New Start - 01.31.2015 - Cherries Jubilee

Day 31 of DUCJC2015, and I started Cherries Jubilee by Glendon Place.  This is the first design in a series by Glendon Place caled A-Maze-ing Desserts, and I would really like to stitch them all.  Of course that's nothing new, because anytime there is a series of anything, I want to do them all.  This is stitched on the recommended fabric called "Truffle" cashel linen by Picture This Plus, and it is stitched using Dinky Dyes hand-dyed silk floss, and are so much fun to work with.  Another one I can't wait to come back to it soon!

New Start - 01.30.2015 - The Lord is My Shepherd

Day 30 of DUCJC2015, and I started The Lord is My Shephered by My Big Toe Designs.  I love most all of their designs, and I have several in my stash I want to do, but only a couple of them kitted up so far.  I love the lettering on this one, and I also love that it only has two colors in the entire design.  I just hope I don't get tired of the color Baby Spinach by Sampler Threads, since it calls for 24 skeins of it!  Well skeins might not be the right word, maybe it would be 24 cards?  Anyway, you know what I mean, right?  They are specialty threads so they come on little cardboard cards, not in a skein like DMC thread.

New Start - 01.29.2015 - Dog Lessons for People

Day 29 of DUCJC2015, and I managed to start a small one that shouldn't take years to finish! I started Dog Lessons for People by Lizzie Kate, and I am stitching it on 32 count raw linen.  I started its companion piece, Cat Lessons for People last January, and as yet I haven't finished it.  I haven't even gone back to it since I put in the first few stitches.  I think they are both so cute and will be so adorable together.

New Start - 01.28.2015 - Cinderella

Day 28 of DUCJC2015, and I am starting Cinderella by HAED.  The artwork is by Ruth Anderson and has been retired for a few years. I looked at when I bought this, and I bought it in 2007, which 8 years ago!!!  It isn't the first HAED I ever bought, but it is around the time I first started buying HAED's, and I've been buying them ever since.  I am stitching Cinderella on 25 count bone luguna, and stitching 2 over 1 tent stitch.

New Start - 01.27.2015 - A Seasonal Collide

Day 27 of DUCJC2015, and I started A Seasonal Collide by Mystic Stitch.  I have seen this one stittched up in a couple of Facebook groups, and it is absolutely beautiful!  I am stitching mine on 22 count pale pink hardanger, and it is my first time stitching on hardanger.  It seems to be very similar to aida to me, though I'm not sure that's how it is supposed to feel.  I am also stitching 2 over 1, and I am hoping it isn't going to be too tight and bulky.  My preference is 20 count, 2 over 1, and it can get a bit difficult in confetti areas, so we shall see how this one goes.

New Start - 01.26.2015 - And They Sinned

Day 26 of DUCJC2015, and I finally started And They Sinned by Exemplar.  I bought this years ago with the intention of starting it immediately, and of course I neve did.  I have seen several people on Facebook working on it and couple of finishes, so it has motivated me to get mine out and start!  It seems like it is going to be fun to work on, and I can't wait to get back to it.  I think I remember reading something that it is somewhere like 5' long.  That is almost taller than I am!

New Start - 01.25.2015 - Journey Into the Deep

Day 25 of DUCJC2015, and I am starting the 2013 Mystery SAL from Passione Ricamo called Journey Into the Deep.  Yes, I am just a little behind, and I am just now getting around to starting it.  The SAL is now complete (it was 9 months long) so I know what the entire design will look like, and it is beautiful!  If you haven't guessed from the name of it and the first section of the chart, it will be a mermaid.  After it was completey finished, it was given the name Journey Into the Deep.

Grow Your Blog 2015

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog!

This is my first time participating in the Grow Your Blog party, and I hope to make some new friends along the way!  I have had my blog for a couple of years now, but if you take a look at it, I have only recently started being active.  

If you love cross stitch, come join me as I post my new starts and also show my progress along the way.

New Start - 01.24.2015 - Story Time Sampler

Day 24 of DUCJC2015, and I have started Story Time Sampler by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.  This is a montly SAL (Stitch-a-Long) where each month a new section of the chart is released.  For the month of January we received the top banner and all the little frames for each month's selected "portrait."  January's portrait is Alice in Wonderland, and it is just adorable.  I am stitching it on the recommended fabric which is 32 count opal storm lugana and all I can say is, "magnifier please!"  I think it is more difficult because of the darker fabric, but I can barely see the holes to stitch.  So this might be a bit of a strain on my eyes each time I work on it, bu I think the end result will be amazing!

New Start - 01.23.2015 - Lighthouse Psalm

Day 23 of DUCJC2015, and I started a small project called Lighthouse Psalm by My Big Toe Designs.  I love lighthouses, and this one looks like it is going to be a quick and easy stitch, so I will be looking forward to getting back to this one soon.

I love working on challenging projects like HAED with all the confetti and the fact that they are so huge, but then I also love finding small, simple ones that you finish pretty fast and feel some sort of accomplishment when it is finished.

New Start - 01.22.2015 - Flip Flop

Day 22 of DUCJC2015, and I started another HAED design, and the artwork is by Lewis T. Johnson.  This is a huge chart, but I just love all the colorful flip flops in it.  I have always loved the beach and loved anything and everything beach related, so when I first saw this chart a couple of years ago, I just had to have it.  I can't wait until I get to the part where I can start stitching the flip flops!

New Start - 01.21.2015 - Strawberry Roam

Day 21 of DUCJC2015, and I started Strawberry Roam by Ink Circles.  It is a limited edition chart with what I believe is a limited edition thread called Strawberry Roam by Dinky Dyes.  I bought it a couple of years ago, so I am not even sure it is still available.  I am stitching it on 32 count stormy clouds linen.  I think it's going to be cute when I finish it!

New Start - 01.20.2015 - His Name is Jesus

Day 20 of DUCJC2015, and I started a free chart called His Name is Jesus by Joyful Expressions.  I saw this chart done with different colors than what is shown with the chart and my choices are in the purple range.  You can choose any three colors you want to stitch this one up, and I have seen some beautiful choices.  I am stitching mine on 32 count opalescent white lugana.

I can't believe I have started 20 new starts in as many days.  This is my third year to do this type of challenge, and I haven't gotten past 13 new starts, so I am very impressed with myself!

New Start - 01.19.2015 - Past Present Future

Day 19 of DUCJC2015, and I started Past Present Future by HAED, and the artwork is by Aimee Stewart.  I just love the colors in this pattern and think it will look amazing stitched up.  I am stitching it on 25 count pewter lugana, and I am tent stitching 2 over 1.  I have a few other WIP's that I have started that are tent stitched as well.  I really think it is a time saver, but I can't always see these tiny little holes in 25 count fabric, so we shall see how this goes in the future!

I also would like to say that the woman's image in the lower right favors what I looked like when I was younger.  When I first saw this chart, I had to do a double take because I thought I was looking at an old photo of me.  Of course I don't look like that now because I am getting older, and fatter, but I kinda like the idea that it favors me.  I hope that doesn't sound like I am full of myself, because believe me, I am not!  Ask anyone I know, and they will tell you that I don't like drawing attention to myself and I do not like compliments of any kind, they make me uncomfortable.  :-)

New Start - 01.18.2015 - The Kiss

Day 18 of DUCJC2015, and I started The Kiss by Mirabilia.  This has been in my stash and kitted up for so many years that I can't even remember.  I kitted it up way before hand-dyed fabrics were so popular, so my fabric of choice at the time was whatever I could get that was closest to the fabric recommended.  So my fabric is 28 count lugana, looks like maybe ivory or cream?  Don't really know.

As usual, I only stitched a small portion, less than 30 minutes worth, like most every other day since I started this challenge.  I did go ahead and decide on my next five projects and went ahead and found the starting places for all of those.  I am hoping that will save me some time during the week and that I will be able to just pick them up each night and begin stitching.  If I know me though, and I am pretty dang sure I do know myself pretty well, I will recount again to make sure it is the correct starting point.  But it shouldn't take as long since I will have already done it a few times already, right?

New Start - 01.17.2015 - A*B*C Sampler

Day 17 of DUCJC2015, and I am starting a series of alphabets from The Prairie Schooler.  Each leaflet contains three letters of the alphabet, and of course I am starting with the A*B*C leaflet.  I have decided to stitch all the letters on one HUGE piece of fabric, so I am stitching it on 28 count light mocha cashel linen, 2 over 2.  When finished it will have 9 letters across and will have three rows of letters.  Since the last row will have one extra square, I think I will probably stitch my initials and the year completed in that square.  Of course it will take me years to finish, with everything else I have started!

New Start - 01.16.2015 - Psyche's Dreams

Day 16 of DUCJC2015, and I have strarted another HAED.  This one is called Psyche's Dreams and the artwork is by Josephone Wall.  Her designs are so detailed and full of confetti, but they are so beautiful, I wish I could stitch them all!  I love the fabric I am using for this one too.  It is an 18 count aida, and it is from Picture This Plus and the color is called sprite.  It is so soft and just fabulous to work with.  Unfortunately I just went on to 123Stitch, which is where I purchased it, to see about buying more for other projects, and it is not available at this time.  I hope it isn't gone forever!

New Start - 01.15.2015 - Spring

Day 15 of DUCJC2015, and I started Spring by Janlynn.  I almost didn't have a new start for today because I am sooo mentally exhausted from work today that I didn't know if I had it in me to start anything new tonight.  So I decided to go with a kit, and that way I could just start in the middle and not have to figure out my starting point in the upper left hand corner.  And as my luck would have it, the center point was the word "violets" in backstitch..  so that's all I did tonight!  It's a start, right?

New Start - 01.14.2015 - Gingerbread Fred

Day 14 of DUCJC2015, and I started a cute little Christmas design from The Silver Needle.  It is sooo adorable!  I didn't realize that it is stitched with Rainbow Gallery Very Velour thread.  Well it's not really a thread, it is actually kind of like a piece of velour.  It is stitched on 18 count linen and from what I can tell by looking at the chart it is stitched over 2.  That's what I am going with anyway.  I think over 1 would be way too small, and there is enough fabric in the kit to stitch over 2.  I have never used Very Velour from Rainbow Gallery before, so this is a first for me.  I thought it was going to be difficult but it really isn't.  It was kinda fun!

The Silver Needle is a cross stitch shop in Tulsa, OK, and they have a monthly "get together" each month called The Secret Needle Night, and each month they have different charts available for purchase and you spend the evening stitching on it.  Each kit is $15.00 and you also have the option to purchase the finishing kit as well for an additional $27.00.  It comes with everything you need to finish off the project as shown on cover of the kit.  And for those of us who do not live in Oklahoma, you can purchase these kits from their website and even have it auto-shipped each month if you so choose.  I am not affiliated with this shop in any way, I just think it is a great way to try new designs and use different threads and such that you wouldn't normally do.  And for those of us who have no idea how to finish their projects, the finishing kit is a good deal for me.  At this point, I haven't finished mine yet, but it is supposed to be super easy.  We shall see!

The link to the Secret Needle Night section on their website is The Silver Needle.

New Start - 01.13.2015 - Apocalypse Princesses

Day 13 of DUCJC2015, and I am starting Apocalypse Princesses by PaineFree Crafts.  I just love this chart!  I spent a lot of time trying to identify all the characters and had a lot of fun with it.  I didn't realize there was an outside border of white all around it though, so that will be something to think about when I need to do some mindless stitching one day.

I have to be honest, trying to do a new start every day is a bit exhausting for me, especially at this time of year.  I am an accountant, and we are in the middle of year-end close, so by the time I deal with that all day and get home in the evenings, I am almost too tired to do a new start.  If it was just a matter of picking up the needle and putting in a stitch, that would be one thing.  But I have to decide which chart I want to stitch, because I have found in previous years of doing these challenges, that if I predetermine what I am stitching each day, I have less chance of actually stitching on any particular day.  If the chart for that day seemed too difficult for that day because of time constraints, energy, whatever, I just wouldn't start one at all, because you know, I predetermined that I would stitch that particular chart that day, and there was NO changing it.  Yep, I am a bit hard on myself, LOL.

Then, after I pick the chart, I have to recheck my fabric to make sure it is big enough, even though I checked it before I bought it, so I am 99.99% sure the fabric is big enough since I only buy fabric for charts I have picked out to buy for.  In other words, I don't just buy random fabric and then later find something to stitch on it.  Well, I have done that, but as a rule, I generally don't.

THEN, I have to find my starting point, usually in the left hand corner, and then finally I can get started.  I am just worn out thinking about it all!  I wish I was the type of stitcher that just could just pick up the fabric and start stitching, no second guessing the fabric size, just know that the fabric is big enough and go in three or four inches down and across and START for goodness sakes!

By the way, this is a list of all the Disney princesses that these Apocalypse princesses represent.  Were you able to figure them all out?

Top row: Mulan, Jasmine, Belle, Aurora, Alice

Middle, seated: Ariel

Right, dancing: Esmeralda

Botton row: Cinderella, Snow White, Tinkerbell, and Wendy

New Start - 01.12.2015 - Work Pray Trust

Day 12 of DUCJC2015, and I started a small Lizzie Kate chart called Work Pray Trust.  If you can believe it, it took me almost an hour to stitch the letter W.  Yep, I ripped out more stitches in total than I actually put in.  I couldn't count tonight or something because I just kept making one mistake after another!  If I had the energy, I would stitch some more on this one and possibly finish it up in a couple of days, but nooooo, I put it away for another day.

New Start - 01.11.2015 - Belezza Fiero

Day 11  of DUCJC2015 and I am stitching Belezza Fiero by Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED), artwork by Laura Prindle.  This is the second chart I have started with Laura Prindle's artwork, the first being Mini The Black.  I just love these horses, they are soooo beautiful!  I would love to stitch all of her artwork, if I only I had the time.

New Start - 01.10.2015 - Gingerbread House Ornament

Day 10 of DUCJC2015 and I am stitching my first Christmas ornament called Gingerbread House by Dimension.  It is stitched on plastic canvas, another first for me, and I'm not sure how I like it yet.  Of course I only stitched 20 stitches so it's not much to go on, but hey it's a new start!  So that makes 10 days in a row I have made a new start!  Yay me!

New Start - 01.09.2015 - A Change of Pace

Day 9 of DUCJC2015, and I started A Change of Pace by Barbara & Cheryl.  This will be my second design to stitch by them, the first being Sunshine and Shadows.  I loved that one so much, and I can't wait to see this one come to life like the previous one did.  I bought the fabric many years ago and apparently I wasn't leaving much room for a border back then, because after re-measuring it to make sure the fabric was large enough, there is only enough for a 2 1/2 inch border.  I know a lot of kits only leave a 2" border so I know it's enough, but I wish it was more.  But I didn't want to wait to order more fabric, I was ready to start it today!

New Start - 01.08.2015 - Victorian Charm

Day 8 of DUCJC2015, and I started Victorian Charm by Dimensions.  I have seen several people stitching this, and every time I see it, I tell myself I just have to have it.  And my daughter gave it to me for Christmas, so it just had to be a new start in January!  I was a bit afraid of the navy fabric, but for my first stitches, which isn't many, it wasn't too terribly bad.  I look forward to coming back to this one soon.

New Start - 01.07.2015 - Shadows of Halloween

Day 7 of DUCJC2015 and I have started another pillow kit by Pine Mountain Designs called Shadows of Halloween.  For anyone who is counting, this is my second Halloween project I've started this year, and I can't remember the last time, if ever actually, that I've done a Halloween cross stitch!

I didn't get much done as usual, but I worked on it during lunch just so that I would make sure to get a few stitches in today.  I love these little kits!

New Start - 01.06.2015 - Alley by the Lake

Day 5 of DUCJC2015 might be considered a fail! I started Alley by the Lake by Love Thy Thread, and I had only bought a few of the threads to get started with. So by the time I put my paltry few threads on the project cards, found my starting place on my fabric, got out my ipad and discovered there were 20 color changes just in the first 100 block of stitching, I was worried I might not get much done tonight, seeing as how I was just getting started at 9 pm.

Well I was right. Apparently when I was trying to figure out which threads to buy for that 100 square block, I didn't write them all down, because I only had a few of them. Soooo, I put in 7 stitches tonight. Woo hoooooo!!

New Start - 01.05.2015 - Halloween Folio

Day 5 of DUCJ2015, and I started Halloween Folio by Shepherd's Bush on my lunch break today.  I am so disappointed in this project!  It is stitched on a 7 count piece of fabric called Heatherfield, and I thought it was going to be a very quick stitch.  It is supposed to be finished into a pillow, and I thought with it being 7 count, it would be easy to work it.  It isn't!  The needle is huge, and the threads are DMC Pearl Cotton #3, but the holes in the fabric are so huge that my needle keeps falling through it if I let go of it for just a second.  I barely stitched 13 stitches on it, but I am calling it a day.  Maybe I will come back to it soon.

This chart was packaged with the fabric and threads, and I bought it YEARS ago, and by YEARS I mean at least 20 years ago.  The chart was published in 1993, so I'm sure I bought it soon after it was released.  The sticker on the package shows I paid $32.00 for it, 20 years ago!  Sooooo, I need to stitch this thing up, right?

.

I don't know if you can get a sense of just how big these holes are in a 7 count piece of fabric, but here is a close up of the fabric, needle and thread used.  I am hoping when I come back to it eventually, I will be more prepared for it and be able to complete it.

A Finish in 2014

I forgot to post this pic when I finished it in December, and I am going to try to do better this year with my updating.  This one is called Adjust the Sails, and it is a Pine Mountain Designs pillow kit.  All you do is stitch the part in the middle on the 16 count aida insert and then cover the pillow with it.  The pillow is sold seperately, so I usually just interchange the designs as I finish with them.  I did order a few extra pillows though on the chance that I want to display more than one at a time.  At the moment, I have this one in my office at work.  I think they are cute and they are pretty quick to stitch as well.

New Start - 01.04.2015 - Big Cats

Day 4 of DUCJC2015, and I am starting Big Cats by Tilton.  I am stitching it on 18 count sterling aida.  I had no idea when I bought it that it had a mottled look to it, I thought it was just a kind of greyish color, but it is actually a greyish bluish color, and it is sooooo soft.  I think it might be the softest aida I have ever stitched on.

New Start - 01.03.2015 - Where I'm With Family

Day 3 of DUCJC2015, and I am stitching a pillow kit from Pine Mountain Designs.  I have stitched several of these a few years ago, but they were a bit smaller and only took a few hours to complete.  This one has a little more stitching to it so I wasn't able to finish it in a day like I had hoped.  Of course if I would stitch more than I stay on Facebook, I might get more done!

New Start - 01.02.2015 - Downtown

Day 2 of DUCJC2015, and I am stitching another HAED.  This one is called Downtown and the designer is Ciro Marchetti.  I just love his designs, and this is the second one I am stitching by him.  This is being stitched on 20 count ivory lugana though with the poor lighting in the photo, you can't really tell.

New Start - 01.01.2015 - QS Hearth of Gold

Day 1 of DUCJC2015, and it is called QS Hearth of Gold by HAED and the designer is Kevin Daniel.  It is for the HAED bulletin board SAL and was available for active members of the bulletin board at the time of sign ups.

I am using 20 count silver/white lugana and stitching 2 over 1.

Sunshine and Shadows - FINISHED!

I am realizing that I am not a very good blogger because I keep forgetting to update it!  I did finally finish Sunshine and Shadows by Barbara & Cheryl on November 24, 2014.   It was really a lot of fun stitching on it and my only regret is that I took so long to finish it.