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

People's Choice SAL - Subversive

Hello all!

It's the first Saturday of the month so time for the People's Choice SAL run by Jo from Serendipitous Stitching. Continued thanks to Jo for hosting this unique SAL which has a different theme each month.

This month's theme is Subversive.

Being subversive usually involves swearing, and I'm not the sort of person who is interested in stitching, or showing, anything like that.

So I've watered-down 'subversive' to 'sarcastic' and had a look through etsy for suitable cross stitches. I still wouldn't want to stitch anything like these, but I do nod in understanding!

** Warning, if you follow any of the store links you will find designs containing swearing **

This is from SnarkyArtCompany:

These are from CrankyCatCrossStitch:

And this is from SubversiveOriginals:

We do have this sign in our house, bought for me by hubby, although whether it is referencing him or me is up for debate!

Next month's theme is Embellishments.

Take care,

Rachel x

Smalls SAL - March 2023

Hello all!

It's the last Friday of the month so time for the Smalls SAL. Thank you, Mary, for continuing to host this fun little SAL. Pop over to Mary's Blog to see what other participants have been stitching in the way of Smalls this month.

Each month I stitch a small project specifically for this SAL which doesn't appear elsewhere on my blog.

For the third month in a row I completed more of Durene Jones' Red And White Advent Calendar; only three though, as I was focusing more on the Mischievous March new starts:

Red And White Advent Calendar Day 8 Bauble by Durene Jones

Stitched on 16ct white with silver lurex aida using a blend of DMC 603 and DMC Etoile 603

Started - 24th February 2023

Finished - 26th February 2023

Total Stitching time - 3 hours 55 minutes

Red And White Advent Calendar Day 24 Penguin by Durene Jones

Stitched on 16ct white with silver lurex aida using a blend of DMC 995 and DMC Etoile 995

Started - 27th February 2023

Finished - 1st March 2023

Total Stitching time - 3 hours 30 minutes

Red And White Advent Calendar Day 3 House by Durene Jones

Stitched on 16ct white with silver lurex aida using a blend of DMC 699 and DMC Etoile 699

Started - 8th March 2023

Finished - 10th March 2023

Total Stitching time - 3 hours 55 minutes

That's now 16 out of the 24 completed. Not sure how many I'll complete in April, but more than one would be good.

Take care,
Rachel x

April A-Z Challenge 2023

Morning all!

Despite planning to have no plans this year, 2023 is becoming a year of 'months'; January and February were finishing WIPs, March was new starts, July will be Christmas, October will be Dark October, and November probably more new starts. So what about the other months?

Well, I have a definite idea for May, and here's a (maddish) plan for April...

Back in the mid 2010s, an April A-Z Challenge was circulating around blogland, not just to do with stitching, but anything A-Z related. The Challenge was to do/make/whatever something related to a letter of the alphabet each day throughout the month of April (excluding Sundays) starting with A at the beginning and finishing with Z at the end.

In 2016 I joined in, stitching a Humerous Alphabet project and posting that day's letter along with some other letter-related things (the label is on the left if you want to take a more in-depth look).

Since then, I haven't wanted to undertake another. However...

Whilst looking through my list of WIPs, deciding which ones to finish next, I noticed that they covered most letters of the alphabet. So I thought, how about reviving the A-Z Challenge by working on an A-Z of 26 WIPs during April?

It's actually not as mad as it first seems; firstly, I'll only be working on WIPs (something I would have done anyway) and secondly, the 'fun-factor' of working on each project will determine whether or not it progresses onto my short-list of WIPs to finish this year; it'll be a bit of a trial-run I suppose.

To fit the whole alphabet into the month (and there will have to be some shoe-horning for the more 'difficult' letters) I'll have to stitch on the first Sunday. The other four Sundays will then be used to post round-ups of the previous week's progress.

It's going to be a busy month, especially with all the regular SAL posts still going on around it, but it's something different and something I'm really excited about. Wish me luck!

Take care,

Rachel x

Mischievous March New Start #4 - Hot Springs National Park

Hello there!

My goodness! This has just been the final weekend of Mischievous March; where has the month gone?! 

For the final start I chose Hot Springs National Park (column 4 row 5) as I fancied stitching a waterfall, albeit a small one!

Hot Springs, located in Arkansas and covering an area of just 22.5km2, was designated a National Park in 1921. It had been the first 'Reserve' to be created in 1832 and until 2018, when Gateway Arch NP was created, had been the smallest National Park. Here's my start over the weekend:

Hot Springs National Park from 63 US National Parks by TeenyWeenyXStitch (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Antique White aida

Stitching time to date - 2 hours 40 minutes

I've had a really good month of starts and stitching, but now it's time for a change. My next post will reveal something completely different for April.

Take care,

Rachel x

The Loneliness Of Autumn - 270 hours

Hello everyone!

THE LONELINESS OF AUTUMN IS BACK!!

My last post on this was 28th February 2022, when Leonore said she was going to take a small break from this SAL; who would have known then that it was me who was going to be absent for a whole year!

But things are looking up in 2023 and I feel ready to cope with this one again.

The first thing I did during this 10 hours was finish off 919, red copper, on pages 14-16 (bottom right). That took me up to the following statistics at the end of colour 12 - 50.08% complete after 264 hours 30 minutes and 33,621 stitches. Here are the end-of 11th and 12 colour comparison pictures at what is now officially just over the half way mark... woo-hoo!!!

The remaining 5 hours and 30 minutes were then used to make a good start on colour number 13, 898 very dark coffee brown. This is sparsely distributed in the top half, and slightly denser in the bottom half, so given that I only completed the top half, you probably won't notice a lot of difference but, trust me, it's there!

Now that I'm officially over half way through I'm no longer going to show the comparisons at the end of each colour, mainly because each colour should take between 8-12 hours so those photos will be similar to the ten hour progress ones. However, they will still appear on the dedicated page tab at the top if you're interested.

Now that I'm back with this, let's hope I can keep it up!

Take care,

Rachel x

Mischievous March New Start #3 - Rocky Mountain National Park

Hello again!

Week three already, and this week I chose to start Rocky Mountain National Park (column 8 row 2).

Rocky Mountain was designated a National Park in 1915 and covers 1,076km2 in Colorado. The colours and design are similar to Grand Teton, but different enough to keep it interesting. Here's my weekend start:

Rocky Mountain National Park from 63 US National Parks by TeenyWeenyXStitch (etsy)

Stitched on 16ct Antique White aida

Stitching time to date - 5 hours 15 minutes

Like previously, I won't give away how much of last week's Grand Canyon I completed before starting Rocky Mountain, but will say it's been a very successful month so far ;)

I'll be back next Monday with the fourth and final MM new start, although there will be a surprise post between this one and that!

Take care,

Rachel x