A-Z Challenge 2023 - letters U-Z

Hi all!

So here's the final week of my A-Z Challenge, stitching on 26 WIPs during April related to 26 letters of the alphabet. This week it was the letters U-Z. Look out for four shoe-horns!

Day 21 - 24th April - U is for... USA by Soda Stitch.

I find all of the Soda Stitch designs fun, and this was no exception. 45 minutes of stitching saw some progress to the right of the first tower. Enjoyment rating 7.5/10.

Day 22 - 25th April - V is for... Gatekeepers by Whispered By The Wind (stitched on dark vintage grey).

I was desperate to stitch more of the gate but couldn't find the Etoile, so had to settle for stitching a raven instead. He took 25 minutes. Enjoyment rating 10/10!

Day 23 - 26th April - W is for... It's The Most Wonderful Fright Of The Year by Sue Hillis Designs.

This fabric makes a real change to the usual plain ones so is really fun to work on. I managed 40 minutes on this, finishing off the half-started letters. Enjoyment rating 8.5/10.

Day 24 - 27th April - X is for... Advent Calendar Cracker (Xmas) By Durene Jones.

This wasn't the WIP I had planned for today but the chart I needed for X wasn't in the wallet with the WIP. With the change of plan I was hoping to get this one finished in time for the Smalls SAL but, alas, only 40 minutes was not enough. Enjoyment rating - well, you know I love these - 10/10.

(no picture, but you'll see it in the FFG SAL on 10th May)

Day 25 - 28th April - Y is for... Happy Delivery Couple (Yuletide) by Soda Stitch.

This was supposed to be yesterday's stitch. Luckily I found the chart so was able to switch this WIP from Xmas to Yuletide. I only did 35 minutes of stitching, but it was enough to stitch a bit of hair. Enjoyment rating 8/10.

Day 26 - 29th April - Z is for... Lickle Snooze (Zzzzz!) (magazine chart).

And finally... Lickle Snooze, a WIP I hadn't touched for over eight years! I managed 35 minutes to finish the bunny's other ear. Enjoyment rating 9.5/10.

So this week's winners are Gatekeepers and Lickle Snooze (I won't count the Advent Calendar as it would be finished anyway). So my top four WIPs to finish now look like this:

Gatekeepers - 10/10

Mouse reading book - 10/10

Basket Case - 9.5/10

Lickle Snooze - 9.5/10

Mouse with books - 9.5/10

UK - 9.5/10

OK, so that's six, but who's counting!

So that's it! I've now worked on 26 WIPs this month, and I've ended up both frustrated and exhausted! As predicted, I enjoyed working on some more than others, but they were not necessarily the ones I had in mind. At least it's confirmed which WIPs to whip next.

Question is, would I do this challenge again? And I think the answer is no. I may have been a serial starter on numerous occasions, but a serial WIP-worker is much harder!

So now it's on to May. Because of the Coronation, I did think about 'Monarchy May' and work on my King and Queens all month. But stitching time is reducing again so I'm sticking to the Advent Calendar instead. Back to the bling!

Take care,

Rachel x