September started with a crazy rotation of ornaments and/or Christmas WIPs, as I started knocking down the “dominos” in 100, 200, 300, etc stitch increments. (Semisane Stitchers event “Crazy Domino Effect”). I actually finished two: Holly Jolly by Tiny Modernist for Just Cross Stitch on Lapis Lazuli Cashel by Silkweaver, and Stained Glass Angel ornie, from “Charms of Christmas” by Leisure Arts. It’s stitched on 28 count monoco, and jazzed up a little with black Diamant for the backstitching.
All my other Christmas pieces got a few hundred stitches, at least.
Clockwise from top left: Nutcracker (+274) by Kooler Design Studio, Comet (+1458) by Nora Corbett, Merry Christmas with Love (+604) by Tempting Tangles/Just Cross Stitch, Noelle (+532) by Brooke’s Books/Just Cross Stitch, and Victorian Carolers (+1203) by Joanne Aston/Cross Stitch Gold.
After all the Christmas stuff, I started working on Cathedral Woods Goddess. I backstitched her face and one arm, then started beading, from the top. This piece is seriously heavily beaded. It was 1.5 days and 830 stitches (mostly beads).
Then it was Rainbow Fairy’s turn. Utimately she got 2 days and 1,601 stitches. I worked on the outer bands of her wings, her upper body, shirt, and a bit more of her skin. It scares me a little to be this close to finished with no backstitching done, so next time I’ll work on the bottom and start detailing from the base with backstitch and Kreinik. 
Harvest Witch got 1 day and 1,012 stitches, mostly her sleeves, upper cape, hat, and a little bit of hair and broom.
By this time, school had started (virtual school that requires constant parental participation, in our case), and I was up to my 11th domino (1100 stitches). So I continued with my Halloween ornies and got a few more finished! Coffin Paint by Hands on Designs & Cock a Doodle Boo by Tempting Tangles/Just Cross Stitch Halloween 2016.
After that, it was time for Twilight Bridge. It took 2 days, 654 stitches (mostly french knots), and I finished!
Then I rotated to Gryphon and gave it a nice chunk of progress- 2,058 stitches over 2.5 days. I worked entirely on the wings- the front wing in many shades brown and orange mostly, and the rear wing in shades of blue, gray, and purple.
By this point, I had reached my 15th domino (out of 17 planned) and keen to knock over the rest. So I started on Toy Story Cast, worked on Round up (the horse), Slinky Dog, and Jessie with 1,582 stitches over 2 days.
The 16th domino was Fantasy Triptych, I worked on it 2 days for 1,614 stitches. I began with the regular stitching in the maiden panel: her over 1 face, ninja stitches, the sky, and the background mountains in half cross. Then I started backstitching, the upper part of the maiden panel. I did some specialty stitching (diamond eyelets and plaited cross stitch) in the border between maiden and castle, and started the backstitching the border, which is relatively simple if rather tedious. I also backstitched the maiden’s face, twice, frogged twice, and lost a few of the face stitches along with it. I have determined that I will need to chart my own backstitch for the face because the chart just wasn’t working for me, it needs a slightly darker color, pink for the lips, and slightly adjusted positioning.
Finally, last but not least, my 17th domino was Save the Stitches. My plan had been to finish this project, but I gave myself a break since I had finished Twilight Bridge. I did finish part 23, and the entire row (21-23) with metallics; I also started part 24, did the outlines, and started the bottom border. I charted some of my own text for the block that reads “Save the Stitches” in the chart. It was necessecary to stitch it over one to fit the whole phrase, plus I needed to edit a little as I stitched, since the threads are so close, stitched over 1. Overall, it was 3.5 days and 2,007 stitches.
Topic(s) for next time: Are you a seasonal stitcher, or can you stitch on any holiday/seasonal stitch at any time of year? I like seasonal pieces, but I stitch them all year round. I tend to like big projects, and they’d never get finished if I only worked on them once a year. Also, I kind of despise summer (or at least the hot muggy weather where I live) so Christmas in July is a real highlight as I hunker down in the air conditioning and dream about the most festive time of the year. Sometimes I do focus my effort seasonally though, like making a goal to finish a fall piece before the Winter Solstice, for example.
My goals for October include:
•Finish Save the Stitches and Harvest Witch
•Focus rotations on Fairy Rainbow, Fantasy Triptych, and Cathedral Woods
Happy Stitching
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