Arbitary August Days 17-22

 Happy Saturday everyone,

Gosh, time really gets away from me.  I can't believe it is time for another update.  I have really enjoyed this challenge and the ablility to work on most of my projects.

Day 17 I worked on Celebrate 4th of July by Madame Chantilly.  I know I will love the finish but the progress is soooo slow.  I am not sure if it is because it is a paper pattern or not.  I was able to get 200 stitches in.

Day 18 and 21 was A Royal Alphabet by Rosewood Manor. I completed 458 stitches total.  Not bad for working on a paper pattern.  I am trying to finish the red stitching in the upper right hand corner and then I will do all the gold bits.

 

Day 19 was Funny Bunny by Riolis.  I love working on this because the bunnies just make me so happy.

I completed 220 stitches.

Day 20 was Arabesque by Jan Hicks.  I stitched 205 stitches and mainly concentrated on the large motif in the right-hand corner.  That is the most detailed part of the chart.  The alphabet should go much faster.  I doubt I will finish it this year but I am hoping for an early finish for 2027.

Lastly, Day 22 was Snarky Nurse.  I am working extra on this project so I can get it done next month.  I am over 50% complete.  I am going to finish the white in the nurses hat and the bottle cap lids and the bottom of the needle so that the first 2 pages will be done. I am getting frusterated with this project because my stitches are getting loose.  It is hard for me to do the pin stitch on Aida fabric so I just try to anchor it like before.  I think I am just worried about the tales showing through on the white fabric.  Maybe I will put it in a nurge hoop so I won't put my hands on it as much. Oh well.  

I have decided not to participate in the ABCingo in Magazine Monthly challenge this year.  Primarily because I am very active in the WIP Warrior Facebook group and I don't want to overwhelm myself.

I will be doing the acrostic for September in Magazine Monthly Challenge.

The theme is Destination.  I chose Jasmine Fairy by Nora Corbett

Acrostic:  B R I G H T

B - Funny Bunny - Riolis

R - Macarons - Riolis

I - Cinnamon and Honey - Ink Circles Design

G - Garden Lady - Dimensions Gold Petite

T - Panopy of Posies - Tempting Tangles

Well I hope you have a wonderful stitchy week.

Mary

Arbitary August Days 11-16

 Good Monday Morning,

I hope everyone had a great week.  We didn't do much, but I got a lot of stitching in.

Days 11 and 16 was a new start.  It is Halloween Bottles by Emma Congdon.  It is in the October 2025 CrossStitcher Magazine.  I did a total of 554 stitches.

Day 12 was Cinnamon and Honey by Ink Circles Designs,  I was able to get 255 stitches completed. I love this color pallet and the cute bees around the borders.

Day 13 was Granny Sunflowers. I have been working on this almost every morning as my 50 stitches a day project.  I would love to have this finished by October.  The black Aida is challenging but the results are so pretty.  I don't have an accurate stitch count but I am over 51% complete.

Day 13 and 14 was Snarky Nurse.  I stitched a total of 606 stitches and 37.16% complete.  I have been working extra on this project also so I can have it done next month.

Well that is all for now.

Thanks for looking and Happy Stitching!

Arbitary August Days 7-10

 Hi everyone,

How are you doing?  I hope you had a fun weekend with lots of stitching.  I have been looking forward to watching the 2026 Football Hall of Fame for several months now.  Even though no one from my team went (TB Bucs), I always cry and find their speeches inspitational.  My husband's team is the NO Saints, so we watched Drew Brees induction.

Well I can't wait to show you what I stitched.  I really enjoyed each project.

For day 7, Garden Lady by Dimensions Gold Petite was chosen.  I switched out the 18ct Aida to 28ct antique white evenweave.  Here is the cover:

Start: 

Stitched 212 stitches.

This chart was a Mother's Day gift from my sons.  They are always sweet and try to get me crafty things as presents/

Day 8 was snarky nurse.  Next time it is called I will finish filling in the white in the nurses hat.

Start:

Finish: 340 stitches completed and 14.7%

Day 9 is Blue Dragon Fairy by Kustom Krafts.  It is funny, I am not eager to pull this out to work on it but once I do, I don't want to stop. Part of my problem is that I don't do a lot of full coverage and I need to invest in easy grid next time.  I am sure it will help a great deal.  Anyway, I hope to finish it in 2027.  We will see.

Here is the cover photo.

Here was the start:

I stitched 315 stitches.

Day 10- Arabesque by Jan Hicks.  I love Art Deco,  Art Nouveau and stained glass designs, so I was instantly drawn to this design.

I don't have a start photo but here is the end.  I completed 243 stitches and 36.72%

 Well that is all for now.  I hope you have a great week.

Happy Stitching

Arbitary August Days 4-6

Happy Friday everyone,

I hope you had a great few days with tons of stitching.  I am happy to say I have managed to complete each day on time and with at least 200 stitches. It is so satisfying when I compare the before and after photos; the difference that even 200 stitches make is wonderful.

Day 4 project is called Panoply of Posies by Tempting Tangles.  I have had this in my stash for a few years and decided this was a perfect time to start it.  This is one of the projects I started during my birthday month of June.  As a tradition, I try to pick out a few projects to start as a celebration.  I went through my kitted up projects and decided to pull this one out.

I am choosing my own DMC colors that are different than the Dinky Dyed floss Deb chose.  I love these kinds of charts where you can pick your own colors.  I am doing it on a 32 count Belfast Linen.  I love stitching on 32 count but my eyes don't.  

Here is a before picture:

I was able to complete 220 stitches and is at 1.8% complete.  I am so glad I have Pattern Keeper because otherwise I am scared how much I could potential mess up.

Day 5 was Granny Sunflowers by Carolyn Manning Designs. You can buy PDF’s and all of her current  designs here. She is so talented. I am stitching this on 14 ct black Aida. 

I stitched 213 stitches and am at 47.52%.  I hope to get in stitches at least 5 times a week as my daily 70.  My goal is to finish it by the end of September or early October,.  This is a start from 2025 and I feel confident it will get done before the time change.

Day 6 was a kit from Riolis called Macarons.  This kit uses cotton floss instead of wool/acrylic.  

I was able to complete the pink cookie, work finish the pink part of the ribbon and start on the pale yellow of the daylily.  

Every time I pick up this WIP, I think of my husband Bill. When I first started it, he thought they were colored hamburgers.  He cracks me up.

Well that is all for now.

Have a great weekend and Happy Stitching! 

Arbitary August Days 1-3

 Good evening everyone,

I have completed 3 days of Arbitary August and the F in forest for the MMC.  I have averaged over 200 stitches each day, which is wonderful.  I hope you are making a ton of progress on your projects too.

Day 1 was Funny Bunny by Riolis.  I love this kit so much.  I changed out the Aida to 14ct Vintage Blue Whisper by Zweigart and the kitted wool thread.  Here is the before picture:

I was able to complete 236 stitches.  I mainly worked on the grey bunny and the leaves.

Day 2 I stitched on Jasmine Fairy by Nora Corbett.  I coffee/tea dyed 28ct evenweave fabric and am using the called for floss and beads.  I usually bead last after it is washed and ironed.  It is going to be a gift for my sister, Dawn.

If is hard to believe but I stitched 236 stitches on this project too.  I concentrated on the green in her dress.  She is so pretty.

Today is Day 3 and I stitched on Salem 1692 Halloween Quaker by Witchesgardencrafts on Etsy.  It is on 14ct Aida I hand dyed with the called for floss colors. Start:

I completed 241 stitches today and it is at 41.66%.  

That is all for now.  I am going to post a keychain that I worked on next time along with more progress on my projects for Arbitary August and MMC challenge.

Until next time,

Mary

A cute little finish.

 Happy Friday y'all,

I hope you have had a great week of stitching.  I had a very productive week.  I have participating in Wip Warriors Facebook Group this year and have gotten so much accomplished.  I was going to stitch A Royal Alphabet by Rosewood Manor for the last 4 days of the week but really wasn't feeling it. So after a day of stitching on that project, I dropped out of the challenge, and decided to spend the last 3 days of July on The Hopper House by Melisa at Pinker n Punkin Quilting blog.  She is so sweet and offers so many beautiful free charts. I started this a few months ago but didn't work on it a whole lot. 

I made changes to adapt to my fabric choice. I dyed this aida last year and found it in my stash.  I thought it was perfect but I had to change the pink to purple.  I also omitted the tree she charted on the left side.

Now I am ready to start on Snarky Nurse.  I have 4 days dedicated for the August Arbitary challenge  and can't wait to start it.

Thanks for stopping in.

Hugs and Happy Stitching!

Mary

Colonial Women Finished

 Good Saturday morning,

I hope y'all are having a wonderful day.  The sun is shining and I am ready for a day of stitching.

I spent the first week of July rotating my patriotic wips.  In my last post, I showed Betsy Bunny from the 2023 JCS mag and that was a SAF (start and finish) for the month of July.  I have seen so many stitchers stitch her up, so I decided now was the time to work on her too.  I also worked on Colonial Women during that time also. It is a project I started in 2025 and it was closest to a finish.  This is such a classic design and perfect for my collection.  The only drawback is that it was an older chart, and I couldn't make a working copy because of the quality, so I had to mark up the chart. Oh well, that is just a hazard for liking older charts.

Here is a picture of my finish. I used the called for colors on some 28ct Linen (probably antique white).  I omitted the last row and I still think it looks fine.

Usually I never write down when I start a project, only when I finish it.  I am going to do better about which year I start projects. I sat down and went over various post from my social media platforms.  I go by MaryCatStitches if you are on Instagram and TikTok.  I have 4 projects from 2024, 3 projects from 2025 and 10 projects from 2026.  I say soon to be projects because I am starting a project for Blakley's girlfiend.  Her name is Paige and they have been dating for about 1-1/2 years.  She has recently got into Needlepoint and I am happy she found a craft she likes. She is a nursing student and likes cheeky sayings.  We thought this chart would be perfect for her.  I am going to start it this week.  I will use the called for colors on 16ct Aida.

I am also starting this amazing Halloween pattern that Briecrafty85 on TIkTok is hosting. I know I can't get much done this year, but it will be fun to start it with all the other stitchers. It is called Halloween Bottles by Emma Congdon and is in the CrossStitcher 2025 Oct magazine.  I ordered 16ct Aida and the floss. 

I am going to take pictures and organize my wips and post each one this week.  I will do it by year.

I also participate in Magazine Montly Challenge hosted my Carolyn at CZHook on Youtube.  The Theme and Acrostic for August is already out. So if you want to play along on your blog that would be fun.

Theme: Collaboration 

Acrostic:  F

                O

                R 

                E

                S

                T

I will show you this week which projects I will be working on specifically for this challenge.

Also be on the lookout for a special project I am working on for my friends Christmas present.

I am putting some of it together in the next week or 2 and I will share my journey with you.

Until next time.

Hugs and Happy Stitching