Cartonnage, Challenges & SALs, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse 2023 recap

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.

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
Canvaswork

Banded by Bargello finished

Anne S

Crikey, it’s taken me 9 months for my stitching bug to resurface again! I’m learning not to beat myself up about it, and to just let my brain dictate what to work on and when. Most of the year has been spent cardmaking again, but I’m glad to have found the occasional spark of interest for my needlework once more.

This week I put the final stitches into Banded by Bargello, which was originally a mystery class project by Kathy Rees through the Shining Needle Society. It started just before Covid hit in 2020. I was making great progress until Mum’s hospitalisation and my stitching bug went AWOL. It feels so good to finally have a stitching finish, especially one as mammoth as this one!

Challenges & SALs, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse for January

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.

Cartonnage

Cartonnage projects

Anne S

While my stitching mojo was absent last year I did manage to start a new type of craft for me – thanks to Janie Hubble and Boxed and Bound I was able to sign up for some cartonnage classes and managed to complete the first couple of projects. Life then got in the way a wee bit and I still have a few projects to work on, but I’m hoping to make some progress on those this year.

Here are the two projects that I managed to fully complete – first up was a recipe card box:

The next project was a bit more challenging for me, but I thrive on a challenge so it was enjoyable and gave a real sense of achievement at the end. It’s a small set of drawers, which are so cute and dainty in real life!

Challenges & SALs, WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse 2023 – goals for the year

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)

The starting point for those projects on my WIPGO board this year:

Summer Fruits pincushion
Egyptian Garden Mandala 24Nov2018
Egyptian Garden Mandala by Chatelaine as at 24 Nov 2018
Cottage Etui by CA Wells
Goals, WIPocalypse

2022 stitching recap

Anne S

My goodness, this is probably the easiest annual review I’ve ever done, as I only worked on two projects!

I started the year in January hopeful that I’d get back into my stitching again, but my mojo was short lived and only lasted a few hours – I did, however, manage to complete all the letters on this canvaswork cushion by The Stitchsmith called Aroha so it wasn’t all bad (even if I only had 1 1/2 letters needing to be stitched).

The next time I did any stitching was late last month in December, where I got a sudden urge to stitch some of the blocks of Banded by Bargello by Kathy Rees. I realised I hadn’t downloaded the final part of the chart before I flew to NZ to care for Mum, and no longer had access to the email address I’d originally used, but Kathy kindly helped me out by sending me the missing parts. I think working on this project has helped me to get my mojo back a bit. It reminded me just how much I love working on canvaswork pieces, especially when the blocks are small and easy to count. This is such a beautiful piece of work, photos will never do it justice, I think. Here’s the before and after. The ‘before’ photo is closer to the colours in real life. It was so nice to put needle through canvas again, especially on a project that was really calling my name loudly.

Challenges & SALs

WIPGO 2023 – I’m back stitching again

Anne S

It’s been a veeeerrrry long time since I stitched anything on a regular basis … well, truth be told, anything at all really. It’s been an emotionally traumatic couple of years after the passing of my Dad, then losing employment for a while during Covid, then my Mum deteriorating after a couple of strokes. For the first time in many many years, stitching no longer brought me comfort, but rather was an emotional trigger – perhaps because it reminded me of my Mum too much, as it’s something we’ve shared since she turned 70. Instead of stitching, I turned instead to a new-to-me craft of cardmaking, which can be found under my Instagram account, Shacks Papercrafts.

This year, though, the bug has finally started to rear its head a bit and I’ve decided I may attempt the WIPGO challenge while my motivation is here. I’m trying to be gentle with myself and not put too much pressure on, and kept all the goals as 5-hour blocks. Most of my projects chosen are older WIPs, with some newer WIPs thrown in for good measure, and a few new starts just to keep things interesting. I may change projects on the board on a whim, just to keep myself interested and to keep the momentus going, but time will tell. For now this is the board how it stands at the start of the year.

January’s project numbers are 6 and 10, so I kicked off with number 6, Mini Sunflowers by Marianne Broome and Heaven and Earth Designs. This was one of the projects I was really keen to work on, so I was thrilled to have this as the first project off the ranks. I enjoyed putting needle to fabric so much I ended up stitching through the night until 6am – that was pretty insane, but it was oh so enjoyable … like returning to an old love. It has been really difficult to put it down, but I want to try to balance my crafts this year and splitting my time between my cardmaking and stitching, so eventually I put it to one side. I’ll soon start on my second WIPGO project for January, and the January ornament for the Just Cross Stitch Ornament SAL on Facebook, then I may return to the sunfowers again before we move into the February projects.

Here’s where I started from:

And here’s where I finished at the end of two days stitching … and what a wonderful two days it was!

WIPocalypse, Works in Progress

May WIPocalypse

Anne S

As I’ve posted about previously, May has seen my mojo return with a vengeance, and my energy levels and confidence towards my crafting endeavours has been really positive. I even managed to do a few small updates to some of my WIPs (not to mention adding tremendously to my WIP list with all the new starts in May … oops). Here is a review of the WIP upates from May during IsoMaynia.

Raphael’s Raspberries by Forgets-Me-Nots in Stitches

Mia Mermaid (retreat project) by Nora Corbett / Mirabilia

Quaker Diamonds by Rosewood Manor

When Witches Go Riding by The Prairie Schooler

Finch Song by Shepherd’s Bush

My goals for 2020 have seen some progress in general, thanks to being stood down from work three days a week throughout May and more free time to work on crafts. So far I’m stood down until at least the end of June, so I’m hoping this will continue for another month at least 😉

Crafts - Needlework, IsoMaynia, Just Cross Stitch, Quilting & Sewing

IsoMaynia – week three

Anne S

Another week of stitching in isolation, which means another batch of crafty projects getting some love and attention.

15 May: New start – Tilda group needlework accessories

I didn’t actually put needle to fabric at all for this one, but I did manage to get two of the projects started by fussy-cutting a few of the pieces ready for later.

16 May: WIP – Spike stitch basket by Crochet Society

I made a bit of progress on a crochet project I started in March. I didn’t quite get it finished on the 16th, but I got up and finished it the next day on the 17th. This is using Caron Pantone yarn.

17 May: New start – Christmas Bullfinch by Punochka

I started the February ornament choice for the JCS Christmas ornie SAL group on Facebook. Hopefully I’ll get this one finished early next month when I move to a 10-hour rotation again, instead of daily project changes.

18 May: Project and accessory bags

While not a ‘new’ project, I decided to make a few more vinyl fronted project and accessory bags so went ahead and did all the fabric cutting and quilting.

19 May: New start – Surface embroidery

Unfortunately I’ve mislaid my download file so I can’t give credit right now to the website hosting this image, but I’ll add the details later. Stitched with a DMC Variations thread. I hadnt decided yet what I’ll use this one for.

20 May: New start – Time in the Meadow by One Day in May (Creations by Melissa Grant)

This design was a free one that I received from One Day in May with an online order. I had to reduce the size of it a lot to make it small enough for its intended use. I used a Cottage Garden thread for the bird and border outlines and a single strand of a hand-dyed silk thread for the flowers and stems.

21-23 May: Tilda quilted pocket challenge

I managed to finish the surface stitchery (Time in the Meadow) from the day before and used it to adorn my latest Tilda challenge project. This pocket is far from perfect, but it was a great learning curve, and once again gives me more experience to build my confidence back up again. For the first time I didn’t start something different each day, but rather opted to focus on this one project until it was finished, so this project ended up spanning three separate days (two after work evenings and Saturday afternoon).

Indigo Rose, IsoMaynia, Lizzie Kate, Lyn Manning, Mirabilia, Needlebook, Nora Corbett, Rosewood Manor, Sewing

IsoMaynia – week two

Anne S

My crafty mojo remained high for another week – here are the projects that were at the end of my needle for IsoMaynia through the second week of May:

8 May: Piwakawaka, the Fantail by Lyn Manning

A small kit I bought from The Ribbon Rose in Auckland while Dad was in hospital last year. I’ve always loved fantails, and this is a really sweet little stitching project that reminds me of home. I didn’t quite manage to get it finished because I worked during the day, but I kept stitching on it the next day and managed to get it completed.

9 May: Stitch now, worry later by Lizzie*Kate

I changed the threads to my own choices of silk threads, trying to roughly match the colours I’d used in my last Lizzie*Kate a few years ago. I changed the thread spools to use satin stitch instead of cross stitch. This saying couldn’t be more relevant in these times! Eventually I’ll stitch the larger design as well.

10 May: Catherine Agnes by Indigo Rose

So excited to finally kick this project off – it’s intimidated me for years, but I put the feelings aside and just started. Such a fun project, I’m looking forward to getting back to this one again after May – I think this will definitely be going into the formal rotation I’m considering next month. A good challenging stitch with luscious silk threads … and yet more queen stitches!!

11 May: WIP – Quaker Diamonds by Rosewood Manor

Finally dragged out an older WIP – it’s a goal to actually finish this one at some time this year, so once again this will probably become my focus piece in a formal rotation from next month. Sadly I stitched in the wrong place in a previous session, so the next time I stitch on it I’ll get around to frogging those random stitches. This week, though, I just avoided that area and started a new motif instead 😉 I was busy during the day so not much to show for it – oh well, a few stitches closer to a finish, every little bit helps!

12 May: All you need is love and coffee by Design Works

I was initially put off by the stiff black aida that came in this kit, but it turned out to be really good for the style of stitching. Initially I used normal one-stitch back-stitches for the lettering, but it looked kinda clunky – when you look at the cover picture the back-stitching is all done as long stitches instead … so I frogged my back-stitching and did the same. It looks much neater and I really love the look. One of my favourite stitching projects so far during IsoMaynia, and I can’t wait to get back to work on this one again soon! I think I’ll be stitching this one more than once as well as gifts.

13 May: Tilda needlebook challenge

Still waiting for some Tilda fabrics to arrive that have been on back order for quite a few weeks, so I decided I didn’t want to wait anymore and wanted to start a needlework set now (I’d already missed all the past four challenges waiting for the fabric to arrive). I chose one of my favourite series of fabrics from Spoonflower, and think the set is going to be gorgeous in this fabric! Lots of glue, and not a lot of needlework involved in this one, but it’s another new-to-me challenge, it’s crafting of a different sort, and I did use a needle to buttonhole stitch the needlebook pages and then whip-stitched the lace on top of the felt. I used some light turquoise/teal felt I bought in Paris during my last visit, some wool flannel gifted to me by a dear friend recently for the needlebook pages, and I found some silk ribbon in my stash to finish it off. I did some fussy cutting for the first time, and I really love it!

14 May: Mia mermaid by Nora Corbett

This was the design we were given as the free gift at the Mirabilia Retreat in 2017 where Nora attended in person for the first time in Australia. I stitched this in 2017 after the retreat, intending to leave the wording and the date off. Over the last 12 months, though, I’d changed my mind and kept dithering about including the wording and date as a momento of the retreat weekend, which was also the start of some amazing stitching friendships. So I finally sucked it up and put her back into the Qsnaps to add the wording. I ran out of time to do the date as well, and I can’t really decide how to do it yet, so it’s not quite yet an official finish … maybe next month! I changed the wording colour to use the Pine Forest silk instead of the Copper as charted. The fabric colour is more accurate in the first photo.