OhSewCrafty Blog

hello, friends!  June was kind of up and down for me.  I lost my stitchy bug for a week, but then I went to the Stitching Sirens Retreat in San Antonio, and tried to catch up.  I burned the midnight oil June 29 and 30th and met most my goals.

First, I achieved a finish on my oldest WIP, Father Christmas with a half day on June 2nd.  More details here

Christmas Blue Angel had 3 days love and 3,000 stitches added.  I’m working the bottom left page, stitching towards the edge, and I did reach the bottom left corner with the teal dress.  This one stitches up pretty fast.  I think she’s my favorite WIP now. 

Poltergeist Pirates had 3 days attention, 3,000 stitches done including 1200 backstitch.  So I backstitched the entire “middle” of the chart”, across those 4 pages.  It wasn’t too bad since all the backstitching (in this area) is plain black.  So it was fairly mindless.  Finally I have obtained all the silk flosses, thanks to Fireside Stitchery in Malvern, PA… they shipped super fast too!  So i was able to start on the water beneath the ship.  The Rainbow gallery Petite silk treasure braid is nice, very soft and supple, but I’m not sure it’s worth the expense.  You could obtain the same effect with DMC plus blending filament.  At the end of the month, I had a color challenge to stitch brown, so I went to the top of chart and stitched some mast and sail.

Belinda Botanica was a new focus, she had 3 days regard and 3,000 stitches added.  With her, I had a yellow challenge, so I worked the apron some onto the top half of the chart.  Then I worked towards the edge on the bottom left page.  Belinda has a lot of color changes, so progress is a little slower.  I think all the colors are gorgeous though and I’m happy with how she’s coming out.  

Secondary WIPs, Winter Bellpull had 2 days love and 2,160 stitches done to finish the N panel. That wasn’t bad, (The I panel had a lot more).  I think the rabbits came out so cute.  One of them is asleep.  I’m not sure about the bunny’s big square black eye though, I might add some white backstitches to make it more rounded.  Also, the snug little house with smoke trails from the chimney is really sweet.  This might be most favorite panel yet.  

Positivity Rules had 2.5 days attention and 2,000 stitches added.  I had made a mistake doing a color challenge early in the month, so I had to frog a couple hundred stitches.  But I did get most of the roof line done, plus the word Positive, and a decent start on “kind”. I started the rainbow, the cloud, and the chimney.  I think 2k might be enough to finish in July, we’ll see.

Now for my tortoise projects, Mickey Stained Glass had 2 days and 1,500 stitches done.  I finished page 4 and got a decent start on page 5.  This piece is starting to come together and I love it, stained glass is my jam but doing another like this would be a hard sell.  I may do more than 1500 in July because I’d love to finish page 5 for a challenge in one of my groups.

Saint George and Dragon received 2 days and 1,500 added.  I filled in some of the dragon’s body on the right side, extended the border up a little on the right side, then worked to the left on the bottom border, and actually turned the inside corner.  

Also, I gave several others minor effort.  (Clockwise from top left) Egg with Tulips had a half day, 329 stitches and finished!  Outlander sampler had a half day and 600 stitches done, mostly on the border.  Tis the Season  got a half day love and 600 stitches done, it’s pretty close to finished now.  Cross Stitch Coat of Arms received 1 day regard and 600 st, including some satin stitch for the thread spools (my modification).  Nobody is Home had 1 day and 600 stitches, working the house from the base.  And then I had 2 new ornament starts, Snow Baby Skater from “Charms of Christmas” by Leisure Arts had a half day and 600 stitches done, he’s pretty close to and will probably get finished in July. Santa Cruiser by Satsuma Street had 1 day and 500 stitches done. 

Question of the month: Half year recap.  Well, I’ve had several finishes.  This rotation is working a treat.  Fairy Wind, Fourth of July, and Making a Brew were all finished in February.  Feather Fairy was finished in March, Halloween Train in April, Father Christmas in June.  

Plus I’ve kept pace on the ornaments, finished the 3 from last year, plus 6 more started and finished this year.  

I’ve also cranked up the effort on some of all of my progress goal pieces, so much so that I expect a finish on Poltergeist Pirates later in the year.  Winter Bellpull is coming along with a panel finish every other month, with the Semisane Stitchers (FB group) calendar challenge.  I’ve also started 2 from my “short queue” and a couple medium size pieces that I intend to finish in 2025.  I’ve not done any framing though.  

Now for my July goals:

Primary: 3k each: Christmas Blue Angel, Poltergeist Pirates, Belinda Botanica

Secondary 2k each: Winter Bellpull, Positivity Rules

1.5 each: St. George & Dragon, Mickey Stained Glass

1,000 stitch: new start TBD (either a Joan Elliott, Bella Filipina, or Glendon Place)

600 st or finish: Tis the Season, Outlander, Snow Baby Skater, Nobody is Home, Cross Stitch Coat of Arms