March WIPocalypse

Can't believe it's the end of the month already! Time is just flying by all of the sudden. Again, I haven't had much stitchy time during the evenings (I've stitched a total of 5 weeknights this month) but morning stitching has been going okay, and I'm still working on Moon Indigo every Sunday (I call her my Sunday Special. See? I love nicknames!).

I've actually gotten a lot done on Luna, considering she's out only one day a week. Last month I was just shy of finishing page 9. I'm happy to say page 9 is done, and I'm halfway through the second full column on page 10:

At this rate, I may be onto page 11 by the end of June. :)

I haven't worked on my Stitchrovia Quotes SAL yet this month, though it will be my morning stitching for next week, so hopefully next month I will have an update. However, I did manage to have two new starts, both on the same day, in fact. The first was planned, and one I've been wanting to stitch since I bought the pattern almost a year ago. But I've been slowly kitting up threads and waiting on fabric, and finally made it my start for the 17th, for the Stitch Maynia SAL on facebook. This is Summer on Cherry Hill by Brenda Gervais, from With Thy Needle and Thread:

It's a mixture of Classic Colorworks and GAST, and a few Weeks, though the variegations are very subtle. It took me a while to decide on the fabric, but in the end I went with the recommended 40ct Sand linen from Picture This Plus. My first project on 40ct! I've done bits of test stitching on 40ct, but never an actual project. It was a little intimidating at first, but now I really like it. It's not much different from any other evenweave, except I do have trouble seeing the actual weave sometimes, so I have to be really careful about which hole I'm aiming for. but usually I can just guess where to stab. :)

I've only managed 4 days on Cherry Hill, thanks to my second new start. It was a kind of impulsive start, but I want to gift it for a birthday in May, so I figured I'd better get to it. But it's stitching up a lot faster than I thought it would, and I'm actually almost done. This is Friends are like Bras, by Lizzie Kate, stitched on 32ct cream Lugana:

You may remember, I did the companion piece for another friend last year. She loved it, by the way, and decided to display it at work. Consequently, it has become the motto of her department! For Friends, all I have left are the flowers at the bottom. Don't know when I'll get to them, but it will definitely be done next month. Now I just have to find a frame.

So, our question this month is: What stitchy blogs, groups, or flosstubes do you follow and why?
Well, most of the blogs I follow are on the list in the right hand column.

On facebook I'm in Stitch Maynia, Golden Kite, and the New Official Heaven and Earth Designs Group. Unfortunately, I don't really post much, I just like looking at all the pretty pictures. :) These are pretty active and welcoming groups, definitely worth checking out if you have the time.

On Flosstube, I'm all over the place. I am forever behind, and I insist on watching things in order, so a lot of my watchlist is from 2015. But I'll recommend a few of my favorites.
I think everyone knows Vonna Pfeiffer, so I'll just get her name out of the way. ;)
Definitely check out Emily C, Blitstitch, Half Stitch Cross Stitch, and the Stash Queen.
Some of my personal favorites are Olivia B, Organic Granny, Kay's Cross Stitch, Alis Stitching Studio, and Abi Bellastitch.
I know a few bloggers who have jumped onto Flosstube: Ms. Oh Sew Crafty, Confetti Stitcher, and Nikki Crafts.
I could go on, but I don't think you want a list of 80 names. :)

I think that's all for now. See you next time!

Every Stitch Counts

Hi all! Can't believe it is March already!

I know I just showed Luna last week, but today I managed to finish page 9, so I had to share. :)

I am so looking forward to starting page 10. (double digits!) There is a real motivation to keep stitching, no matter how slow my progress, because the last column on page 10 contains a few tantalizing blocks of her hair! I don't plan on getting there until June, but I love seeing how close I am every time I stitch. :)

For my morning stitching last week, I worked on Red Riding Hood by Prairie Schooler:

This is one I plan to finish this year, but it will probably take me another couple weeks to get there. I've really been enjoying this one though. It's simple and quick, and I love the sort of spiral to the design.

And of course, I was bad and started something completely unexpected. But I am really glad I did. Things are still kind of rough at home (too much family drama) and I didn't get any evening stitching done for an entire week prior to starting this. So, it was kind of a special treat to lift my spirits. And I think it worked! I stitched on this for 9 days straight, though during the week it's usually less than an hour a night. Still, the stitches are adding up, and I've loved every stitch. This is Hoity Toity, where I left it on Saturday night:

There is so much more I want to stitch on this before I put it down, I'm actually debating giving this another week. My stitching rotation has kind of fallen apart this year, but I figure as long as I'm still stitching something, I'm happy. I don't want to abandon my other projects though, so we'll just have to wait and see which I choose. :)

Think that's all I have this week. Crazy as things have been, I'm still working on getting everything ready for my next Golden Kite project. I've just gotten my necessary floss bobbinated, so next I'll be cutting lengths and organizing colors. And I do hope to post pics of my process, so hopefully I can give you ideas about starting your own blended thread project. :)

Until next time! Happy stitching!