2009 Wrap-Up and 2010 Plans

Back at the first of the year, I defined what my goals for this year in stitchery would be:

"Over on Cross Stitch Crazy, we name the year for what we want to accomplish and this year, it's "Use what's mine (stash you already have) and start/complete a BAP (Big @$$ Project)"...

"I'm interpreting "Use what's mine" as work on current WIPs and (IF I finish them all) UFOs..."

So how did I do? Well, working from stash:

Out of 16 completions, 9 were completions of old WIPs (and therefore my stash):

• "Autumn Leaves"
• "DMC Paisley tie-backs"
• "Tsunami Sampler"
• "Bath 5¢"
• "The Needlework Shoppe"
• "Walking to Town"
• "raw edge appliqué 'quiltlet'" (still not quilted)
• "San Man Originals Snow collage"
• "Free Flight"

Five were small pieces started from scratch in 2009, all using stash fabric and floss:

• "the letter M" (a gift)
• "Purple Penguin" (a swap ornament)
• "Letter Heart" (I'd intended this to be a quilt square but it was too big)
• "Missing "T" Stitch" (a quilt square)
• "Rooster" (another quilt square)

One was a larger new start from stash:

• "Wedding Sampler" (another gift)

I had one BAP (or so I defined it, because it was stitched on black, a real difficulty for me):

• "Spirit of the Sockeye" (I had to special order the black linen)

So I think I did pretty well --- I thinned out my UFO stash pretty significantly and only had to order one piece of fabric (for my BAP), although I did buy more fabric for three projects already kitted up for 2010 (I had nothing of the appropriate size for those three pieces).

Cross-Stitch Crazy is leaning toward "Back to Basics" ... and Learn A New Technique" for 2010 and I already have some projects planned for the coming year that might well fit into that theme.

A piece which was started in December, fate still not certain but this one will be a 2010 completion. This had already been kitted up two years ago so I consider it a stash piece. It is also a BAP, with six sheets of chart and 12" x 20" image size.

• "A Quaker Christmas".

There are also five long-standing UFO's in my cupboard that I hope to make some progress on:

• "Antique Rose" napkins
• "Angel of Love"
• "Celestial Angel"
• "Map of England and Wales"
• "Harvest Sampler"
• "Nature's Song" (excerpted from a larger chart)

Also kitted up and candidates for stitching in 2010 is the flower alphabet from which the letter "M" was taken. I had to order fabric for this piece, as well as for the following two for which I have yet to pull floss: Ink Circles' "Sea Stars" and Ink Circles' "Garden Stars". 

All of these would qualify as "Back to Basics" in my eyes as they are all "just" cross stitch.

For my "Learn A New Technique", I  hope to do some work on some quilt UFOs and to learn beading by participating in The Bead Journal Project. And perhaps one or more of my 2010 completions will be suitable for entry in the County Fair (something I have never had courage to do before.)

Work from Stash and One BAP for 2009, Week Fifty-Two

Not quite 1/3 of the way. One counting error so far, and I sure did cut my fabric close!

Merry Christmas to ALL! (A little late)

Dec 25, '09 8:32 PM I tried posting this AM but Multiply has a habit of crashing my browser and we were on the way to my brother-in-law's for Christmas dinner... tried posting this AM but Multiply has a habit of crashing my browser and we were on the way to my brother-in-law's for Christmas dinner... so if Christmas is over for you, Happy Boxing Day, Happy Kwaanza or Happy new Year!

Work from Stash and One BAP for 2009, Week Fifty-One

Three days of stitching, two skeins of Crescent Colors floss, only got me this far, less than 1/6th of the way through! And I bailed on the idea of over one: the crosses weren't well defined with this kind of floss (would have worked with silk but I didn't have the right colorways). And technically, it IS stash because it was already kitted up in my cupboard and I shopped my stash for the linen I'm using as well!

A decision has been made...

And it's not one of my remaining UFOs. None of them really appeal to me right now and while I seriously doubt I can finish the piece I've chosen by the end of 2009, it is at least kitted up and ready to go.

I decided to go with "A Quaker Christmas", designed by G. R. Reinhardt for ByGone Stitches. You can see a stitched model here. I plan on using the threads (Crescent Colors) called for in the chart but I'm using 32 ct antique white Wichelt linen instead of the 28 ct Country French Cashmere show in the model. I'm tempted to stitch over one as well... I like the look of these motifs done small.

I don't usually do big Christmas pieces... Maybe this will be a piece I'll enter in the county fair next summer...

Work from Stash and One BAP for 2009, Week Fifty

I haven't picked out my next piece yet. These are the cross stitch UFOs in my craft room stash cupboard:

Monogrammed napkins and table runner complete; four placemats to go... Kit by JanLynn called "Antique Rose":

An Angel of Love with only her face done: one of four ornaments designed by Marie Barber in the "Just Cross Stitch" December 2002 issue (the other four, Life, Hope and Peace, haven't even been started)

Another angel ("Celestial Angel", a Dimensions Gold kit designed by Laine Gordon) with only a little bit of robe done (and if I remember rightly, a counting error already!):

A map of England and Wales (A Heritage Stitchcraft kit from the Britain in Stitches series by Susan Ryder) with only the landmarks to put in:

An arbor from a book of patterns by Marie Barber called "Gifts of Nature" ("Harvest Sampler"; this is a big piece which needs a frame, and again, another counting error already):

A pillow sham with a wreath of leaves and flowers excerpted from a chart called "Nature's Song" from that same Marie Barber book (awkward stitching inside that pre-sewn sham - my smallest hoop doesn't fit so it has to be done blindly, by hand:

All the UFOs I planned to finish this year are complete!

Now I have to decide what 2010's theme will be! I have plenty of even older UFOs to choose from but I'm thinking that quilting (if I get up the courage to actually finish a quilt) and the Bead Journal Project will take up quite a bit of my stitching time!

Work from Stash and One BAP for 2009, Week Forty-nine

Embarrassed to say I haven't finished the first color of backstitch yet. There are still a cluster of leaves in her hair and a piece of the border on the upper right...and then there are 7 more colors of backstitching, one of couched threads, a series of French knots (AAACK! I HATE French knots) and a tassel to make!

Work from Stash and One BAP for 2009, Week Forty-eight

Dec 2, '09 9:33 AM

Cross stitch is done and backstitch is started (there are at least six colors of backstitch, some french knots and a tassel to go...Typical of a Dimensions kit).