December Wrap up

It may be a little early in the month for a wrap up but I checking my to-do list and crossing off things to do.  

I hope everyone else is doing the same as we are getting ready for a joyous and happy holiday season and a healthy and plentiful new year.   Winter season is upon us with its blustery snow and whipping winds.   It only makes spring that much sweeter and something to anticipate.   And that gives me the lead in to something I forgot to share.   I planted 100 bulbs in October.  It was kind of like when you order a kit or floss that is out of stock. When your order shows up and you are left wondering what project was this for?    I ordered the bulbs from Breck’s last April and they arrived when I was away in October.    This is why I have started making a note of what was ordered and why.  

Planting bulbs in the fall is one of my favorite garden activities.   I enjoy the anticipation of spring when the earth will re-awaken and the bulbs poke their little blooms up through the warming soil.  Not only had I forgot about he order, I had no idea what my thought process was when I placed the order but I found places for them and I will be happily looking forward to see them come to life next April.  

Ta-da!

I managed to fully finish - finally - my 100 Block-a-Day day quilt at the end of  November.   I kept up with the block a day quilt until about day 93 and then I had the epic fail.  Last spring I finished up the last 7 blocks.  I had it long-armed this past summer.  I finally stopped putting off and took the time to add the binding. My fabric choice was almost entirely from stash using Aunt Grace and similar fabrics.   I did have to purchase about half dozen fat quarters of fabric and the backing fabric.    Reduction of stash and another WIP off the quilting list.    

Don’t you just love how it all crinkles when you wash and machine dry it?  

It was also 95% sewn on a 1947 Featherweight machine.   No fancy sewing machines necessary.  

 

I finished an EGA Christmas in July project - Snowman Quadrille. It was a WIPGO project so that is a win.  The instructions were very easy to follow and made the assembly a cinch.  The last seam and the bottom was a bit fiddlely but it is done and on the tree.

Both December WIP’s were finished out of order and none of my remaining WIPs were calling me so I started a new project.  This is  Busy Bee Skep from Janis Note of Noteworthy Needle.   It is a stacking Bee Skep.   A friend and I both bought the pattern this past summer.  I will be at Diane’s for a week in February and we will work on fully finishing it together.  So it was a must stitch. Justification in full force!!   I working on # 5 of the 8 motifs with plans to have all 8 done by the end of December. 

My tally for the year on WIPGO is 17 WIPs finished leaving 7 WIPs left.  One WIP was moved to a SAL since that is what it really is.  I took one off the list because I scrapped what I had done and will be starting it over on different linen with different floss.     I had 4 new starts for the year and two class pieces.  I started and finished the Blessings Sampler - 1889 Alphabet from Needlework Press.   I started and finished Bitter Sweet from Summer House.  I started and plan to finish Busy Bee Skep from Noteworthy Needle before New Year’s Day.   I started and have not finished, Jeweled Baubles from Shannon Christine Designs.   

Jeweled Baubles was a ‘reward’ I gave myself August 1st for crossing so many off my WIP’s list and is on the list to finished in 2025.   But this is not a project I can take to needlework night to stitch on as there is a lot of counting and color changes.  Once I get the Bee Skep done, I plan to spend the rest of the month on Jeweled Baubles.

   

All in all, it was another successful year with WIPGO for me.  I may have stretched my word of the year a bit (Monogamous) but I did stay the course and stick to projects until they were completed so much more so than I have in the past.  I used it broadly and tried to apply it to new purchases as well.   I did buy, of course, but I tried to curate that cart before my final checkout.    So again, I stretched monogamous to focus on what I have in stash and not add to stash.

I had various little pin pillows, name tags, needle-books that I stitched as well.  My grand tally is 40 finishes.    Wow, that sounds like a tremendous number but some were very small.   Take this cardinal - stitched and finished in under two hours.  I made 5 of them.   Mounted on a box of matches, they each landed in a different Advent bag.   So technically 5 finishes but I am almost embarrassed to include them since they were so EZ PZ.  Best part, more things stitched from stash.  

I have 15 days and the rest of the tree trunk until I am finished. It will make 41 finishes in 2024!!!!  I have enjoyed this piece and think it will be fun to compare with others.   I plan to take it to my friend Diane’s in February and compare my “Jersey” tree with her “Tennessee” tree.

All this this thinking about finishes put me in the mood for plans for 2025.  My WIPGO board is ready and I am mixing it up again this year.  Remember, your board, your rules.  If you are not familiar with WIPGO here is the skinny.   You make a 5 by 5 bingo board and number it 1 to 25.   Each block gets a WIP (work in progress) project and your goal on that project.   It could be to finish one pattern page, it could be spend 5 hours on that project, to do work on a border, etc. On the 25th of each month, the numbers are pulled for the following month,   Numbers are announced on both Instagram and Facebook.   The project called becomes your focus piece to stitch on for the month.   It took me a couple of years to find the right assortment of projects and goals.  All in all, WIPGO  has helped me eliminate the number of WIP’s that were weighing me down.   For 2025, I do have my remaining WIP’s listed and plan that 6 of the 7 WIPs  WILL be finished in 2025.  But alas, I fear/I know I may find other WIP’s tucked away in a project bag somewhere.  

 For 2024, I finished all but three squares.   Two of which were 14 hours on the same WIP.   I never picked the piece up; a total fail on my part.   It does reappear on the 2025 board.  The third was one project that came up in a particularly busy month.

I plan to start doing smaller samplers and work on class pieces in 2025.  I have Mabel Tukes to the board twice.  I have added a small sampler class piece from Jackie DuPlessis to finish.   Jeannette Douglas is the Designer of the Year for my guild so I have added three of her pieces as new starts with maybe two of them finished in 2025.    My mindset - as of today - is that I cannot start something new and anything I work on I have to plan to see it through to a finish in the immediate future.  I cannot stray from my appointed path, but here is the caveat, I know I have no will power when a SAL comes along.    The WIPGO board always looks to simple on paper but I am well aware ‘stuff’ happens, plans change, and some months, stitching time can be limited.    

 If anything gets completed before it is called, I plan to substitute Cornwall Cottage so I can have it completed in 2025.   Good to have goals to look forward to.   I just wish I could do the same commitment for a workout routine.

 

 I selected Sally Spencer for my January Blessings Sampler.  You are supposed to have a year full of ‘blessings’ if you start and finish a sampler in January.  Regardless of what is called for WIPGO, Sally Spencer is a small sampler and I feel good about being able to complete it in January.   

For some other ‘maintenance’ stitching,  I stitched up some labels to add to the back of Christmas ornaments I have stitched.  

As I settle down with all the shopping, decorating, and wrapping done, I like to take time to look back and appreciate the past year.   I had a great year filled with family, friends, fun and travel.  I am grateful for the blessings I have.   If I ever feel down, I lay in bed when I wake up and start to count my blessings - I have a cozy bed, I have heat (or AC if that applies), I have a kitchen full of food, I have wonderful hugs waiting for me from my grand babies,  I have a vehicle and the ability and means to go places, I have friends, I can pay my bills, I have family, I days filled with things to do, I have reasonably good health - just the aches and pains of aging.    I  try to stay focused on what I have and not dwell on what I don’t.  Before I know it, my frown is turned upside down and I am grateful all day long.  In these days it is so easy to get wrapped up in the ‘appearance’ of what others have based on their social media posts.  Don’t believe everything you see on FB. So much is staged and filtered.   Of course I do have a regret or two, but they cannot be my focus.   Positivity is the key to a happy life.   Someone has told me more than once that I live like an ostrich with my head in the sand, I say to each his own.  To me, as well as being free, kindness does matter.  I don’t want to sound silly listing food and a cozy bed, but food insecurity and homelessness are real concerns for many and yes, I am grateful that myself, my family and my friends don’t have to deal such issues.   

OK, I am off my gratitude soap box.

I am wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season, a new year filled with blessings and good things, much good health and happiness, much laughter,  much successful stitching and an appreciation of the small things that mean so much. 

As always, thank you for sharing the joy of needlework with me.   Thanks you for stopping by and leaving your comments that I enjoy and appreciate.  Thanks for visiting and keep on stitching.

Happy Holidays