2022 WIPocalypse - Introduction

Hello 2022 

You know when you are unsure of what is to come you tip toe... yup that is exactly what I am doing right now.. slowly moving around 2022 like I'm waiting for something to jump out and say BOO!!!

You didn't come here to hear all of that but that is how I'm feeling and its already two weeks into 2022.  I guess this is when I should start my confession if this is an introduction.  I'm a mom of four and have two grandbabies also which I am amazed by all the time.  I am happily married to a muggle man who enables my hobbies (I am not sure this is good) but he also picks on me when I start something new (serial starter noises here).  He knows I enjoy all crafts and we go many times to craft stores and he always asks are you sure you don't need this or this.  I am truly blessed.  

I am a serial starter, and a pusher or enabler whatever you want to call it.  I also love many crafts and would like to give equal attention to all of them.  I love to quilt and enjoy sewing all kinds of things including clothing, small gifts and my newest hobby making Hand Bags and project bags so I'm enjoying working with all kinds of textiles and hoping to explore more in 2022.  I love to crochet a lot and have dabbled in my knitting but I would really love to make a sweater this year.  I do have a sweater machine but man to hear those needles going to town makes my heart so full.  

So I would post photos of what my goals are for all of 2022 but I'm doing things a little different this year.  Goals for Quilting is to finish all of my quilts I've "half" finished and there are a lot.. now finish to me is not quilted because that is another post all together but If I fully finish a quilt I'll make sure you know it too because it truly is an amazing feeling to have a project totally complete.  These quilts don't really have an home to go to just ones I've wanted to work on so they will get completed and put away until I have a forever home to put them in.  

I only have a few Crochet blankets that are also on my finish list this year.  So I am hoping there is some road trips so I can make that happen and I hope I'm not the one driving so I can make some good progress 😏

But lets get to cross stitching because really that's what y'all came for!!  I am working on my WIPGO 2022 board, I am also participating in my Semi Sane Stitches group because both keep me so motivated to stitch more and I really believe it helped me complete some projects.   So I plan I touching EVERY WIP I have and I think when I looked on my spreadsheet (yes I have one of those) I had 65 at my last count but I did find another 4 or 5 that were not on the list and I don't know If I ever posted them so I can't remember when I started them but I'll dig and find a spot with them.  So lets start from the beginning.  

Focus Piece - I have a very large HAED that I do still love (thank goodness) because its massive and I've gotten some stitches already into it.  I do not believe I did much in 2021 so this year it needs some massive work.  Each month I will work on this piece.  This is my Trick or Treat HAED from Randal Spangler.  I am planning on working on weekend on this piece so I can get as many stitches in as possible.  I will take an overall photo for next month so you can see how much I have completed.  This is the page I will be working on this month. 

My plans are to touch and stitch every WIP I have.  I want to make sure I can see things I love to stitch and really get some progress this year.  So I was going to work on projects I started each month.  The problem is I have many months with no starts, so I am robbing May because well Maynia is a thing.  I also am working on my oldest WIPS first so they did get put in January.  I am hoping for a few finishes this month alone.  

So each month I will pick about 5-8 WIPS depending on how large the projects are for the month.  I will work them in on several events to see if I can get as many stitches as I can get.  I am saving weekends for larger pieces or my focus piece if I can get a good amount of stitches on them I will switch it out.  

I am also planning on working on the Cricket Collection months.  Most will be new starts, some have already been started.  I am also tired of my box of overflowing new starts that have been kitted up forever and feel neglected so there will be a wheel spinning happening which tells me what project will be a new start for the month.  So if my new way of doing things works out I will have a start for each month in 2023 and I can continue to touch each project every year and I won't be surprised by a WIP sitting in a bag for years without any love (that is neglect) 

So for the Parade of what you will see this month are: 

Marauder's Map - Artist is no longer on Etsy

Lighthouse - Cricket Collection from 1992

Candy Cane Santa Stocking - Dimensions Gold Collection

Owls Growth Chart - Dimensions 

I hope you enjoy everything you've seen.  Come on back because each month something new will be here.  The only repeat will be my Trick or Treat HAED and I think the progress over the next few months hopefully will be amazing. 

I also update my Instagram often if you would like to see daily progress quicker - 

I also do an update on my YouTube and you get to hear all about life too 😀 I try not to ramble to much but its so exciting sharing everything with friends. 

Happy Stitching ~ Carey

WIPocalypse 2019

It always amazes me how fast a year goes by.  Really where does the time go?  I think it moves faster and faster each year.  I have been working and organizing all my cross stitch WIPS. I started so many in 2018 and only finished one.  I am proud of my one finish for 2018.

A little about myself, I've changed so much over this past year.  I've moved way cross county from Alaska to Pennsylvania.  We moved from a very large home to small apartment, so adjusting has been very important and space is very valuable in our new place.  I have a wonderful husband who takes all my craziness with a grain of salt and still loves me when I go crazy on a new project.  He finds string in his clothes and fabric all over.  I have four wonderful daughters, they are truly a blessing and save my sanity and make me crazy also.  My oldest is about to bless us with our first grand baby who is coming at the end of the month.  I work full time and I try to fit as much me time in as I can.  I am planning on going to school full time towards the end of the year (goals for moving here).  I am a multi crafter and love learning new things.  I am sure I will be posting more of my crafts hence the name, I thought it was perfect for my multi projects.

I have some strong focus this year.

I have my start for 2018 that is Christmas in London by Mirabilia

This is where I left off with her.  This is my first Mira and so far I love her and very excited to see her finished this year.  Maybe before Christmas 2019 (I'm not going to hold my breath but needles will be on fire)

My Sleepy Hollow piece from Glendon Place was a December 31st 2017 start.  I've also enjoyed this very much and would like to get it complete and FFO.  This is my husbands favorite piece at the moment.

Trick or Treat HAED is going to be a focus piece this year but will be a thread or two a day (mornings before work) so I can also work on other pieces during the night.  Unless she is in rotation but I've come a long way but I can't finish 88 pages this year, maybe in five years.

I've had a couple of others that I would like to finish this year but I will have to go through my WIPS.  I am not planning on starting to much this year but Maynia is around the corner and the itch to start a new project is always around the corner and I'm always ready to go and can't stop myself fast enough with reason to even attempt it.

I will be doing a WIPocalypse SAL this year so hopefully that helps with keeping my BLOG going along with regular updates.  I am always on IG and Facebook (maybe i need to do this a bit less so I can concentrate on stitching hmmm...)



Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I do.  I so love the community and enjoy watching everyone's path they take.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Can you believe it is 2018! It's here to stay and I have been looking forward to it for a while actually. I have been wanting to get into my cross-stitch more than ever and getting involved in challenges to keep the ideas fresh and enticing.  So far this year I have had three (yes, count them three) new starts and they were the ones I was most excited about.  I will share them with you because they are all I've worked on this past week.  

Last year I had seen Sleepy Hollow stitched up by a few people and I fell in LOVE with this design from Glendon Place.  They had a wonderful sale for Black Friday I believe and I dove straight in and purchased fabric and all the specialty items because I have no idea where to get all of them from.  So one stop shop worked great for me.  Not only was this an amazing transaction it was also the best shipping I've ever had.  When this arrived I showed everyone (no one cared lol) because I was shocked they also signed it for me too.  

I couldn't hold out till New Year's Day so this became my 2017 New Year's Eve Start.  I think I will make this a habit every year.   Stitched on 28ct Haunted Cashel Linen by Picture this Plus 2/2 and I have enjoyed the progress so far.  

This is in my rotation this week and I will be doing and update on Sunday (hopefully) or you can see my daily updates on my Instagram @thepatientstitcher.  I seem to update that often because it helps me keep track of everything I do.  It is really a great resource to remember when you start something. 

So this leads to my "Official" starts for 2018.  I happen to love the Facebook Stitch Maynia site because it fills my head with notions ill finish EVERYTHING I purchase or I need to buy it or I see someone stitching something and I have to have it.  Well, they also have these amazing SAL's that the admins have set up which makes my stitching even more eventful and really is up my alley when it comes to change and setting goals. 

I have written each of them down so I can challenge myself to do them all and even if I don't like some of them I can think outside the box and still participate.  So many of my projects fit into challenges set forth in the Stitch Maynia SAL's.

New Year Start was Christmas in London by Mirabilia.  I have been dying to stitch this since I purchased it last year.  Mind you I have seen so many people stitch Mermaids and many other things and I have had no desire to stitch beautiful dresses and tails.  This pattern took me by surprise and spoke to me so now I own her and we are in love stitching together.  Before the end of the year I purchased the beads and the Krenik to be able to finish her.  Mind you I have never done beading or Krenik I am still old school, I have no idea what I got myself into because the beads were OMG a lot.  Well just this past week my Stitchy Stash came in and I am going to enjoy this beautiful masterpiece. I worked on her for five days and I was happy with my progress thus far.  She will be back in rotation as soon as I hear from my stitch partner who also bought it because I was showing it off.  I would love to work in it together so we will see when she comes up again.  

I have told you that I recently started stitching again after about 20 years of not touching a dang thing.  I can't remember what exactly got me back into it but as I do with anything I dove in head first and started my stash up real good.  I do believe seeing the Heaven and Earth Designs got me back into it and I couldn't believe there was no back stitching or anything just plain ole cross stitch.  So of course I dove right in and purchased way to many that I will never get a chance to stitch but one never knows.  Right!?  For my HAED start I choose the Old World Map because my husband thought it was very beautiful.  So New Years Day I put in my first 200 stitches and I was more than elated with the progress.  This piece is a confetti heaven piece, not that I am loving that part but I am loving my progress.  I do only rotate my HEAD on weekends because that is when I seem to have more time to stitch but I think this one will be in a weekly rotation at least once a month because I love it that much.  This past weekend I put 1000 stitches in and I was excited to see a little cherub take form.  

I don't just stitch at home, I feel idle time is a bit boring so I also have a lunch project that I just keep at work and when I get a chance I work on it.  I have been working this one for a while now but it's slowly coming along.  Amid Amish Life was released in sections in Cross Stitch & Country Crafts in July/Aug 1987.  I had all of these magazines way back when but life throws you curve balls and I eventually got rid of everything.  This past summer I was in a second hand store reminiscing about all those cross stitch magazine I once had and this piece hit my heart again.  I bought all of those magazines and my love began once again.  I have been stitching this since summer and here is the progress I have made since then.  My goal is to finish this in 2018 so we will see how it goes. 

I feel like this post is going to take forever and I can't believe I have worked on so many projects since my last post but I'm not done.  I also worked on the Class Schedule SAL to hopefully have at least a boarder done before the release of January's block.  It was fun to play catch up and was fun to banter with all of the other stitchers as to what will be the first release.  I have yet to stitch January's block so I will work on that this week and post progress next weekend.  But here is what she looks like so far.  Stitched on 32 Ct Lugana in Phantom by Picture this Plus.

The last thing that I believe I need to confess is I am working on my Stitch from Stash 2018 and I am no not good at this.  I was doing great until the 2nd of January when I see this AMAZING SAL that is being done and I was in a trance and only took 2 seconds to spend $18 of my $25 this month.  I did keep myself under control because I did have about $60 worth of merchandise and saved it all for later so I didn't overspend.  I should get extra money for self control. 

So here is my totals so far.

Purchases - Guardians of Notre Dame Mystery Stitch Along $18

No Finishes at this time

Money left to spend $7 I think I can handle this we will see. I am hoping to carry most over for a few months to purchase new fabric for a few projects later this spring. 

Until this weekend Happy Stitching all.   I hope you all find your stitchy place and have some fabric fun and enjoy the moment.  

Carey

Upcoming Plans, Goals and Challenges

I am new to all of the Facebook groups dedicated to Cross Stitchers, but I am loving all of the support the cross stitch community gives.  I have found Stitch Maynia on Facebook and of course have been enabled a lot on my own journey.  I have many projects I would like to start and Stitch Maynia will help get them started and keep me going on my WIPs.

Plans -

I plan on doing every event Stitch Maynia offers this year (including all SALs) I will make them work for me if I can be inventive enough 😉

So here it goes:

Maynia SAL's
Christmas Year Round - Santa Clause
Fifty Nifty United States - Your home state
Halloween All year Round - Pumpkin
Princess SAL - your favorite Princess
Temperature SAL - 

1-31st Start a new project - This project I've been wanting to do FOREVER.  More on this one later because for some reason she is special to me. Mirabilia Christmas In London
1-31st Tour De Designers 2018 - Glendon Place - I just purchased and received the kit for Sleepy Hollow and Im so excited to get this one started also. 
5th Full Coverage - I have plenty to work on for this one.  I want to work on my Trick or Treat HAED from Robert Spangler but it is hard to see how much work actually goes into this one since I am doing one color at a time and its SUPER CONFETTI.  It will prob be Trick or treat or Old World Map which I am also starting on the first for the New HAED year

15th Work that WIP
18th New Start - I have had this one for a while and its kitted and so ready to get worked on. Quotes to Live by from Stitchrovia OMG this is one of my most favorite pieces.
20th Color a Day Aquarius - this is an Electric Blue or Turquoise.  I think I will keep working on my Quotes to live by since he boarder is that exact blue.

HAED -
They are having the New HAED year and I choose to stitch Old World Map so watch for progress as I get that going.  I will do this one page by page EEEK.

SAL's -

Harry Potter Classroom SAL will start 1 Jan - I am still waiting for fabric so I might have to play catch up on this one but I am ready to begin.  If you would like to sign up there is still time.  
Class Schedule SAL

One other thing I am doing the year is kinda exciting.  I LOVE.. Did I say L O V E to spend money on my crafts and sometimes I get WAY to carried away with things.  This year I have joined the forces and will begin my Stitch from Stash 2018, because we all know that most of us have enough stash for at least 5 other people and we will never in an eternity stitch what we want to get done.  I know I have enough patterns to keep me busy, dmc floss for prob everyone I know.  I am a bit low on fabric and specialty floss but I will see what I can do with my monthly allowance.

I start out with $25 and I have to keep track of everything I spend.  If I finish something I get money put on my account and so on and so forth.  I'll keep you all updated on my happenings and to keep me accountable.  I am hoping with all my extra stitching I can accomplish some finishes this year.  I am very excited about this.  I will post photos once I get started and links incase you too would like to stitch anything Im stitching.

Happy Stitching all and enjoy each stitch you put in because a stitch is progress.
Carey