All posts in category Stitching

Feeling adrift after a large finish

Noah’s Sub by Stoney Creek

A bit before the pandemic, my friend Erica sold off all her stitching stash including some WIPs she had started. One of the ones I bought from her was Noah’s Sub. I had the pattern already, it was out of print and a Unicorn but I had it.

First picture I took of Noah’s Sub in November 2020 before working on it.
First full picture of Noah’s Sub, I had already added stitches to the ocean around the octopus.

It was a little over half finished when I inherited it. I worked my way around it in a clockwise fashion and substituted beads for French knot eyes.

And finished it with 66378 stitches (it takes 2 half stitches of sky to count as one stitch and 1 bead counts as 1 stitch).

Shortly after finishing Noah’s Sub, I finished a small Stacy Nash pattern, Bobbin.

Bobbin by Stacy Nash with color changes by me.

I stitched Bobbin as a shop model and think I want to stitch it again with a few changes for myself.

But now that I’ve finish such a large project with a smaller finish after, I’m feeling at loose ends. I have 33 WIPs to choose from but nothing seems to be calling loudly.

I would normally go to my WIPGO pieces but I’m caught up except for the TW pieces from March (still need 400 stitches in Fortunate Traveller and 700 for Summer Carousel Horse) and I’m not in the mood to really work on those tonight.

I just finished the 1000 stitches for my WIPGO on Storied Steeds so not feeling that one. Secret Carousel needs really good light so not something to work on at night.

I’m kind of feeling like I should work on my sister’s West Point Sampler but then I could also try to finish my WIP Warriors stitches for Lion and Lamb which is Kingdom of Books.

Other options to work on today – Diamond Bouquet by Just Nan, Sentinel by Fire Wing Designs, Stitch Every Day by Hands On Design, Summer Queen by Mirabilia which hasn’t had any love this year, Ladybird Fairy by Joan Elliott needs to be mounted on the other scroll bars.

I could also start on a new small – Like my copy of Bobbin since the one I finished was a shop model. I could also start my other Christmas piece (Another Reindeer was made).

Or since this was a BAP I finished, I could start a new large – like Glendon Place’s Sleepy Hollow or Winter Queen by Mirabilia or Butterfly Fairy by Joan Elliott.

It’s 9:00 so I need to make a decision soon.

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by shondratasha on April 22, 2024  •  Permalink
Posted in motivation, random thoughts, Stitching
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Posted by shondratasha on April 22, 2024

https://shondratasha.wordpress.com/2024/04/22/feeling-adrift-after-a-large-finish/

Finally understand what people mean by dated colors…

So after I was done being pregnant I took all of my business pregnancy clothes to a second-hand shop to see if I could recoup some of the costs and besides, we were really broke. The lady would only buy one item, a grey dress that looked like a suit skirt when worn with a sweater. She told me everything else was the wrong colors. They just weren’t in any more.

I had no clue what she was talking about.

How did color go out of style? I mean jade and royal blue are classic colors, right?

Then I stitched some of my older Just Nan patterns and something clicked –

Just Nan All Aboard stitched by Stasha

All Aboard was copyrighted in 2000, but these colors just scream 1980s to me. And that made me look at some of the older WIPS I have kitted up and I’m working on.

Goblin Market by Counted Illuminations stitched by Stasha

Goblin Market is also 80s pink and green. I would hate to put in the time to finish it and hate it. So I’m wondering if I leave the green, what do I change to modernize it. Do I rip out the pink and white flowers and make them fuschia or periwinkle or will those be dated in 20 years too.

Would you stitch this as is or what would you do to freshen it up?

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by shondratasha on August 18, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in hobbies, Stitching
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Posted by shondratasha on August 18, 2023

https://shondratasha.wordpress.com/2023/08/18/finally-understand-what-people-mean-by-dated-colors/

Today we Stitch, tomorrow we frog.

Decided to start Alice in Wonderland by Bothy threads today on the lovely piece of Fiery Skies I got from Under the Sea Fabrics. Got 212 stitches in and realized I started Alice on the piece I bought for Mad Hatters Tea Party. So pulled out the piece for Alice and started over 303 stitches later and I realize I’ve put an extra stitch in Cheshire Cat’s head. Normally I would leave it in and rearrange the rest of it but I realize that on stitch off is going to throw off the border and it may not match. So today was stitching and tomorrow we frog.

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by shondratasha on July 3, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in Stitching, Year of Wips
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Posted by shondratasha on July 3, 2023

https://shondratasha.wordpress.com/2023/07/03/today-we-stitch-tomorrow-we-frog/

Last of my Stitching Sirens purchases came in…

I have never been a fan of fabric project bags until now. These bags are large enough for an 11 x 11 assembled Qsnap and the fibers. The vinyl window pocket is perfect for identifying information- (remember in heat paper sticks to vinyl so a picture but not the pattern).

These are from Tanya Rivas at Needle and Bone https://www.facebook.com/groups/450941870437254/?ref=share

I have Noah’s Sub in one, Secret Carousel from HAED is in another.

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by shondratasha on June 20, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in hobbies, random thoughts, Stitching, stuff
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Posted by shondratasha on June 20, 2023

https://shondratasha.wordpress.com/2023/06/20/last-of-my-stitching-sirens-purchases-came-in/

Some statistics for 2021

Total number of stitches for the year 109,358 this is short 10,642 from the goal of 120,000.

Number of projects worked on 44

Number of WIPs on 1/1/2021 – 30

Number of projects completed – 17

Number of WIPs on 12/31/2021 – 28

Average stitches per Day – 300

Median number of stitches per day – TBD

All but 2 of the projects had at least 3% progress completed during the year. Of those 2 – one had 2 page completions the other had 1% completed.

Lowest stitching month – June 6355 stitches average 212 per day

Highest stitching month – November 12,243 stitches average 408 per day.

2 projects were re-homed during the year

No correlation exists between number of projects worked on during the month and the number of stitches. Average number of projects worked on in the month is 13, median is 11

Month with the most projects finished – September which also correlates with the Semi Sane Stitchers Domino challenge.

November’s highest monthly amount corresponds with an event in Ultimate stitches where I really pushed myself to get the high numbers and with figuring out that at my current stitching speed, it would take over 10 years to finish all my WIPs

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by shondratasha on January 1, 2022  •  Permalink
Posted in hobbies, Stitching

Posted by shondratasha on January 1, 2022

https://shondratasha.wordpress.com/2022/01/01/some-statistics-for-2021/

Last minute stitching goals for the year.

So after seeing that Light had built a Melee fight in a sheets workbook, I started playing with my spreadsheet. I figured out that I have completed at least 3% on all but 13 of my WIPs this year. The total of the missing stitches is less than I’ve stitched in October. So, I’m thinking, I can stitch on these projects and meet the stitch goals for the year and I probably even have space to work toward completing the Christmas projects I have started. So the stitching plan for the rest of the year, is to work on the 13 pieces on this list and complete the 3%.

The interesting thing is that 5 of these pieces live in my parlor. My main stitching chair is not in the parlor. So something to think of for an improvement for next year is to set up at least one day a week to not watch TV and plan to stitch in the parlor. As for November and December, I plan to spend more time in the parlor. That’s where the Christmas tree will be after all.

So have you looked at your stitching goals for the year? Did you accomplish them? What could you do to accomplish something toward them in the last two months of the year?

Go forth and Conquer…

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by shondratasha on October 30, 2021  •  Permalink
Posted in goals, Stitching

Posted by shondratasha on October 30, 2021

https://shondratasha.wordpress.com/2021/10/30/last-minute-stitching-goals-for-the-year/

Stitching Olympics

Back in the days of bulletin boards, we used to have stitching Olympics. We knew what was coming and we prepped for it ready to race. I won a spool of Krenik one year for my sprint finishes.

One of the other things that happened on the bulletin boards was every February there would be an implosion of some sorts and people would get feelings hurt and leave the boards.

I should start this next section by saying I’m not really a fan of Facebook, the only reason that I’m there is to stay connected with stitching friends some of which go back to the days of the Bulletin Boards. That said, this morning I belonged to several stitching groups which have friendly competitions, probably too many as more than once this month I’ve lost track of which start pictures I had where.

For the past couple days, I’ve had 2 friends who are feuding. I’ve been stuck in the middle and the only good part of it is I was kicked out of some of the stitching groups without notice. It made the decision of which games to quit much easier – they quit them for me.

I like both friends and have tried to maintain neutrality but being Switzerland is hard when one is asking me to turn on the other and the other is my dealer and pimp.

Part of My Stash from my German dealer

See, I am a scissors whore and I am a Kindertoy junkie. Since Solingen Steel is cheap in Germany and Kindertoys are not available for import I need a partner in crime who can supply me. Luckily, back in the days of bulletin boards we held a world wide get together for the Theresa Wentzler bulletin board. My German dealer joined us in Vegas for that event. We’ve exchanged packages ever since (I will admit I’ve received more than I’ve sent). So with this kind of habit to support asking me to take sides is a futile effort.

I’ve done my best to not post about the behind the scenes battle publicly but getting kicked out of groups with no warning or message from admins I DO NOT KNOW AND HAVE NEVER EXCHANGED A CONVERSATION WITH made me want to state my desire to remain neutral. I enjoy playing stitching games but I was stitching before games and I’ll be stitching long after they are gone and something else has replaced them, unless my fingers or eyesight goes.

See, one of the things that no one tells women is that a lack of estrogen can impact the joints and tendons. Luckily, my UK friends at the Semi-Sane Asylum did know about this and were able to suggest some lab work for my doctor to run which led to me getting bio-identical hormones which have been amazing for my hands. I’m so grateful for the friends at Semi Sane Stitching who told me about this problem. My doctor says that I can safely do about 10 years of the hormone treatment so I have a lot of stitching to do and limited time left.

So with lots of stitching to do, I don’t have time to be involved in drama or get stuck between people. Besides, I have my own stitching group where I’m trying to figure out how to fairly give away stuff that I am too lazy to sell on eBay because I don’t want it anymore. I would be happy to have suggestions on how to get rid of the BBOS – Big Bag of Stuff.

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by shondratasha on July 26, 2021  •  Permalink
Posted in random thoughts, Stitching

Posted by shondratasha on July 26, 2021

https://shondratasha.wordpress.com/2021/07/26/stitching-olympics/

March Wipocalypse post

Question of the Month: Have you ever adopted a piece from someone else or gave up a piece to someone else? Which piece and why?

The world has changed and I have time to stitch and blog and hey, why not go back to the Wipocalypse?

So the question for this month is about adopting a WIP – I have several I’ve adopted when friends lost the ability or desire to stitch and I’ve given one to someone else to ghost stitch. This is Oh Christmas Tree that I’ve given to Carleen to stitch because I seem to be blocked when it comes to working on it.

As for pieces I’ve adopted, I actually have several in my current rotation that are adopted from Erica Gonzalez when she stopped stitching. Tempest is an adopted piece.

This is the first of Erica’s adopted pieces that I actually finished.

There are older adopted pieces from other sources that I’ve finished but I’m not willing to go search for any more pictures since it’s been years since I finished those. Most are because the original person stopped stitching and the patterns were on my want to stitch list.

I thought I had a picture of Erica’s Noah’s Sub in my wordpress gallery but I’m not finding it. That is the next new start in my rotation list but who knows when I will get to it. I keep saying I will finish 2 pieces before starting new things but I’ve started lots of new things without finishing anything. Like the Magical Mystery tour.

Now I’m off to update my planner because it hit me I don’t think I’ve put my last two starts into the spreadsheet.

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by shondratasha on March 29, 2020  •  Permalink
Posted in random thoughts, Stitching, WIPocalypse
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Posted by shondratasha on March 29, 2020

https://shondratasha.wordpress.com/2020/03/29/march-wipocalypse-post/

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