finishes, Mill Hill

Cabana Beach

24 December, 2025 Anne S

This project has been one of the most enjoyable stitches this year – the easy to stitch blocks of colour, along with the beautiful bright hues of the threads made it such a joy to work on. I’m kinda sad it’s finished now, but on a positive note it means I can get it framed up to go on my wall for the new year! 😀

“Cabana Beach” by Mill Hill
Started 29 January 2025 – Finished 23 December 2025
Stitched with kit threads and beads, but I substituted the perforated paper for 28ct linen

Cross Stitch, Mill Hill

Mill Hill-Three Kings

3 December, 2024 Anne S

Oh my goodness, I’m not sure what’s happening, but I love it! I’ve managed to put a few stitches into another old WIP – this is one I really want to get finished in time for Christmas 2025 so it’ll be one of my primary focus projects for next year. Going by the progress this week, if I keep it up I think that’s completely doable. This is my current update for Three Kings by Mill Hill/Jim Shore.

Crochet, Mill Hill, WIPocalypse, Works in Progress

WIPocalypse November

2 December, 2019 Anne S

Belatedly adding my update for November, even though I only have one small update to share. I decided to keep on stitching on Mill Hill’s Three Kings until I got that third king finished … thus ticking one more item off the ‘to-do-list/goal’ for the year. It’s now being put away until 2020 again, unless I get an urge to keep going on the border – never say never!

Question of the Month: What new stitches or techniques did you learn this year ?

This year hasn’t been a great year for learning stitching-wise, however I just started doing a couple of older subscription boxes from Crate Crochet and learning some new stitches and techniques in crochet. It’s been a nice change learning something new, and not being too stressed at work to enjoy some decent down-time on evenings and weekends. I’m hoping next year will see me doing these projects on time each month again, seeing as I’ve just resubscribed for another 12 months 🙂

Here are some of my projects I’ve been working on this last week or two – I even managed a mandala finish that I’m super proud of!

ByGone Stitches, Canvaswork, Christmas Ornaments, Elizabeth's Designs, Finishes, Just Cross Stitch, Laura J Perin, Mill Hill, Prairie Schooler, WIPocalypse, Works in Progress

WIPocalypse October

6 November, 20196 November, 2019 Anne S

Belatedly adding my update for October, although it’s the first WIP update I’ve made for quite some time. I’ve gone crazy stitching quite a bit since my return home – it’s helped me to take my mind off Dad’s passing and Mum coping on her own. So without further ado, here are my WIP updates and some other finishes.

Just Cross Stitch ornament SAL

I managed to finish all the remaining ornaments for a 12-month long ornament challenge using the 2018 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue – I used my two wild cards to change out two of the ornaments where I didn’t like one or didn’t have all the required threads and nothing to substitute with. The ornies I finished in October were:

Works in Progress / UFOs

I dragged out a few older WIPs/UFOs that were in my to-do-list for the year but that I hadn’t touched yet … I’ve failed my goals this year miserably, but at least I’ve managed some progress on a few projects for the year, even if it’s really small progress …

Before: When Witches Go Riding by The Prairie Schooler

After: Three Kings by Mill Hill/Jim Shore

New starts

When I first came home I decided to start a new canvaswork project – I managed great progress until my fingers got too sore to keep yanking the threads through the canvas, so it’s been put into time out for a while, and I’ll probably pick it up again in 2020 to finish it off, if not before.

After I finished my JCS ornie SAL challenge, I decided to pick up a quick project that’s been kitted up for years – and finished it in a couple of days.

Question of the Month: Do you prefer to stitch on a rotation or one project at a time?
It depends on my mood at the time, to be honest – I work well with a rotation when I’m in the mood, it helps me to progress through projects quickly as long as I have them all set up together ready for me to work through the order of projects without having to hunt for items, or frames, or threads etc. I’ve been doing a screaming rotation of sorts for a while now – just stitching on what I feel like stitching on and not counting the hours at all. I’d like to get back to a formal rotation again, but I think I’ll wait until the new year for that.

Homespun Elegance, Mill Hill, WIPocalypse, Works in Progress

WIPocalypse – November 2018

24 November, 2018 Anne S

What can I say … another three months have gone by, and I’ve only just managed to pick up my needle and do a bit of stitching! My foray into the world of crochet has taken over my crafting world for the last few months, and I’ve been engrossed in learning more and more … but I just realised the end of the year is almost upon us, and I started to feel a bit guilty for leaving my stitching WIPs neglected for so long.

I decided to drag out my Egyptian Garden Mandala and given it a bit of love over the last week. The colours are starting to look a lot bolder, and I’m totally in love with the bright cobalt blue silk that’s starting to make a statement in those edge borders and flowers. I’m still hating that fabric with a passion, and if I wasn’t so far along with the project I’d seriously consider starting it again – it’s a real labour of love, that’s for sure … emphasis on the word LABOUR … and I can’t wait to get it finished so I never have to drag my needle through that horrible fabric ever again. It does look really stunning, though, so that’s what’s keeping me going!

Now on to the monthly questions – the current one, plus the last two I missed …

25 November – What new stitches or techniques did you learn this year?
I can’t say I’ve really learnt any new stitches this year … but as I mentioned earlier I have learnt how to crochet, and that journey has meant an awful lot of learning of new stitches and techniques. It’s actually been quite invigorating to learn something new, and it’s given me a confidence boost to start tackling other techniques in my stitching wishlist in 2019.

28 October – Do you prefer to stitch on a rotation or one project at a time?
To be honest it depends on my mood – I actually love doing a rotation when I’m in the right frame of mind, and it really helps me to get a lot more stitching done. Every now and then, though, I just want to stitch on something that is calling my name … so I often dither between the two.

30 September – How do you keep your stitching stash organized?
I keep my kits and patterns kitted up with fabric in large file boxes in groups of project size (eg Large/BAP, Medium, Small, Ornaments etc). My threads are kept in flossaway bags on metal rings and then in larger file boxes in their groups (eg silks together, overdyed floss together, DMC floss together, pearl cottons and other specialty fibres together). My charts are generally in ring binders. My works in progress are in tubs on their scroll bars or Qsnaps along with their chart and threads in project envelopes.

Homespun Elegance, Mill Hill, WIPocalypse, Works in Progress

WIPocalypse – August 2018

26 August, 201820 August, 2018 Anne S

I managed to avoid a lot of my other crafts for a while this month, and got a bit more progress under my belt for my cross stitch WIPs. Reviewing my year’s goals last month lit a bit of a fire under me, I think, and got me to focus on ticking off a few more items if I could.

The first thing I did was to find three smaller, older WIPs and finished them all off … that means one more done on my list!

Before: Starry Snowman ornie by Homespun Elegance

After: Starry Snowman ornie by Homespun Elegance

“Starry Snowman” ornament by Homespun Elegance
from 1998 JCS Christmas Ornament issue
Stitched on 28ct Cashel linen (colour putty??)
with recommended DMC threads

Sue Hillis Design-Spool Ornament

“Spool Ornament” by Sue Hillis Design
from 2007 JCS Christmas Ornament issue
Stitched on 28ct antique white Cashel linen
with recommended DMC threads
All I needed to do was to add the buttons and it was finished!

Before: Hardanger scissor fob

After: Hardanger scissor fob

A small Hardanger design I did myself

After I did that wee burst of quick finishes, I decided to go back to Mill Hill’s Three Kings and put some serious progress into this one over one weekend. I intend continuing on this one now until the two kings are fully finished – I only have a couple more stitches to do on the right-hand king before starting the back-stitching and then the beading. It’s not the easiest fabric to stitch on at night, so it’s more of a weekend project while I have a bit of daylight to work with.

How it looked when I started (ie where I finished during the last session):

38932016_10155701063623148_8244335736380194816_n

And how it looks now … I can’t wait to start adding the beads to this and seeing this piece really come to life!!

Mill Hill-Three Kings

Now on to the monthly question, and review of the year’s goal progress to date – it’s been fun ticking a few items off the list finally. I can’t see me reaching many of these goals by the end of the year, but I’ve made more progress this year on goals that I ever have I think … it’s been fun!

26 August – Which is more satisfying to you and why – the process of stitching a piece, or the finish?
I think it’s more the process of stitching than the finishes themselves, but in saying that I do love to see the final stitches go into something as well, especially if it’s been a tedious project that I’d kind of fallen out of love with. It’s still all about the ‘process’, though, in the end.