A wise start?

I've been thinking about my stitching plans for next year (that'll be another post) and I decided to look through all my patterns and see if anything jumped out and yelled "Start Me!" To be honest, I want to start it all, but that's not realistic. Surprisingly, nothing that wasn't already a planned start landed in the to-do pile (we'll see how long that lasts).

That being said, there are a few new starts waiting … along with a rather large pile of WIPs and UFOs.  I didn't mean to start anything new till January, but that did not go as planned. I started Wise Wisdom by Stoney Creek.

This is one of those patterns that normally wouldn't appeal to me, but the moment I saw it, I knew who I had to stitch it for and why. So it was bought and has been sitting in the to-start pile for a few months. It is a wonderfully simple pattern and I am whizzing through the first part faster that I expected.

Admitting Defeat?

When I started the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 10 months ago, I thought it was a great opportunity to make myself stitch a bunch of the little projects that had been piling up in my stash drawer. Deciding on 31 projects was tough, and I threw in quite a few silly little kits, etc so that I could have more finishes.

What a mistake.

I have felt pressured to complete a bunch of projects that I really am not enjoying, just so I can say "I finished X number of projects." It's stupid. I'm wasting my precious stitchy time on things I really don't care about, don't know what I'll do with once I'm finished them, and that I've outgrown and simply don't like anymore.

So it all stops now.

I will no longer waste time finishing projects just to finish them. I'm going to stitch only on the projects I love and that I really want to complete and hang on my wall. So say goodbye to the Mill Hill ornament kits, the Imperial Pansy kit, and the Stained Glass Pansy. Available to good homes for free!

Now ... back to stitching something that excites me!

Beading Bonanza

Just a quickie post to show a little finish.

This is a Mill Hill Ornament kit called Diamond Holiday. This actually took much less time to do than I had anticipated, although the beading was a little tedious.

Hopefully between now and Christmas I'll find the time to finish it off as a proper ornament. I see felt,  ribbon, and a hot glue gun in my future.

This also marks the completion of my personal goal of finishing half of my Ultimate Crazy January Challenge starts. Hurray!! This is finish 16 of 31. Can you believe it? I might even have another finish or two before the end of the year!

Frames, a finish, and some stash

As part of my UCJC, I'm trying to finish one small ornament-sized piece a month. It's halfway through the month and I only just realized I hadn't worked on an ornament-sized piece yet! So, I got to work. And here is my eighth finish for the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge:

This is Carolyn's Garden Sunflower by Serendipity Designs. I'm normally not a fan of anything yellow, but this design reminds me of my trip to Europe last summer, where I got to see field upon field full of big, beautiful sunflowers as I rode the train through the Italian countryside. It was stunning to see!

I also picked up a few of my finished projects from the framer.

Christmas Snow:

Tree of Stitches:

I think they both look divine!! I love the simple framing and the custom stain/paint that my framer does for me. He's wonderful!

And of course, the dear owners of my LNS actually listen to me when I wistfully say, "Oh I'd love to have that design. I should order it." A few of these patterns came in finally, and I picked them up. (Seriously though, do I really need more patterns?!?)

Plum Pudding by Glendon Place and Love - Quaker Style by AuryTM:

Warrior and Paladin by Firewing Designs:

My 3rd UCJC Finish!

As promised ... I finished Carolyn's Garden Poppy by Serendipity Designs yesterday afternoon.

I'm very glad to have 3 of 31 finished ... on to the next one!

A pretty poppy update

Not a lot of time to stitch lately (what a surprise!), but I've made a little progress on my next potential finish (fingers crossed) -- Carolyn's Garden Poppy from my UCJC.

Anyway, on to the picture ...

I kind of have it in my brain that I need to finish one small every month, and then anything else is a bonus! :) I'm hoping to have this done by the weekend.

2012 UCJC - Day 30

I stitched a Lickle Ted kit last year, and I know how tiresome stitching shades of cream and beige can be. Add to that the annoying fractionals and loads of backstitching, well, I have no idea why I chose to do another one. I will admit they are very cute though.

During the entire challenge, I dreaded starting this project the most.

Oddly enough, I rather enjoyed stitching today. I was bummed that I only had a very limited amount of stitchy time.

So, today's start was Lickle Bit Shy by DMC. I traded out the aida in the kit (stupid to have aida with a pattern with so many fractionals) and replaced it with some 32 ct white lugana.

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of the challenge. I've been trying to decide what project I'll work on on February 1st, but I really can't decide. Maybe I won't stitch at all, who knows?

2012 UCJC - Day 29

I was so not in the mood to stitch today. I am burnt out from all these new starts. I dreaded starting today, and I dread starting projects for the next 2 days. But ... after getting this far, I'm going to finish the stinking challenge.

Anyway, today I started the last of the tiny kits - Sapphire Snow Christmas Jewels Charmed Ornament by Mill Hill.

2012 UCJC - Day 26

Today I started Imperial Irises by Serendipity Designs. I did not make much progress. It really doesn't look like anything yet. But it's a start! LOL

Side note -- This past weekend was IHSW (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend). While I did stitch, I feel like I have nothing to show that's new. Everything I stitched has been posted as part of the UCJC. So, sorry for falling short on that mark. Next month -- I promise it'll be better!

2012 UCJC - Day 25

Another Serendipity Design -- Carolyn's Garden Sunflower.

It's hard to believe I've started 25 projects, and still have 6 more to go. To be perfectly honest, I'm exhausted. I usually stitch every day for an hour or two, but with this challenge, I feel pressured to not only stitch daily, but to make enough progress that a photo doesn't look like nothing.

As well, the first 15 projects I started were designs that I LOVED, and couldn't wait to stitch. I already know where I want to hang half of them. The last 16 projects on my UCJC list, well, most of them I'm starting because I have the kit, and I like them, and I should start them eventually, but the passion to stitch them isn't really there. I also feel guilty for starting a few new HAEDs, even though I haven't put much of a dent in the current HAEDs I have on the go.

I'm glad I did this challenge. Organizing my projects was a blast, and most days the stitching has been fun. It certainly got me out of the stitching rut I was in. I will not do this again next year. (I think I need next year just to finish what I started this year.) If I do this challenge again (perhaps in 2014), it will only be 15 starts. 31 is just too insane.

But I will finish the challenge this year. I will start them all!!

2012 UCJC - Day 24

Another fun stitchy day (though not as much time spent stitching as I'd like)!

Today I started another Serendipity Designs kit called Carolyn's Garden Violets. These kits are actually really nice. I love the thread sorter card that comes in the kit and the pattern is easy to read. I have a few of these in my UCJC list -- cute kits, but I doubt I'd buy any small kits like these again. What can I say? I like bigger projects.

Anyway ... here's my progress:

2012 UCJC - Day 22

Not much to see today, but it's still a start.

This is Snowflake Tree - part of the Festival of Trees Charmed Ornament line by Mill Hill. I actually stitched this same ornament last year and I loved the look of it so much, I'm stitching it again!! It's a pretty easy stitch and shouldn't take me long to complete, once I get a chance to put some time into it.

2012 UCJC - Day 20

Not much stitching got done today, but I still managed to start another project. Today I was working on a kit called Oriental Orchid by Dimensions.

The aida isn't dirty; it's got this weird background shading on it. I stitch overtop some of it. There's also two blends in there, but it's difficult to tell. It all looks the same in the photo.

I love the design, hate the aida. Yuck.

2012 UCJC - Day 17

Today's start is a little kit from Serendipity Designs called Carolyn's Garden Poppy. After the blah time I had with the Mill Hill kit the other day, I wasn't looking forward to today's start. Happily, it turned out to be a very nice little chart to stitch. I think I made decent progress as well.

This might just become a Mother's Day present ... :)

2012 UCJC - Day 16

I started this piece just after midnight, and I was so not into it. I did a little more stitching this afternoon and it got a little better. For some reason, this piece (even though I love the design) was not fun to stitch. Perhaps it's the super stiff aida that turned me off. Maybe it's because I was stitching with 4 stands of floss, so I had to change from my usual DMC size 28 needle to a size 26 gold John James needle. Every time I pulled the needle through the aida it squeaked. *cringe* It was like nails on a chalkboard.

Anyway, today's stitchy project was Woodland Enchantress by Dimensions Gold Collection. It's stitched on 16 ct dove gray aida. Not a whole lot of progress. :(