UCJC Wrap Up

It's hard to believe that 2012 is almost over! What a year ... what an array of projects! I remember last December when I was prepping and kitting up for 31 different projects. The planning was so much fun!

January was a bigger challenge than I anticipated. The frustration of having to put a project down every night and pick up a new one in the morning, the exhaustion from stitching and blogging daily, and the ridiculous pressure I put on myself to make decent progress every day that month. After a while, changing projects stopped bothering me, but I had no clue what I'd stitched in prior days or weeks. It all blurred together.

Throughout the year, I did a pretty good job of primarily working on my UCJC projects and I did finish  quite a few of them. I only had 3 non-UCJC finishes: Music Montage and two Tree of Stitches (one at the beginning of the year and one at the end of the year) with only 2 of those being new starts. I did manage some progress on Drama Queen as well, but only in the latter half of the year.

Let's have a look at what I managed to do for UCJC:

Finishes!
I had a pretty good finish ratio I think. Out of the original 15 projects on my list, I finished 10 of them (one of them was a page finish, but that counted for this challenge).

1. Snowflake - 2009 Ornament (Tor Rhuann Designs)

 
 3. Hardanger - Clover (Mabel Figworthy's Fancies)

4. Tribal Butterfly (Sparklies)

5. NATO Phonetics Subversive Sampler (Kincavel Krosses)

6. Swirly Snow (My Big Toe Designs)

7. Weiniec Korona (Penelopis freebie)

8. Metamorphosis (Ink Circles)

11. Austrian I (Bleu de Chine - JCS Jan/Feb 2010)

13. Diamond Holiday (Mill Hill)

15. Cirque des Carreaux (Ink Circles - page finish)

Out of all 31 projects, I finished 17 projects (two of which were page finishes). The rest of the finishes were:

17. Carolyn's Garden Poppy (Serendipity Designs)

19. Oh Bugger Subversive Sampler (Kincavel Krosses)

21. Catch a Falling Star (Julie Fain - HAED - page finish)

23. For Beauty Kimono (Joan Elliot)

24. Carolyn's Garden Violet (Serendipity Designs)

25. Carolyn's Garden Sunflower (Serendipity Designs)

28. Christmas Eve Flight (thesamplergirl.com)

Abandoned
Around October, I finally had to admit that I hated the pressure of trying to finish stuff for UCJC. I had included a bunch of smalls in my line up, so the challenge would be a tad easier to meet, and I just hated stitching them! I decided to abandon a few of the projects, and I sent them off to new homes around the globe.

12. Stained Glass Pansy (Solaria Gallery)

22. Snowflake Tree (Mill Hill)

26. Imperial Irises (Serendipity Designs)

29. Sapphire Snow (Mill Hill)

In early December, I decided I hated stitching on black fabric, so 31. SK Oriental Courage was abandoned as well.

Works in Progress
While I didn't finish everything, I did put stitches into a LOT of projects. The following projects were worked on during the year, but are nowhere near finished. They will end up on next year's WIP or UFO list.

9. Elizabeth (Mirabilia)

10. Rules For Life (Kincavel Krosses)

18. I Stitch Therefore I Stash (CSC magazine)

27. QS Blue Butterfly (HAED)

Untouched
A few pieces never saw the light of day again after they were started. They have all ended up on my UFO list for next year. I doubt any of them will get touched next year either, but maybe the year after! LOL

2. Fractal 284 Bookmark (Cross Stitch Collectibles)

14. Welcome Sampler (Kincavel Krosses)

16. Woodland Enchantress (Dimensions Gold)

20. Oriental Orchid (Dimensions)

30. Lickle Bit Shy (DMC)

I can honestly say that the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge was definitely a challenge - both mentally and stitching-ly. I am proud to say I've attempted it and done quite well, but I will never do it again. Too much pressure (even if it is just in my own head) and not a lot of room for adding in new and exciting projects. It amazes me how much my tastes have changed over the year, and charts I was dying to stitch before, now bore me to tears. We'll see how many of the untouched ever get touched again!

Regardless, I look forward to another (more relaxed) stitching journey in 2013!!

Thank you all for reading my ramblings and encouraging me throughout. Cheers!!