August WIPocalypse

I know I'm a day late with this post, but I wanted to wait for a page finish on Pavonia, and I made it! So here she is with her second set of pages done! :)

Pavonia, Aug. 30

This is the first month I've stitched on her since April, but I've managed to make up for some of my slacking.
August Goal: 1,550 stitches. Actual progress: 4,261 stitches.
YTD Target Total: 10,850 stitches. Actual total: 8,531.
So the good news is I actually doubled my stitching total for the year. (Very pleased with myself about that.) The bad news is I'm still short by over 2,300 stitches for the year. But hopefully I can stay focused and have it done by December. (Here's to hoping!)

I haven't stitched on Moon Indigo since May, but she'll be making her appearance next month. (Yay!) I did manage a page finish on The Favorite Bird earlier this month, but the pic is boring, so no need to repost. It's on my Wips page if you really want to see it.

Now for this month's topic: Pick one of the WIP pieces you’ve stitched on this month, and tell us about your stitching journey with the piece.

Of course, I have to talk about Pavonia. This is really the piece that started it all, as far as my obsession with large scale projects goes. I remember at the time, I really wanted to stitch something epic, but couldn't find anything in local craft stores that took my fancy.  I happened upon some online cross stitch stores by chance, and had a lightbulb moment to look for charts as well. Eventually I found Golden Kite, and saw Pavonia (and a few others...). It was pretty much love at first sight. My mother laughed when I told her the size, but I wasn't intimidated.

I had to change everything about the way I stitched to accommodate Pavo. I had to order a huge piece of fabric on a count I hadn't known existed before, then get a frame large enough to hold her. (I knew my hoops wouldn't work at all.) Then I had to figure out how to deal with all the thread. Normally I kept a box full of bobbins and just wound excess thread back onto each one when I finished a color. Couldn't do that with blended threads. So I got a bunch of Pako organizers to keep it all sorted (those things are a lifesaver!), plus clipboards for the pages and pages of charts, plus highlighters and markers to know what I'm stitching. This turned out to be a very expensive hobby. But my only regret is that I didn't find these charts sooner. I still stitch smaller charts and kits, but my passion is with BAPs and IMPs. It will be a while before I complete any of them, but for now I'm really enjoying the journey.

Pavonia is charted by Golden Kite, originally painted by Frederic Leighton. The portrait is of a "Roman Lady," shown in two other paintings below. Pavonia is latin for peacock.

 Happy stitching, all. Until next time!

August IHSW

Have you ever rekindled an old friendship after a long separation and wondered why on earth you stopped hanging out in the first place? That's kind of what I'm experiencing with Pavonia. I know I was dang busy this spring and got crazy sidetracked with knitting, but I've really missed stitching on her. She's been my only wip this week (and I actually stitched all seven days!), so the progress is really starting to show. For this month's IHSW, I managed 1,040 stitches. Not bad for three days work. :) Here's before and after:

I'm hoping to have this part done by the end of the month. It might be a stretch with all the confetti I'll have to deal with, but I'm gonna be optimistic. After all, on the next set of pages I'll *finally* get to start her face!

Wishing everyone amazing progress. Until next time!

Page Finish!

As I warned you earlier, this really isn't much to look at, but I have indeed completed one more teeny tiny page on my largest project, The Favorite Bird. I've started at the bottom right, so it's just a bit of a table leg (if you squint, you might see it) and lots of floor. But it's progress! Only 218 pages to go! (sheesh...)

The Favorite Bird, Aug. 13

Total stitching time for this page was 7 days, which makes me sad to put her away, but away she must go. For now I am focusing on Pavonia, trying to catch up all the stitching I missed this spring. Same goes for Moon Indigo, who should be making an appearance sometime soon.

I'd like to leave you with something pretty to look at, so here is my now framed Green Fern Fairy! I finished her way back in February and now have her back from the shop and ready for my mother's wall. (She does tend to claim all my finished projects.)

Green Fern Fairy

It's really nice to see something of mine framed for a change. I hardly ever finish anything, so it's kind of a big deal for me. Motivation for the future, I guess. :)

Hope you all are doing well in your stitching endeavors. Until next time!