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