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

A-Z Challenge 2023 - letters O-T

Hi all!

Here's week three of my A-Z Challenge, stitching on 26 WIPs during April related to 26 letters of the alphabet. This week it was the letters O-T.

You will notice that my stitching time is beginning to slide again; not helpful in the middle of this challenge, but that's life!

Day 15 - 17th April - O is for... Let's Bloom by Ursula Michaels.

These designs are always good to work on for visibly quick progress. This had a full hour, with every stitch being enjoyable. Enjoyment rating 8.5/10.

Day 16 - 18th April - P is for... Privet Drive Snow Globe by MIYAStitch (etsy).

I found it difficult to pick this one up, despite the fact I love Harry Potter! I managed 40 minutes of stitching; enough to finish the globe and add a bit of sky. Enjoyment rating 6.5/10.

Day 17 - 19th April - Q is for... UK (including the Queen Elizabeth Tower) by Soda Stitch.

Being the UK, and with all the Coronation stuff going on, I knew I would enjoy this one. 45 minutes working on the clock face of the Queen Elizabeth Tower confirmed I was right. Enjoyment rating 9.5/10.

Day 18 - 20th April - R is for... Mouse Reading Book by CutePatternsByMaria (etsy).

Again, I knew I would enjoy this cheeky chap. A mere 20 minutes resulted in not much progress, but that doesn't mean I didn't love every stitch! Enjoyment rating 10/10!

Day 19 - 21st April - S is for... Shell Cottage Snow Globe by MIYAStitch (etsy).

Given that I haven't really enjoyed the other three snow globes, it was no surprise this one followed suit, although 20 minutes was not really long enough to get into the swing of it. Maybe longer would have helped. Enjoyment rating 5.5/10.

Day 20 - 22nd April - T is for... Pretty Little Toronto by Satsuma Street.

Given that this had only 10 minutes of work before I picked it up tonight, any progress was going to be really noticeable! I didn't quite manage all of the clouds, but 55 minutes went a long way. Enjoyment rating 9/10.

Mouse Reading Book and the UK were my favourites this week, with both making it onto my short-list as Hot Springs has now been completed and night Lantern relegated! My new top four now look like this:

Hot Springs - 10/10

Mouse reading book - 10/10

Basket Case - 9.5/10

Mouse with books - 9.5/10

UK - 9.5/10

Just one more week and the final six letters left now. I wonder what my final top four will look like?

Take care,

Rachel x

A-Z Challenge 2023 - letters I-N

Hi all!

Here's week two of my A-Z Challenge, stitching on 26 WIPs during April related to 26 letters of the alphabet. This week it was the letters I-N.

Day 9 - 10th April - I is for... Italy by Soda Stitch.

I was looking forward to this one but didn't achieve much because I had to keep frogging, even though the pattern wasn't difficult! I gave up after 40 minutes, having only stitched a little more of the colosseum. Enjoyment rating should have been higher than 6.5/10.

Day 10 - 11th April - J is for... Mouse With Books (he's rather Jolly!) by CutePatternsByMaria (etsy).

This jolly little chap had 90 minutes of attention, and with no frogging! I love these mice, so the enjoyment rating was a high 9.5/10.

Day 11 - 12th April - K is for... Spring Keyhole Stamp by SweetAnnet (etsy).

This is quite a bitty pattern to follow and it wasn't floating my boat at all. Still, 55 minutes adding a bit of colour made quite a difference. Enjoyment rating was 6/10.

Day 12 - 13th April - L is for... Night Lantern Stamp by SweetAnnet (etsy).

As this was by the same designer as last night's WIP, I thought I wouldn't enjoy this one as much as I did. But there are only five background colours left to stitch so it's going to be an easy finish. Enjoyment rating was a surprising 9/10.

Day 13 - 14th April - M is for... Mexico by Soda Stitch.

This was another one I was looking forward to stitching, but a meagre 20 minutes meant not much was achieved (you can just about see the outline of the steps on the right). Enjoyment rating was anticipated to be higher than the actual 7/10.

Day 14 - 15th April - N is for... Netherlands by Soda Stitch.

This was a much better evening, with 70 minutes of stitching on a wonderful whirly windmill! Enjoyment rating was a good 8.5/10.

So adding this week's favourite two to last week's top two, the top four WIPs to finish are now:

1) Hot Springs - 10/10

2) Basket Case - 9.5/10

3) Mouse With Books - 9.5/10

4) Night Lantern - 9/10

Next week, the letters O to T are going to have to work really hard if they want to move into one of these top four spaces!

Take care,

Rachel x

April A-Z Challenge 2023 - letters A-H

Hi all!

And welcome to my April A-Z Challenge, where I'm planning to work on 26 WIPs during the month related to the 26 letters of the alphabet.

I'll show a starting picture followed by another showing how much I achieved in that one day. Each WIP will also be given an 'enjoyment rating' to help determine whether or not it will make it onto my shortlist of WIPs to finish this year. Before starting, I thought I knew which ones would score highest, but there have already been some surprises along the way.

So let's start off this week (and a bit) with the letters A-H.

Day 1 - 1st April - A is for... Let's Breeze Into Autumn by Ursula Michaels.

This had 2h 10m of attention and stitched up really quickly, mainly because I stuck to the backstitching and avoided the crosses (hence the gap!) Enjoyment rating 7/10.

Day 2 - 2nd April - B is for... The Burrow Snow Globe by MIYAStitch (etsy).

I wanted to stitch just the sky, but thought I'd better stitch a bit of The Burrow, given that that is what the B is for! This had 1h 55m of attention but it wasn't all 'fun'. Enjoyment rating 6/10.

Day 3 - 3rd April - C is for... Basket Case by Heritage Crafts.

I was really looking forward to working on this one but only managed 50 minutes, and that included nodding off a few times as I was stitching! So not much progress, but at least it's now symmetrical! A definite contender for the shortlist with an enjoyment rating of 9.5/10 (perhaps because it's one of those few on evenweave?!)

Day 4 - 4th April - D is for... Deathly Hallows In A Bottle by CrazyBlendShop (no longer on etsy).

Not a lot of progress - just 55 minutes - and that was a real struggle. I just wasn't feeling this one at all, which is a shame as I've completed the three others I started. Apart from the blue it's not that easy to see the bits I stitched! Enjoyment rating a very poor 4/10.

Day 5 - 5th April - E is for... Elixir Of Luck by CrazyBlendShop (no longer on etsy).

I spent 1h 45m and loved working on this one again, possibly because of the yellows. Enjoyment rating 8.5/10.

Day 6 - 6th April - F is for... France by Soda Stitch.

Oh wow, I didn't want to put this one down but did when I hit midnight after 1h 35m! This is second on the shortlist so far with an enjoyment rating of 9/10.

Day 7 - 7th April - G is for... Godric's Hollow Snow Globe by MIYAStitch (etsy).

I loved stitching the simple blue sky but, as a whole, wasn't feeling this one. Just 55 minutes spent stitching, and I really couldn't wait to put it away. Enjoyment rating 5/10.

Day 8 - 8th April - H is for... Hot Springs by TeenyWeenyXStitch.

As one of my recent starts, it was appropriate this should appear. I think because it's new and small and close to completion, this just had to have an enjoyment rating of 10/10!

So some good and very pleasing progress there, and a few surprises as to enjoyment ratings.

My favourites so far then are:

1) Hot Springs - 10/10

2) Basket Case - 9.5/10

3) France - 9/10

4) Elixir Of Luck - 8.5/10

But that could all change next week!

Next week will be the letters I to N, but it's nice to have a day off in between (when I'm probably going to try to finish Hot Springs).

Take care,

Rachel x