Monday, March 2, 2020

WIPocalypse 2020 Check-In - February 29, 2020 - 2 days late

The WIPocalypse question of the month is:

"In honor of “Leap Year,” tell the story of a time you had to make some sort of a “leap” in stitching – taking the chance on a new style of stitching, attending a meetup or class, etc."

I have taken several "leaps" in my stitching...

To begin:


  • A room-mate taught me to knit while I was senior in college (56 years ago! AAACK!!). I evolved into booties and then two disastrous sweaters. Although I loved cables, I learned my lesson from sweaters and now I do afghans and scarves!  Tried crochet but failed miserably (my grandmother was a star crocheter and tried to teach me when I was a child but it just didn't take) ...
  • there was the Erica Wilson public television crewel course sometime in the early 70s where I signed up for the manual (still have it somewhere) and taught myself crewel embroidery. I still have a UFO of crewel work pillows to work on.
  • about the same time as the crewel leap, there was the jump to needlepoint when a friend had an eyeglass holder kit she wanted to make for a gift for her mother but was scared off for some reason and asked me to tackle it. I taught myself. And then took a weekend class while at University! I still needlepoint although I now do more than continental stitch (using more complex stitches on needlepoint canvas is now how I roll!)!
  • there was when when I was working on a project that required a lot of air travel and needlepoint was too unwieldy to tag on board (I stitched on a frame then), I found this little cross-stitch kit of a cable car in a corner card shop... and I still cross-stitch!
  • and blackwork --- how could I forget blackwork, which I discovered mid-cross-stitch! It was all started with a round robin which I still have to complete!
  • there was the bead journal project (2010 - 2013), participation in which evolved from struggling to add embellishment seed beads to cross-stitch ... I have to finish the sampler book form bead journals.
  • there was TAST (2013 - 2014) where a different "free-embroidery" stitch was offered each week, for two years! I have to finish making that sampler book too...
  • there was the crazy quilt journal project (2012 - 2015)  which evolved from beading and TAST.  Several UFO quilt tops in my stash...  All of this resulted in me joining a quilt guild and becoming the guild's webmaster!

But my biggest leap was entering the county fair for several years running! And I won ribbons for my cross stitch, beading and ornaments! I even won an honorable mention for a quilt block!

Yes, there have been classes along the way... LOTS of online classes! And I have attended two quilting retreats and several quit work-days but I have to admit I get very little finished in such meet-ups.

Why so many leaps? Not that I'm adventurous or anything, but I guess I do get bored! So I try something new: something that I saw online or something I saw someone else doing.

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WIPs worked on this month: "Love Is..." on 32 ct white (very loose and slubby) linen (no WONDER I hate this) using DMC variegated threads. On the left is where I left off last month; on the right is where I am right now... It's a struggle!
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SALs... were I'm pretty sure I bit off more than I should have if I want to finish any UFS or WIPs.

1. "52 Weeks of Blackwork" by Purple Peppermint; various randomly selected shades of DMC on 28ct tea-colored evenweave. Completed week 9. Week 10  come into my mailbox March 4...
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2. Linen & Threads 2020 SAL "Friends and Family", stitched on 28ct "Lavender Sunset" (not very lavender) Jobelin using Threadworx "Rocky Mountain (1070). January installment completed, February and March installments in hand.
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3. "Christmas Shadowbox Sampler" by  Faithwurks Designs & Just CrossStitch. Installment 1 in hand and just made a start on 28ct white linen (also slubby!):
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4. Stitchonomy 2020 SAL, part 1: "Homely Houseplants" on 28 ct even weave. On the left is where I was last month; on the right is the completed piece. Well, almost, I need to sign and date it, press it, and get it framed but...

 Part 2 of the SAL has been announced but not yet released.
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New starts: travelling stitchery: "Butterfly and Scroll" by Dimensions

While on a visit with a friend in Nevada, I sorted threads in the kit and started stitching on the counted stitch chart. 
 Next up, stitching according to the painted canvas. Didn't get too far due to bad light in Nevada and in the hotel in Indianapolis but it's a start.
So, in summary, put i a little time on a WIP, finished one SAL, worked on three additional SALs, and started my traveling project...

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