Last week, Titania was my xstitch project of the week.
The last time I posted a picture was from 9/17/2020, here is what it looked like:
Mirabilia Titania 9/17/2020
And here is what it looks like when I put it away last night.
Mirabilia – Titania – 4/25/2021
I only worked on it once last week and that was it.
Since my stitching mojo has been seriously lacking the last several weeks, I’ve decided to go back to switching projects every Sunday. I use the tiny decisions app to pick my project, get it all ready on Sunday so that everything is set up the rest of the week. It makes it so much easier to get going (even though it’s hardly going at all).
Here’s a close up of what I’ve worked on recently:
Gamer Nouveau
1/31/21
And how it looked the last time I showed a picture of it.
Gamer Nouveau
1/6/2021
My goal for 2021 is through row 3 and I calculated the numbers, I have to do 100 stitches every day. Or, 700 stitches per week. I’m not sure if I can sustain those numbers working on one project every day but, so far, I’m on track. But I still need to finish row 2 which is where I’m at right now.
I always create lofty goals. And I try very hard not to beat myself up when I do not meet them all. I believe accomplishing 50% of a lot of goals is better than accomplishing 100% of 1 goal. I’m an overachiever. I acknowledge that. And it’s taken me a long time to be okay with not completing all my goals. I just evaluate what I didn’t accomplish and revisit whether the goal is still something I want to accomplish. Then I either add it on to the next year or I don’t.
All the tops that are ready to be quilted are still in need of being quilted. With the move and 2020, I have not felt motivated to tackle this new endeavor with the Q20. It sits in my bedroom staring at me forlornly every day.
Staycation – in the quilt queue.
Good Fortune – in the quilt queue.
Glam Clam – in the quilt queue.
Scrappy Stars – I don’t even remember where I am with this. The last time I blogged about it, I was waiting on fabric. I know I have that fabric. I just don’t remember if I moved forward on this quilt.
Area One Mystery Quilt from 2012 SoCal Quilt Run – in the quilt queue.
Area Four Mystery Quilt from 2012 SoCal Quilt Run – this top is done and is in the quilt queue
Dancing with the Stars by Linda Ballard – my daughter claimed this quilt last year (2020) and decided she wanted it to be a queen size so I figured out how many more blocks I needed to make. I started cutting and piecing them together so I’ve done a bit. But I ran out of one of the fabrics and do not have enough to make big enough. So I may do as much as I have and then add a bunch of borders.
Radiant Jewel Quilt by Kimberly Einmo – this was a new start in 2020 and all the blocks are done. I’m saving this for my next retreat so I have a design wall to place blocks along with quilty friends to help me try out different layouts. I put a note on this saying that I’m working on the border blocks but I don’t remember what this is. So, I don’t know if I still need to do this, if it was done or what. In my head, I’m done and this is on hold for the next retreat (whenever that may be).
Pictures for you:
Area Four Mystery Quilt –
SoCal Quilt Run
2012
Area 4 Mystery Quilt
Kind of
Sept, 2020
3. Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars Linda Ballard 8/2020
4. Gardenvale – which is what I’m calling my current WIP..
Gardenvale by Moda 7/12/2020
5. Allietare – Bonnie Hunter’s mystery quilt from 2015 – Clue 1 Area Three Mystery Quilt from 2012 SoCal Quilters Run – This is kitted up and I haven’t even looked at the instructions.
Now for Cross Stitch:
Mama’s Bukid – Finished this!
Mama’s Bukid
It’s finish!
3/22/2020
Gamer – Finish 6 pages. I finished 3 pages in 2020
Gamer
December 2019Dec, 2020
5 Pages in Row 2 completed
A Stitch in Time – My goal was to work on this each month. Some months more than others.
A Stitch In Time 6/30/2020
A Stitch In Time 8/2020
A Stitch In Time
Aimee Stewart
Heaven and Earth Designs
25 Count, 1×1
12/31/3030
The next cross stitch projects were not priority projects. But because A Kiss for Snowman was a small one at 6×6 inch square, I was able to finish it this year!
A Kiss for Snowman
A dimensions gold kit
9/12/2020Titania
Mirabilia
12/2020Dragonfly
9/25/2020Northern Expression
Shades of Rose
9/25/2020
Knitting
Morning Sock Knitting. I knit 6 socks this year which is not a lot but I’m okay with that. I only do about 15 minutes every morning so 6 socks/year is it. The more complicated the sock the longer it takes. I need to track down pictures. ;0
Ricky’s Weasley Sweater – this is finished!
Weasley Sweater’s
12/25/2020
3 of 4 sweaters done! I’m starting mine in 2021
I’m not thrilled with how this came out but it’s fine for what it is. special sweater for him to wear every Christmas when we take our family Christmas picture. I will be starting mine this year 2021.
Fairy Hill Shawl – Finished
Fairy Hill Shawl
Pattern by: Curious Handmade
Finish!
2/13/2020Fairy Hill Shawl
Lace design in close up
02/2020
24 days of Christmas Shawl from Jimmy Bean- This is the shawl I started last December (2019) with my Advent Calendar I purchased from Jimmy Bean. It’s not done yet but I’m very close. Based on what I have left to do, I imagine this will be done in February. I love this shawl and this is my priority project right now.
Jimmy Bean Advent Calendar Shawl – 2019
Status as of 12/20/2020
Mix Wave Cowl – finished!
Mix Wave Cowl
9/12/2020
Water Lily
Water Lily
Back
12/20/2020Water Lily
Front
12/20/2020
Water Lily is almost done and I anticipate that this will closely follow the Jimmy Bean Shawl in finishes for 2021.
Beanie for Kayla – My plan for 2020 was to alternate every row to finish off a skein of yarn with a new skein of yarn. But I totally forgot about this project. I have the yarn in my bin waiting for me to work on this project.
Tranquil Mist – started when I finished the Mix Wave cowl twice before this one. The first yarn was a bit variegated but was teal and black and I wasn’t happy with how the lace was coming out. So I ripped it back and started again with a new yarn. The second yarn was a silk and was so thin it didn’t look right. I got to chart 2 and then messed up. Finally I just ripped it all back and started again with a third yarn. I am loving how this is coming together now.
The last time I showed this project was back in April. I’ve made some progress. Because of all the confetti (and all my other projects), my progress is super slow. But here is where I am now.
A Stitch In Time
Aimee Stewart
Heaven and Earth Designs
25 Count, 1×1
12/30/3030
Here’s a close up of what I’ve worked on recently:
A Stitch In Time
Aimee Stewart
Heaven and Earth Designs
25 Count, 1×1
12/30/3030
And how it looked the last time I showed a picture of it.
A Stitch in Time 4/19/2020
I can’t believe I didn’t post more pictures. Especially when I finished the previous page. There are times where I have so much joy working on this project. and then there are times where I feel frustration. I like to finish a diagonal at a time, hoping that I only experience the joy and that I put this away before frustration sets in. Sometimes those days happen when I’m trying to finish a page and do more than I can mentally do on this project at a given time.
A Kiss for Snowman A dimensions gold kit 9/17/2020
I finally finished the cross stitch on this Dimensions kit. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. I still have to do the back stitch so that will come around at it’s next rotation. This is not my favorite WIP to work on. It’s a 6″ square but there are a lot of blending floss together and using 1, 2, or 4 strands at a time so it took a lot of paying attention. I’m really happy to have gotten the cross stitch done and I hope to get the back stitch finished soon as well.
Titania Mirabilia 9/17/2020
I worked on Titania this week and got a few stitches done before I got bored and moved on. Most of my cross stitch I stitch to finish a diagonal but this is one of those exceptions. So I don’t think I get as much done because after a couple of days I want to move on. I may have to count stitches on this one and make it so that I get a certain amount of stitches done when it comes up on the schedule.
Gamer Nouveau 09/17/2020
And then I worked on Gamer and got another diagonal complete. This is my favorite project to work on. The kit is offered by GeckoRouge and the designer is Medusa Dollmaker. My goal for this year was 6 pages and I will have to check out where I was in the beginning of the year to figure out how much I got done. I would be really happy if I could finish the row this year.
Last week I turned my sewing machine on again after 2 weeks of not touching it.
Dancing with the Stars Still in pieces Linda Ballard 9/7/2020
I pieced more pieces of Dancing with the Stars so I can make more blocks to fit a queen size quilt. I think I may run out of fabric and I went to Joanns to find something similar and I failed. It may not be queen size. or, I’ll have to keep hunting.
I do not know why I stopped turning the machine on. It became too hard. My Lowery stand and my big cross stitch frame was in front of my table and the room was just messy enough that I didn’t want to disturb the piles by moving it so I can sew. That’s not usually something that stops me. In addition, I had enough of a mess on my cutting table that I didn’t want to clean it up so I could cut fabric. And I was at a perfect stand still in all of my projects. Most WIPs needed something pressed or cut or both before I could move into actually sewing on the machine. And I didn’t want to press or cut. I wanted to sew. It’s the kind of motivation or unmotivation -demotivation? – well I was immobilized by my inability to make a decision of what to do next and so did not do anything. On Labor Day, I finally stopped with the inaction and pressed and put the pieces to Dancing with the Stars under the needle. 🙂
2012 Southern CA Quilt Run Area Four Mystery quilt 3/8/2020
And over the weekend I pulled this quilt from my retreat luggage. I already had the first 2 rows pieced. I sewed all but the final row pieced together. I just ran out of energy and had to call it quits for the week. I hope to finish the top in the next couple of weeks.
New sock for September Geeky Girls Knit 5th podiversary
Last week, I finished my most recent socks. The ends have not yet been woven in and I have not yet taken a picture so that will have to wait for another day. But I picked my new sock project and got it started. As it’s been awhile since I’ve mentioned here what I do, I’ll go into detail as to what I’ve done. For the last 2-3 years, around October or November I sit down and pull all the sock patterns and single skein sock yarn, match them up together and kit them up. The very first year, I pulled all my knit picks Felici. I was part of Knitting Expat’s Sock Clubs (she had 2 that year). So it was easy, every month she had a new sock pattern and I would pick one of my knit picks felici yarn and start knitting. I still have Felici yarn in my stash. Then that October/November, I printed all my sock patterns that I hadn’t knitted, chose yarn to go with the pattern and stuck them in a project bag with a number. That first year, I had 15. At that point I had been purchasing or getting free downloads of sock patterns I loved and I wanted to knit them. It was a shame to keep them in my Ravelry library and never actually knit them. So I made my own little club. Every month, I would ask Siri to pick a number from 1-15 and I would knit whatever it chose. I do not remember how many socks I knitted that year. While part of the Knitting Expat sock club, I challenged myself to knit each pair within the month so that I could stay on track with each pattern as they were released. Most of the time I was able to stay on track. Every once in awhile I slipped. But as long as I knit a few rows (at least 5 sometimes more) every day, then I was able to get the pair done each month. When I started my own mini club I tried to stay within the monthly challenge. This ended fairly quickly mainly because I now have a ton of socks and not enough drawer space. I even sent a lot with my daughter when she went away to college. Anyway, I don’t need 12 socks every year so I do not push myself to knit a pair a month. I think 6 weeks is a good time frame. Any longer and I get bored. At the end of that first year, I think I had 5 projects remaining from the 15. Then last November I did the same thing, I still had the 5 projects from the previous year and somehow I had more patterns. So I kitted up more and I started 2020 with 13 kitted sock projects. Now I have 5 in my project bin. So I’ve got the 1 I started for September, the 1 I still have to weave the ends in so I must have finished 6. I’m pretty sure I didn’t take pictures of all of them and post it. I will try to do that one of these days.
I’m currently formulating my plan for next year but I do not have as many sock patterns to knit in Ravelry like I’ve had in the past. My LYS closed this year and I helped buy all their remaining sock books. I am thinking about picking one of those books and working my way through it and I’ll probably do that until I’ve gone through all the books. I’ll let you know what I end up deciding. The end of 2020 can’t come soon enough. I’m done with it. I’m hoping for a better end to the year along with a great 2021.
The socks I started last week are from the Geeky Girls Knit podcast. I haven’t watched it in awhile so I’m out of date with them. But when I was watching, they were a mother-daughter team. They were based in Edinburgh when I started watching them but then moved to the Pacific North West. It’s been a few years since I got this kit and it was sitting waiting for me to get to it. One of the reasons why I love doing my socks this way is because it means that I will knit the things I want to knit, even when I forget about it.
Update: I need more fabric for the sashing and I put an order in for more. It’s Moda Grunge Paper Grey so it’s fairly easy to get.
Area One Mystery Quilt from 2012 SoCal Quilt Run – in the quilt queue.
Area Four Mystery Quilt from 2012 SoCal Quilt Run – Right before the pandemic started I went to the first retreat of the year. At the retreat I was able to lay out all the blocks and decide how to put them together. All I have to do is put them together.
Update: I pieced the first 2 rows together.
Dancing with the Stars by Linda Ballard – At the same retreat I finished some of the blocks for this and realized I didn’t have any more of the white. I believe I pulled it for another project and never replaced it. I’ve since bought more white fabric and can start working on this again.
Update: my daughter claimed this quilt and decided she wanted it to be a Queen so I figured out how many more blocks I need to make. I started cutting and piecing them together so I’ve done a bit.
Radiant Jewel Quilt by Kimberly Einmo – this came on after the start of the year and all the blocks are done. I’m saving this for my next retreat so I have a design wall to place blocks along with quilty friends to help me try out different positions. Last month, my note said that I’m working on the border blocks but I don’t remember what this is. So, I don’t know if I still need to do this, if it was done or what. In my head, I’m done and this is on hold for the next retreat (whenever that may be).
Pictures for you:
Scrappy Stars – I should take a new picture with the sashing I’ve picked so you can see how it is going but I don’t have a good place to put it with good lighting. Hopefully that will change soon. Scrappy Stars Around the Corner
3/6/2020
Area Four Mystery Quilt – First 2 rows are pieced. 2012 Southern CA
Quilt Run
Area Four
Mystery quilt
3/8/2020
Dancing with the Stars – start working on this again
Dancing with the Stars Linda Ballard 8/2020
Gardenvale – which is what I’m calling my current WIP..
Area Three Mystery Quilt from 2012 SoCal Quilters Run – This is kitted up and I haven’t even looked at the instructions.
Now for Cross Stitch:
Mama’s Bukid – Finished this! Goal was met for this one. Mama’s Bukid
It’s finish!
3/22/2020
Gamer – Finish 6 pages. I finished 3 pages the last 3 months and I’m working on page 4 for the year. I still do not think I’ll get 6 pages done for 2020 but I’m happy with my progress. Gamer Nouveau
03/2020
6/30/2020
Gamer Nouveau 08/2020
Gamer Nouveau 08/2020
A Stitch in Time – My goal is to work on this each month and I have been. I love working on this project but it is very slow. There is a lot of confetti everywhere and it’s slow going on this one. A Stitch In Time
03/2020
A Stitch In Time 6/30/2020
A Stitch In Time 8/2020
A Kiss for Snowman – I have not worked on this at all. This is my travel project but I haven’t been travelling so I haven’t done anything with it. I think what I will do is add this to my rotation and during the same week work on Gamer at the same time. I can do that because this is held in had while All the other projects are on frames.
Mirabilia Titania – Added a new project to the rotation. Now that Mama’s Bukid is done, I decided to add another project to my rotation. This one is not nearly as complex as Gamer or A Stitch in Time as it is not full coverage and is not heavy on the confetti. There is beading and some back stitch but I think this is certainly doable. I feel like with Gamer and A Stitch in Time, having a small one like A Kiss for Snowman and this Mira will help me see movement when projects like A Stitch in Time go so slowly.
Area One Mystery Quilt from 2012 SoCal Quilt Run – I finished this top!!! 🙂 and it’s now in the quilt queue.
Area Four Mystery Quilt from 2012 SoCal Quilt Run – Right before the pandemic started I went to the first retreat of the year. At the retreat I was able to lay out all the blocks and decide how to put them together. All I have to do is put them together.
Update: I haven’t touched this since then.
Dancing with the Stars – At the same retreat I finished some of the blocks for this and realized I didn’t have any more of the white. I believe I pulled it for another project and never replaced it. I’ve since bought more white fabric and can start working on this again.
Update: I haven’t touched this since then.
Not on my goal list but something I’ve been working on a lot the last few months is Radiant Jewel Quilt by Kimberly Einmo. I’ve got all the blocks A and blocks B done. I’m working on the border blocks.
Scrappy Stars – Just pick something and move forward on this Scrappy Stars Around the Corner
3/6/2020
Area Four Mystery Quilt – piece all the blocks together and figure out if you want a border or not. 2012 Southern CA
Quilt Run
Area Four
Mystery quilt
3/8/2020
Dancing with the Stars – start working on this again now that I’ve got more white fabric. Dancing with the Stars
Linda Ballard
3/8/2020
Radiant Jewel Quilt by Kimberly Einmo – I’ve actually been working on this quilt a lot and I’m putting the blocks together. I get held up when it’s time to press but I am getting pretty far on this project.
Gardenvale – which is what I’m calling my current WIP..
Area Three Mystery Quilt from 2012 SoCal Quilters Run – This is kitted up and I haven’t even looked at the instructions.
Now for Cross Stitch:
Mama’s Bukid – Finished this! Goal was met for this one. Mama’s Bukid
It’s finish!
3/22/2020
Gamer – Finish 6 pages. I finished 2 pages the last 3 months and I’m working on page 3 for the year. I still do not think I’ll get 6 pages done for 2020 but I’m happy with my progress. Gamer Nouveau
03/2020
6/30/2020
I got a lot done this last quarter and maybe if I continue at this current pace I’ll be able to finish up the row. I don’t know though, it’s a lot of stitching and I don’t want to burn myself out. I still love working on this piece but in June I was doing 100 stitches a day and I do not think I’ll be able to keep up the pace another month.
A Stitch in Time – My goal is to work on this each month and I have been. I love working on this project but it is very slow. There is a lot of confetti everywhere and it’s slow going on this one. A Stitch In Time
03/2020
A Stitch In Time 6/30/2020
I finished a page on this and I also love working on it. But this is 25 count and my eyes can work on it at certain times of the day. So I work a bit in the mornings when I’m able to.
A Kiss for Snowman – I have not worked on this at all. This is my travel project but I haven’t been travelling so I haven’t done anything with it. I think what I will do is add this to my rotation and during the same week work on Gamer at the same time. I can do that because this is held in had while All the other projects are on frames.
Mirabilia Titania – Added a new project to the rotation. Now that Mama’s Bukid is done, I decided to add another project to my rotation. This one is not nearly as complex as Gamer or A Stitch in Time as it is not full coverage and is not heavy on the confetti. There is beading and some back stitch but I think this is certainly doable. I feel like with Gamer and A Stitch in Time, having a small one like A Kiss for Snowman and this Mira will help me see movement when projects like A Stitch in Time go so slowly.
Titania – 5/25/2020
I do not have an updated picture for this. I’ll have to take one the next time I pull it out.
I’ll have to update you on the knitting and other crafts another time as this post is too long and it’s giving me a headache. 🙂
