September 17 - 23 stitchy update

 Hi,

I am so glad you are here catching up with me.  It is so nice of you to visit.  I have had a great week of crafting and hanging out with family.  I have finally taken the plunge and am trying to learn Hand Embroidery.  I will tell you more about that towards the end.

Days 17 and 18 got me into the Christmas mood as I continued to work on Christmas Sampler by Durene Jones.  I am so excited because I am at 92.71%.  

My goal is to work on it next week and hopefully push through to get it done next month.  I am almost done with the center and the right side should be pretty easy.

Days 19 and 20 -  I stitched 472 stitches on Jasmine Fairy and got so much completed on her.  My goal is to dedicate Sat and Sun to her until she is completed (or close that I only have beading left).

Day 21- I completed 221 stitches on Cinnamon and Honey.  I only have one more acrostic and they the MMC challenge for Sept is complete.

I noticed that some of the burnt orange is lighter than it is suppose to be.  I will wait until it is done and fix it.  

I am working on A Royal Alphabet for this weeks Sampler September challenge,  I have about 250 stitches left until I can change projects.  I will show you my progress next week.

My mom and I went to Aldi's today and they actually had some cute crafty things.  They had small diamond painting Halloween kits for $3.99 each and my mom picked out this one.  They also had this cute cross stitch kit, as well as knitting and crochet for $7.99 each.

I puchased a 4 part basic beginner embroidery kit from Amazon.  I practiced a few things and decided that I will only work on them when I want to practice a certain stitch.  The fabric is so thick and it hurts my hands, especially with 6 strands.  The plus side is that my french knots look so much better than before.

So I rummaged through my stash of sewing fabric and found this orange scrap.  I searched and found a template for a ghost and have started the outline.  I have decided to use 4 strands and backstitch the outline in white and the eyes and mouth in black.  

I have done backstitch for cross stitch all the time.  For embroidery,  I need to get use to doing it without holes.  I searched online for a filling stitch so I am going to do a combination long and short stitch for the body and satin stitch for the eyes and mouth.  I don't have any progress to show you today because I just did this a little while ago.

I am going to take my time and not stress.  I will show my progress next week.

Until then, 

Happy Stitching!

Mary

September 8-16 update

 Good afternoon,

How have you all been?  I hope you have had an amazing few weeks with tons of stitching time. I have made some pretty decent progress on my wips.

Week 2 of  Sampler September:  I stitched on Panolpy of Posies by Tempting Tangles.  So excited to have the first motif finished.  That motif alone was over 800 stitches.

Other wips I worked on:

1. Funny Bunny by Riolis. I concentrated on the grey bunny and he is so adorable.

WIP 2-  Halloween Bottles from Emma Cogden. This is going to take me forever because I am still on the first bottle. 

Wip 3: Jasmine Fairy.  I am going to try to work on her at least once a week.  I am almost done on the floral bouquet on top of her head and have worked on her wings.

Today I got in 300 stitches on this weeks sampler.  I am at almost 89% and am ready to complete it.  I hope soon.  I am concentrating on the white and have about 500 stitches left.

As always, I appreciate you stopping by and making a comment if you can.

Hugs and Happy Stitching!

Mary

Update for September 1-7

 Good morning everyone,

For those of us that celebrate Labor Day I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  We really didn't do much, but Bill got to watch lots of Football.

I still accomplished my goals for the week but I had to make some changes.  I got sick on Friday so I didn't stitch.  Because of that, I didn't do the Fiesty Focus challenge because I knew I couldn't get a lot of stitches in over the weekend.  However, I did use this as my theme wip for MMC and completed 203 stitches.

If I have time this month, I will try to put more stitches in her.  She is so pretty.  The cover photos never do Nora Corbett's work justice.

I also stitched for the Sampler September weekend challenge.  The theme was monochromatic and  I chose Arabesque by Jan Hicks.  I stitched 250 stitches and am now at 40%.

Week 1 of this challenge I chose Salem Halloween Quaker by WitchGardenCrafts on Etsy.  I completed 550 stitches and am now at 56.42%.

I worked on Macarons by Riolis yesterday as part of the MMC challenge.  I stitched 332 stitches.  I love working on this project.  

I have been suffering from burnout.  I like my projects but am bored/unmotivated.  I decided to do a biscornu for Paige.  Blake asked me if I could make her one and so I decided to do it.  I found this book at the thrift store a few weeks ago.  I am sure I had it at one point, but when I moved a few years ago, I donated all of my hard copy books.  

Here is the front picture:

It is suppose to be an ornament but I am choosing to make it a biscornu.  It is the pattern in the blue. 

 

I chose Diamont white metallic, Kreinik purple metallic, dmc dark purple and an old Mo's sale floss called African Violet.  I am using 28ct white evenweave. 

Lastly, I started to ffo Paige's gift.  I purchased a 9 inch hoop and washi tape from Amazon.  I wrapped it in black and will use the red fabric to make a backing.

Front:

Back: 

I hope you all have tons of stitchy time.  Thanks for looking and commenting.  I really appreciate it.

Hugs,

Mary

Hello September- We have a finish

 Good tuesday morning,

I want to thank everyone for viewing my blog and voting for which project to do this weekend.  I now have a solution since we all want me to stitch Halloween.  I added another challenge for this month.  I decided to do Sampler September in Wip Warriors.  I only have to stitch 500x per week rotating 4 projects this month.  

So this week I will be doing Salem 1692 Halloween Quaker Sampler by Witchgardencrafts on Etsy.  It was also worked for day 30 in Arbitary August.  Here is my progress.

That allows me to spend time on Jasmine Fairy this weekend for Fiesty Focus.  

Day 31 was Snarky Nurse by StitchRiotDesigns, and guess what?  I finished it! Now my son has to decide how he wants me to fully finish this for his girlfriend.

Speaking of gifts, I have some other goodies to show you.  I got lots of inspiration from watching crafters on TikTok.  I decided to try my hand at bag charms using motel key chain.  This is for my sister.  

I think it turned out cute.  It reminds me of junk journals.  

I also got inspired by the Hobby Lobby totes crafters were making for Mother's Day gifts.  Instead of buying patches, I cross stitched smalls and turned them into patches and put it on the bag.  I also made another bag charm.

My husband Bill was so cute.  He couldn't wait for me to finish stitching all the smalls so we can make the bag.  I hope she likes it.  I will add some charts and goodies for her gift.

Day 29 was Christmas Sampler by Durene Jones.  I am also going to work on it the last week of September.  I am at about 79% completed and I want it done this year.

Well thanks so much for taking the time to look and comment.  It means a great deal to me.

Have a wonderful day and Happy Stitching.

Mary

Arbitary August Days 23-28

 Happy Saturday,

Well here we are at the end of August.  Did you get a lot of stitching in this month?  So far, I have stitched a great deal but no finishes yet.  I have been working on Snarky Nurse, and with this weekends challenge, I have a shot of finishing it.  I have 1 more day in Arbitary August plus I have it as a focus project for the Strident event in Wip Warriors.

Day 23- I stitched 200 stitches on Macarons by Riolis.  It is so fun.  I worked as much yellow as I could.  I started the yellow macaron at the bottom, finished the yellow half-stitches and some of the flower.  

Day 24- I stitched 218 stitches on Cinnamon and Honey by Ink Circles.

Day 25- 150 stitches on Celebrate 4th of July by Madame Chantilly.  I worked on only red.

Day 26- 246 stitches on Christmas Sampler by Durene Jones.

Day 27 - 194 stitches on Panolpy of Posies by Tempting Tangles.

Day 28 - 120 stitches on Jasmine Fairy by Nora Corbett.

I was just reading Ann's blog here about putting in a strand or two for Sampler September. That seems managable since I have other challenges for September.  This is where I need your opinion.  Next weekend is Focus on one project for the weekend.  I have 3 that I want/need finished.  Let me know which one you want me to focus on and I will work on it.

The Choices are:

1. Christmas Sampler by Durene Jones.  I am about 85% complete on this project.  It was started in 2024 and I want it done this year.

2. Jasmine Fairy by Nora Corbett.  This is for my sister Dawn.  Would like it done by 2027 if possible.

3. Salem Quaker - I am about 40% done and it is from 2024 too.

Well thanks for checking out my progress and I appreciate the kind comments.  I hope you have a great week!

Happy Stitching,

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!