Warning... long post alert!
I've been caught in a trap - the #24HoursOfCrossStitch trap!
(I gotta get me one of these clocks!)
This SAL is the brainchild of Jen from Quirks and Stitches and is primarily a Face Book / Instagram group where, I believe, the original idea was to stitch for a straight 24 hours.
But out of that spawned further ideas resulting in three monthly challenges where fun, creativity and shoe-horning are strongly encouraged!
Because I plan my year of stitching in advance, a lot of SALs are not for me. But with this one I can work the SAL around the stitching I would be doing anyway. I didn't join in in June but this month there was absolutely no stopping me!!
The three parts of the challenge are:
1) stitch for 24 hours during the month.
2) connect your project(s) to an acrostic and track either time or stitches (optional)
3) connect your project(s) to various holidays throughout the month, stitching for at least 24 minutes or 120 stitches on each (bonus challenge)
I participated in all three, and definitely had moments of frustration trying to find connections - although I should emphasise it was not the type of frustration where I wanted to pull my hair out but rather the sort where the answer to a quiz question is on the tip of your tongue for ages but you only remember at 3am!
I was contemplating whether or not to show pictures, as most have been recently posted, but since this is a stand-alone post I thought I'd add them in. If it's too much then I can always leave them out next month, but I like that it's actually quite a nice month-end round-up, something I've never done before.
So here we go...
1) Stitch for 24 hours during the month
I managed a total of 37 hours 15 minutes, which is a bit below my monthly average but still over the required amount. My time was split between eight projects:
Yawning Christmas Cat - 6h 30m - started and finished
Kings and Queens (King John) - 5h 15m - started and finished
Green Halloween Banner - 5h 35m - progress
(which brought me to the end of a ten hour stint)
(only a peek because I haven't reached the full 10 hours yet)
Snow Globe Tree - 3h 25m - new start
Winter Bird - 4h - new start
2) Fill in the acrostic TEAM 24 HOUR (I wanted to include each project at least once)
T - Hogwarts In A Bottle - progress was made on a couple of turrets
E - Kings and Queens - this is being stitched on evenweave
A - Green Halloween Banner - the chart was designed by Artecy
M - Winter Bird - the colour of the thread is Moonlit Skies
2 - August In Peridot - I stitched for 2 hours (and a bit) on this project
4 - Snow Globe Tree - I will (eventually) be using 4 Etoile threads on this project
H - Yawning Christmas Cat - he is wearing a lovely Santa hat
O - Snow Globe Tree - the snow globe is round, like the letter O
U - Green Halloween Banner - I was unperturbed by the amount of black stitching
R - July In Ruby - the thread was ruby coloured
3) Connect 12 or more of the given holidays to your projects and stitch for at least 24 minutes on each. (I allocated two holidays to each project, so 16 holidays. See above for time spent on each one.)
1st - Creative Ice Cream Flavour Day - Green Halloween Banner - in recognition of all the black I had to stitch I chose Marmite flavoured ice-cream. Yum!
3rd - Stay Out Of The Sun Day - Snow Globe Tree - because I don't want the snow to melt.
4th - 4th Of July - Green Halloween Banner - in recognition of all the banners which are flown on the occasion.
6th - World Kiss Day - July In Ruby - the prince had to kiss Snow White's ruby lips in order to wake her up.
7th - National Strawberry Sundae Day - July In Ruby - because rubies are red, just like strawberries.
9th - National No Bra Day - Winter Bird - I've heard it said that when ladies go bra-less they are either 'floating free' or 'flying free'. Most birds fly, some also float.
11th - Cheer Up The Lonely Day - Yawning Christmas Cat - cats make good companions and this little one would certainly cheer up a lonely person.
12th - Simplicity Day - Winter Bird - a simple project because there's only one symbol on the chart.
15th - National Give Something Away Day - Yawning Christmas Cat - because Christmas is a time for giving.
16th - World Snake Day - Hogwarts In A Bottle - it was during the final battle at Hogwarts that Neville killed Voldemort's snake, Nagini.
20th - Space Exploration Day - Kings and Queens - the first American to orbit the Earth was John Glenn, obviously named in honour of my monarch of the month, King John!
22nd - National Hammock Day - Snow Globe Tree - because hammocks are traditionally suspended from trees.
23rd - Hot Enough For Ya Day - August In Peridot - peridots are symbolic of the sun and the sun has recently been giving the northern hemisphere some extraordinarily hot weather.
25th - Thread The Needle Day - August In Peridot - because I stitched this project on a train and kept giggling when trying to thread the needle whilst the train was wobbling!
28th - Parents' Day - Kings and Queens - many kings and queens would not have been monarchs themselves had it not been for their parents being monarchs. I wonder how many actually appreciated that?
30th - International Day Of Friendship - Hogwarts In A Bottle - because schools are one of the places lifelong friendships are forged.
And that's it! What a thoroughly enjoyable challenge this is! If you like this SAL then I hope you have found my interpretations enjoyable too and may even think about joining in.
The only other blog participant I've seen so far is Katie, so go check out her post too. (I'll update if I see any more).
Next month's tasks are very similar to this month's and I can't wait to get my needles and old grey matter working on them. Back on 1st September with more #24HOCS fun then!
Take care,
Rachel x
Lovely post! I love all your connections. Keep the photos. Like you said it's great to see them all in one place. Your holiday connections are perfect! I smiled through them all. I definitely need to be more creative with that part. Can't wait to see what we get done in August!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize you were doing this challenge too. I love how you've made it work with your already planned stitching AND how you've made some of the connections. Please keep the photos because I often forget what something looks like from one post to the next.
ReplyDeleteI think the photos should stay with the post. It is nice to see them all in one place and even nocer for people who may have missed a post or two. Good luck with August!
ReplyDeleteGreat work making all the connections.
ReplyDeleteI did the Challenges too but abandoned the Acrostic. The 24 hours of stitching was done in about nine days but the Holiday one was a triumph!
I got something for every single day, nearly all on the actual day too. I haven't done a blog post because my final post of the month was quite long enough already LOL
What s fun post Rachel. Loved all of it. I thought about doing it this month but still overwhelmed with the other 2 I am doing.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Ooh always love reading about your plans. You’re my favourite blogger! I love all the details. I’m not sure if I’ve missed your post on it, but do you have a post on how you track your time - do you use an app or do you write it in your spreadsheets? Thank you so much x
ReplyDeleteI love all these challenges making their way around this year. While I'm not participating in this one specifically, I did enjoy reading about it :)
ReplyDeleteThat was quite a challenge, you nailed it! So much planning too, I'm impressed!
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