Twilight Duel - SAL Update 1

This Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED) "Twilight Duel" cross-stitch project will be my next focus piece for this SAL. 

The photo above shows my progress through February 15, 2020.
It was 46.62% complete.

I started this piece, featuring Ruth Thompson's fabulous dragons, for my youngest son on August 30, 2015. 

10 of 24 pages are complete. I will be focusing on finishing page 9. My goal is to finish the 3rd row of pages (3 - already done, 9, 15 & 21) by the end of the year.

This will also be my focus piece for Road Trip Across the USA Challenge with the Stitchtalk HAED Challenges Facebook Group. 

829 stitches were added since February 15th. 
It is now 47.18% complete.

Our next update will be on March 29th. My goal is to add at least 750 stitches.

There were a few finishes and happy dances during our last update. (I hope I did not miss anyone...)

I finished my Heaven and Earth Designs Storykeep Effects of Caffeine, as seen here. 

Christina at Petals and Pins had 2 finishes! You may see her Christmas Dollhouse by Natalia Luneva and First Snow by Alicia Paulson here.

Sharon of Piecing Life Together One Stitch at a Time finished a darling Cardinal Stitch a Card Counted Cross Stitch, as seen here.

About this Stitch Along (SAL)

For this SAL, we each choose our own project to work on and share an update every third Sunday. If you would like to join, Avis has shared information about joining on her blog, Sewing Beside the Sea.

I encourage you to stop by and see what the other SAL bloggers have been up to. Linda, we are so happy to have you joining us again! Laura and Cathie, welcome to the SAL!

We are all in different time zones, so if a post is not up yet, please check again later.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue,
Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy,
Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan,
Deborah, Mary Margaret, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon,
Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny,
Laura, Cathie

Thanks for visiting!
Renee

TAST 2020 Chain Stitch

A new round of Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST) began in January.

TAST is a personal challenge to learn a new hand embroidery stitch each week. The challenge is offered by Sharon Boggon of Pin Tangle. You may learn more about the challenge here.

Beyond TAST offers a more complex stitch for those that have completed TAST in the past or are more experienced embroiderers. (I have not worked these yet.)

TAST Week 1: Chain Stitch

This stitch was worked with size 8 Anchor red floss.

I then added size 12 cream Presencia Finca floss to create a whipped chain stitch (as seen in the photo at the beginning of this post.)

TAST Week 2: Fly Stitch

Eight fly stitches worked with size 12 DMC pearl cotton made a snowflake. 

A size 10/0 crystal glass seed bead was added to the center.

I need to work on my spacing, but I also worked a beaded fly stitched snowflake with the same DMC pearl cotton and crystal glass beads.

TAST Week 4: Stem Stitch

I traced a heart (using one of Sharon Boggon's Stitchers Templates Set 1) onto the foundation on the back of the block with a pencil (as seen below.)

Next, I used a pink Anchor size 8 pearl cotton to stem stitch around the heart.



TAST Week 3 was the Buttonhole Stitch. I have not used it yet this year, but I tend to use it to make flower stems (as seen in 2 of the seams surrounding the heart in my Stem Stitch photo.) 

Do you have a favorite way to use the the Chain Stitch, Fly Stitch or Stem Stitch? 

March 2020

Hello March!

February Goals in Review and March Goals:

My March Goals:

1. Complete the race I signed up for in March.
2. Add 300 stitches to Fractal White Tiger cross-stitch and share progress on Stitchy Start Blog.
3. Make progress on Twilight Duel cross-stitch to share in my March 8th and March 29th SAL updates.
4. Make progress on Winter/Christmas Wall Quilt to share with the 1 X-mas Item a Month Blog.
5. Make progress on my UFO list. #7 was selected for March - quilting my Sun, Sand, and Sea Block of the Month Quilt, but I need to swap that with #5 - finishing the last block.

February in review:
1. February: Train to run in March.  I am a bit frustrated with a knee issue that I hope is only shoe related.

2. February: Add 300 stitches to Charting Creations Fractal White Tiger and share progress on the Stitchy Start Blog.

Done! 723 stitches were added and the update is here. 

3. February: Add at least 30 stitches/day to HAED Storykeep Effects of Caffeine for 100 Days of HAED Challenge and share progress with the 3 week SAL.

Done! This piece was finished, as seen here.

1,756 stitches were added in February.
450 stitches counted toward the 100 Days of HAED Challenge.
1,306 additional stitches were added and 1,215 of those counted toward the Road Trip Around the USA Challenge - reaching  Campobello Island in the challenge.

4. February: Make progress on HAED Twilight Duel.

On February 16th, I switched to Twilight Duel for the 100 Days of HAED Challenge after finishing the Storykeep Effects of Caffeine. 

On February 28th, I spent time with a visitor rather than stitching. I only made it through 58 of the 100 Days for this challenge, but I am thrilled with my progress.

829 stitches were added to Twilight Duel in February.
360 stitches counted toward the 100 Days of HAED Challenge.
469 stitches counted toward the Road Trip Around the USA Challenge - reaching Old Port, Maine in the challenge.

5. February: Make progress on #2 and #9 on my American Patchwork Quilting (APQ) UFO Challenge.

#2 - Crazy Quilted Valentine Fabric Postcard - added a stem-stitched heart.

#9 - Winter/Christmas Wall Quilt - added a few more snowflakes.

6. February: Finish Snowman Ornament and make progress on Winter/Christmas Crazy Quilt to share on the 1 X-mas Item a Month blog.

Done! I finished this ornament yesterday and shared it here. I also added a few more snowflakes to the Winter/Christmas Crazy Quilt, as seen above.

7. InCoWriMo - Write a letter, card or postcard every day in February.

I knew InCoWriMo would be a stretch with everything else I hoped to accomplish this month. I only managed 5 of 29 this year - it was 4 more than I would have sent, though! 


Thanks for stopping by! 
Renee

SK Effects of Caffeine - SAL Update 20

I am thrilled to share a finish today! Working on this Heaven and Earth Designs cross-stitch project, based on Randal Spangler's Storykeep Effects of Caffeine, has been a joy. 

This is how it looked in our last update, 2,265 stitches ago.

This Stitch-Along (SAL) is organized by Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea. Each participant chooses 1 project to work and and we share updates every 3rd Sunday. 

I encourage you to check out the other crafty bloggers to see what they are working on. We are thrilled to have Jenny joining us again.

Please note that we are all over the world, so if a post is not up yet, please check back later.


Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, 
Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, 
Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, 
Deborah, Mary Margaret, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon,
Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny

If you missed the happy dances for finishes with our last update (I hope I did not miss any):
Christina at Petals and Pins finished Into the Jungle, as seen here.
Sharon at Piecing Life Together One Stitch at a time finished her Ornamental Pumpkin, as seen here. (I do love pumpkins!)

Thank you for visiting!
Renee

February 2020

February is here already!

It truly feels like every month goes faster than the last. 

January Goals in Review and February Goals:

January: Find a race to run and track my miles with Runkeeper App.

I signed up for a race in March and ran 10.5 miles in January. (A bad cold early in the month prevented more.)

February: Train to run in March.

January: Add 300 stitches to Charting Creations Fractal White Tiger and share progress on the Stitchy Start blog. Done! 

371 Stitches added - mostly during International Hermit & Stitch Weekend (IHSW) through the Facebook group. IHSW is the 3rd full weekend of the month.

February goal is the same.

January: Add at least 30 stitches/day to Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED) Storykeep Effects of Caffeine and share updates every 3rd Sunday with the SAL. Done! 

4,054 stitches were added in January. 930 counted towards the 100 Days of HAED Challenge to add 30 stitches/day. 

The remaining stitches counted as 3,124 miles in the Road Trip Around the USA Challenge. 29,240 miles to go...

February goal is the same. The next SAL update is February 16th.

January: Make progress on HAED Twilight Duel. Done!

2 hours went into Twilight Duel, adding 247 stitches to page 9.

February goal is the same.

January: Finish crazy quilted Valentine fabric postcard - #2 on my American Patchwork & Quilting (APQ) UFO Challenge (seen in the photo at the top of this blog post.) No progress made...

February: Make progress on (or finish?!) #9 on my APQ UFO Challenge List. This is my Winter/Christmas crazy quilt. 

January: 1 X-mas Item a Month blog: share progress on my Winter/Christmas Crazy Quilt. No progress made... 

Still dreading embroidering snowflakes, I hoped to finish this crazy quilted snowman ornament to share instead.  It is not quite done.

February goal is to finish this ornament and to share progress on my Winter/Christmas Crazy Quilt on the 1 X-mas Item a Month blog.

InCoWriMo - February is INternational COrrespondence WRiting MOnth. The goal is to write one letter a day throughout the month of February. 29 letters, cards and/or postcards in 29 days. I am joining the fun in 2020. Are you participating? If so, please let me know!

Yikes. This list looks a little overwhelming. I will take it one step, letter, and at least 30 stitches a day!

Wishing you all a fabulous February!
-Renee