2019 in Review

I wish you all a very happy and healthy new year!

Can you believe the last day of 2019 has already arrived and a new decade will begin in the morning?! 

To all of you that work full-time, care for loved ones and still manage to find time for crafts and blogging, way to go! (I am still struggling to find that balance...)

I am afraid my blogging has been very sporadic this year. I have a few plans to hopefully change that in 2020. We shall see how they work out.

Thanks to a Christmas gift exchange, I finally have a few finishes to share from this year. These zipper coin pouches and tissue case covers were created for my co-workers - a couple of ladies I am very lucky to spend time with each week.

My goals for 2019 (shared in this post) were:

• Eat more vegetables. - Done! My husband and I completed the Whole 30 Challenge, which helped a lot with this goal. (I ate a mint without thinking about the sugar, so I didn't technically finish the challenge, but my husband did!)
• Drink more water. - I did well with this for a while, but need to increase my water intake again.
• Get back into a running routine. - I did this for several months. My son and I even ran in a Color Run this fall. (He let me share the photo above.) Circumstances out of my control required a running break, but I am eager to get back to it!
• Finish up some unfinished projects. - Some progress was made on 2 projects from my UFO list, but there were no finishes. My cross-stitch projects received the majority of attention.

Thanks to joining the Stitch Along (SAL) hosted by Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea, I managed a fair amount of progress on my Heaven and Earth Designs Storykeep Effects of Caffeine (artwork by Randal Spangler.)

January 1, 2019 - 18.55% complete with 4,390 stitches. 

0 of 4 pages finished.

December 31, 2019 - 75.44% complete with 17,850 stitches.

2 of 4 pages finished.

13,460 stitches were added this year. 

If I meet my goal of 650 stitches every 3 weeks, this should be finished by July 12, 2020.





I joined a Stitch Around the World Challenge through the Facebook Stitchtalk HAED Challenges group. The goal was to add 53,855 stitches to one Heaven and Earth Designs cross-stitch chart. My personal goal was to accomplish half that amount on Twilight Duel (artwork by Ruth Thompson.) In reality, I completed just over 20% of the journey and I am thrilled with that progress. 

January 1, 2019 - 38.90% complete with 57,412 stitches.

7 of 24 pages finished.

December 31, 2019 - 46.45% complete with 68,567 stitches.

11,155 stitches were added this year. 

10 of 24 pages finished.








Next year, I hope to have more updates of my Charting Creations Fractal White Tiger to share on the Stitchy Start blog.

January 1, 2019 - 17.15% complete with 29,900 stitches.

4 of 30 pages finished.

December 31, 2019 - 20.58% complete with 35,868 stitches.

5,968 stitches added in 2019.

4 of 30 pages finished.

Next year, I hope to share more photos on Instagram. In 2019, these were the top 9 of the 45 photos shared. (I used the free tool at bestnine(dot)net to find my top 9.)


Happy New Year!
Renee

SK Effects of Caffeine - SAL Update 17

Since our last Stitch Along (SAL) update, 1,625 stitches have been added to my Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED) Storykeep Effects of Caffeine cross-stitch. I really love artwork by Randal Spangler and it is so much fun to watch this piece come together. 

As you can see, the cup is beginning to appear! The photo below shows my progress in our last SAL update. If I meet my goal of 650 stitches every 3 weeks, I will be sharing a finish on July 12, 2020.

Thank you all so much for the sweet comments you left on my last update! To answer Anne's question, yes, there are more books in this series. Randal Spangler has similar artwork featuring cats and dogs, too. You may see more storykeep charts of his work here. A full selection of HAED cross-stitch charts based on his work may be seen here.  

This SAL is organized by Avis of Sewing by the Sea. Each participant chooses their own project to work on and we share our progress every 3rd Sunday. We are all in different time zones, so if a post is not up yet, please check back later.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue,

Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy,

Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley,

Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, Jenny, Carmela,

Jocelyn, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie

Just in case you missed these updates last week, several members finished their projects!  

• Avis finished The Cut Thru Garden Shed by Bothy Threads, as seen here. 
• Claire finished Bag Ladies by Dimensions, as seen here.
• Sunny finished a cherry blossom cross-stitch kit and a darling Edna Looney Santa Banner, as seen here.
• Jenny finished a couple of very pretty flowers, as seen here.
• Sharon finished Prickly Owl by Dimensions, as seen here.
• Anne finished her original work Portsea Cliff, as seen here.

Edited to add:

• Carole finished Fellowship of the Hooties by PinoyStitch on Etsy, as seen here. (I cannot believe I oopsed and forgot to add this finish to my original post. It is perfect for any fans of Lord of the Rings and I have a family full of those, making it a fun project to watch evolve.)

Our next update will be on January 5th. Thank you so much for visiting!

-Renee