Sunday 31 January 2021
WIPocalypse - January
Friday 29 January 2021
January Smalls SAL
Monday 25 January 2021
12 Days of Christmas and a bit of snow
This year I'm doing the 12 Days of Christmas SAL with the ladies at Needlecraft Haven. We are stitching any design but we don't share our progress or finishes until the 25th of the relevant month.
25th January - Day 1 - A Partridge in a Pear Tree
25th February - Day 2 - Two Turtle Doves
25th March - Day 3 - Three French Hens
25th April - Day 4 - Four Calling Birds
25th May - Day 5 - Five Gold Rings
25th June - Day 6 - Six Geese a-Laying
25th July - Day 7 - Seven Swans a-Swimming
25th August - Day 8 - Eight Maids a-Milking
25th September - Day 9 - Nine Ladies Dancing
25th October - Day 10 - Ten Lords a-Leaping
25th November - Day 11 - Eleven Pipers Piping
25th December - Day 12 - Twelve Drummers Drumming
We are not sharing our photos on social media until the 25th so our SAL has a mini reveal every month. I am also taking part in a Facebook SAL hosted by Jo and Christmas Ornie SAL blog hosted by Kaye but I'll be posting after the Needlecraft Haven relevant date - it does make it exciting, different to posting as soon as something is done.
Anyway I'm doing Jardin Prive's design and Plum Street Samplers design. As yet I have only stitched the Jardin Prive one, it isn't finished and the photo is a little dark.
We've had snow here, it fell most of yesterday and is still there today. I'm still building up my strength and was nervy about going out but it is so pretty. Hubby found out the wellies and we went for a 20 minute stroll, keeping to flat paths and avoiding crossing roads as they are packed ice. It was so refreshing and we made it back with no slips or wet bottoms !
Stay safe everyone, keep warm and dry.
Friday 15 January 2021
January's Gifted Gorgeousness
- Any chart/kit which was given to you
- Any chart/kit which you won in a giveaway
- Any chart/kit which you bought using a voucher given to you/won by you
- Anything stitched on fabric received in the above ways
- Anything stitched with floss received in the above ways
- Anything embellished or finished with items received in the above ways
- Anything which is intended as a gift or prize for another person
- Anything else you can somehow shoehorn with word "gift" into!
Sunday 10 January 2021
Fully Finished Objects in Janaury
Rachel, Ten Hour Stitcher, is hosting Fully Finished Objects again this year for us to show and tell about the crafty items we have completely finished. FFO was a great incentive to me last year as I often stitch something and leave it ages before I actually make it up. That's mainly because I don't enjoy that part of stitching and I feel my finishing is not that great.
My first finish is Mill Hill Winter Holiday; this was a gift from Justine as part of the Needlecraft Haven Christmas Exchange, there's more about it in my GG December post.
I don't often do beaded designs but I really enjoyed doing this. It's a while since I worked on perforated paper and I really liked the neatness of it, I think I have some in my stash so I might do some more later in the year.
There was so much thread left over in this kit, I did double check I was using the correct number of threads. I split the left over lengths into three colours and plaited them together to use as the hanging.
My other finish is my Orts Ornament. At the end of each year I stitch an ornament and stuff it with the orts from that year's stitching. I have a beautiful bonbon jar my mother-in-law bought me many years ago from a charity shop we spotted when we were on holiday. I save my orts in a small pot in my sewing box and then put them in the bonbon jar when full, you can see the groups of colours as I have done each project.
The chart I used for last year's ornament was a free design that was a SAL in December from Brenda Gervais at With Thy Needle and Thread on Facebook. Merry and Minty is a great design, it actually has a deep border at the bottom but I decided it would be too big for the amount of orts I had. I used some of the beads left over from my Mill Hill kit for the lights.
This year I have taken time to plan and think about my projects and how they will fit in with my posts for FFO, GG, WIPocalypse and Smalls SAL. Last year I just lived day by day so this year I need to be back to my organised self. It also gives me things to look forward to and plan for, very much needed as we are living in restricted times.
Thank you Rachel for doing FFO in 2021 - let's hope we all have many finishes.
Sunday 3 January 2021
WIPocalypse - My 2021 Plans
I have read and enjoyed the WIPocalypse posts from everyone over the last year but didn't join in as I thought it was more about finishing old projects and I tend to stitch one item at a time.
I popped over to Mel's blog at Measi's Musings where I was delighted to read ...
This will be a Stitch-a-Long (SAL) for fun, not a contest. Everyone stitches at a different pace, on different sized projects, with different goals and concepts of accomplishment, so a standard set of one-size-fits-all rules simply won’t work. So whether you’re a one-at-a-time stitcher or an insane rotationer like me, gather up the UFOs and WIPs on which you’d love to make good progress (or finish) and join us!
..... so here I am making my first WIPocalypse post 🙂
For anyone new to my blog I'm Clare, known online as Aimetu which means 'your friend' in French. I live in the centre of England with my super Hubby and our grown up son. I love travelling (when allowed), especially to South Wales to visit our daughter and her partner, and I do have second blog about wine, food and travel. I have been stitching for over 25 years, my main projects tend to be gifts for family and friends, and ornaments for my tree at the annual church Christmas festival.
I don't have much of my stitching hanging as pictures, just three, although I do have a few items on the mantle and sideboard but there isn't actually much of my work on display. I like to know what a piece is for before stitching it .... a gift, an exchange, a seasonal piece ... so I have just a couple of UFO pieces that are at the very bottom of a drawer somewhere.
This first post for WIPocalypse is about setting goals for 2021 - I like to be organised but most of last year I wasn't organised at all due to my health. This year I am hoping to be and I have already set my calender for various regular blog posts to join in with others and for the first time I have joined groups on Facebook including for WIPocalypse.
I have planned my projects (even kitted some up), hopefully I will complete them even if some are a bit delayed. Here's a list of my projects for 2021:
• 12 days of Christmas - Jardin Prive (this may be a whole piece or 12 individuals)
• JCS Challenge - 12 Christmas ornaments
• Seasonal Challenges with Needlecraft Haven - 2 projects per season
• Exchanges with Needlecraft Haven - usually about 4 a year
• 12 gifts - obviously I can't reveal details
• Lizzie Kate Flip Its - I have stitched up to October so need to stitch November and December and make them up.
• Bouquet of Flowers - finish flowers received after the tree was finished for 2020 and stitch a few more
I am looking forward to posting my progress and hopefully finishes and I'm looking forward to reading about everyone else's projects, I know some stitchers have quite big designs they are working on.
Happy stitching everyone 🙂