Here is my monthly posting for the #24HoursOfCrossStitch Challenge, the brainchild of Jen from QuirksandStitches.
January started off really really really well but then, in the middle of the month, life threw me a curved ball (I am well overdue my share) and I had to go away a few times. I took a small project with me (there was no way I was not going to stitch every day!) but was lucky if I managed more than a few stitches each night.
At the moment I am back home and will do my best to catch up on replying to emails and commenting on blogs. However, I know I will have to go away again more than once during February so it'll be a slow process. It's a good job I am in the habit of scheduling posts in advance, hence how it appears I have not been absent and able to keep up with various SALs and other updates. Crafty!
Anyway, back to January and my contribution to this SAL.
1) Stitch for 24 hours during the month, including a minimum of 24 minutes each day
I stitched for a total of 49 hours 35 minutes during January although, as stated above, didn't manage even 24 minutes some days. Nevermind, at least I did stitch every day.
2) Fill in the acrostic READY SET XS!, explain the connections and pick a 24 minute, 4 hour or 8 hour goal for each letter.
11 letters meant 11 different projects. Luckily most of the goals were achieved very early in the month. The 12th project was the one I took away with me:
R - Robin On Postbox (new start)
Connection - R for robin
Goal - start and finish (about 3 hours?)
Actual - finished in 3h 5m
E - Advent Calendar Day 1 (new start)
Connection - the wreath is made from evergreen holly leaves
Goal - start and finish (about 2 hours?)
Actual - finished in 2h 10m
A - All Aboard the Walnut Shells (2015 WIP)
Connection - A is for All Aboard
Goal - at least 4 hours of progress
Actual - 4h 40m
Additional note: this was started on 19th January 2015 and hasn't been stitched on since.
I thought it was about time it saw daylight again!
D - Advent Calendar Day 21 (new start)
Connection - baubles are traditional Christmas decorations
Goal - start and finish (about 2 hours?)
Actual - finished in 1h 45m
Y - Kings And Queens by Bothy Threads (WIP)
Connection - I'm starting year 2 on this project
Goal - start and finish (about 5 hours?)
Actual - finished in 5h 10m
Connection - I've been stitching lots of steam
Goal - at least 8 hours of progress
Goal - at least 8 hours of progress
Actual - 10 hours
E - Daisy Umbrella (2015 WIP)
Connection - last time I worked on this (5 years ago!) I commented how the daisylooked like a fried egg. It still does, but not quite as much.
Goal - at least 4 hours of progress
Actual - 5h 15m
Additional note: this was started on 21st January 2015 and hasn't been stitched on since.
It's another WIP brought back out into the daylight because of guilt.
Two thoughts though... the background needs filling in to represent the sky and rain so,
given my love of coloured fabrics, why on earth did I start it on white?
And... why didn't I think about restarting it on blue?
If I had, it would almost be finished by now!
T - Grow Your Own by Bothy Threads (2019 WIP)
Connection - the fabric is Tumbleweed
Goal - at least 4 hours
Actual - 45 minutes (a tiny bit on the bottom right)
Connection - this has now been x'd off my WIP list
Goal - finish (about 4 hours?)
Actual - finished in 4h 15m
S - Advent Calendar Day 9 (new start)
Connection - it's a stocking
Goal - start and finish (about 2 hours?)
Actual - finished in 1h 40m
! - The Loneliness Of Autumn (new start)
Connection - I must be mad to start this!
Goal - at least 8 hours
Actual - 10 hours
! - Chirpy Bird (new start)
Connection - emergency project!
Goal - none!
Actual - 45 minutes
This was the emergency project on the days I had to go away.
As selfish as it may seem, nothing was going to stop me stitching every day!
The photo shows the progress I made in 8 days!
1st - Commitment Day - The Loneliness Of Autumn - because not only is it a long-term commitment but it's also a SAL commitment.
3rd - Festival Of Sleep Day - All Aboard the Walnut Shells - you can't see it in my stitching so far, but the mouse in the second walnut shell is fast asleep.
4th - Trivia Day - Kings And Queens - I accompany each monarch with some bits of trivia.
5th - National Bird Day - Robin On Postbox - unless I'm very much mistaken, a robin is a bird!
6th - Cuddle Up Day - Grow Your Own - my son's favourite cuddly toy was a bunny with big floppy ears and a cute bobtail.
8th - Bubble Bath Day - Advent Calendar Baubles - Christmas baubles look like bubbles from a bubble bath, right?!
10th - Peculiar People Day - Hogwarts In A Bottle - you have to admit, there are an awful lot of peculiar people at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!
11th - Step In A Puddle And Splash Your Friends Day - Daisy Umbrella - this little mouse is stepping in a puddle but, although there are no other mice around, I'm sure he's too kind to actually splash them.
14th - Organize Your Home Day - Chirpy Bird - this little bird will eventually have musical notes accompanying him, which bring to mind Snow White singing Whistle While You Work as she tidied the dwarfs' house.
15th - National Hat Day - Advent Calendar Wreath - in Tudor times at Christmas, the rich often wore headwear resembling a wreath.
16th - National Nothing Day - Advent Calendar Stocking - because if you are naughty during the year, nothing is exactly what you will find in your stocking on Christmas morning!
26th - National Green Juice Day - A Little Wizard Of The Night - because the potion of witches and wizards often looks like green juice.
4) Additional 'Just For Fun' Challenge: list 24 favourite designers or 24 designers you would like to stitch.
I pick projects because I like them, not because they are by a certain designer, so you'll probably never hear me say that I have to have or want to stitch a project just because it's by 'so and so'.
However, there are some charts on my to-do list this year by people or companies I have never stitched before so I'll tentatively list those under the designers I would like to stitch. Most of these will appear during my Olympic Stitching new-start binge so I'm not going to give much away at the moment:
1 - Avrova CS (etsy) - a Harry Potter themed piece
2 - Cross-Eyed Cricket - a seasonal chart
3 - Crossed Wing Collection - 6 very similar bird pieces
4 - PatternNadGavr (etsy) - another Harry Potter themed piece
5 - Whispered By The Wind - 2 Halloween themed pieces
And that's it for January. Goodness knows how much I'll get done during February but I'll still be around as regularly as possible.
Take care,
Rachel x
9 comments:
Hope things settle down for you very soon. Love your stitching and your challenge fits of course. I tried to be more like you with my creativity too. Etsy can sure open our lives to a lot of different designers. Big Hugs!
Another fun post Rachel. I love your acrostic reasons.
Linda
Great post, you did so well with fitting everything in despite the time away.
I have a suggestion for the mouse - felt tipped pens! Colour the fabric instead of stitching the sky!
I'm sorry your January didn't turned out as you'd planned, but you still got quite a bit done. I'm glad to see the two projects from 2015 out again!
Well done getting so much done despite the sudden life event. Hope all is well.
Great job on your acrostic Rachel! I am sorry that life has thrown you a curveball. I do hope that it is nothing to serious and things will straighten themself out soon.
I'm sorry your January has been so difficult, and certainly hope that February will go better. You've done a marvellous job with all your challenges under the circumstances, though. I don't think it's selfish to want to keep your stitching streak; talking just a few minutes for yourself everyday certainly helps with staying sane :)
I loved seeing all your projects. I like the 24 hrs of cross stitch and often participate as a "silent partner", meaning I don't film or post about it anywhere. It was nice to see it in blog form.
I hope February is looking better for you!
You've been busy again and very creative putting it all together.
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