My WIPs

I stitch on a small rotation - usually no more than two or three focus pieces at a time and I operate on the 'scream' method - ie I put a WIP aside when I begin to hate the sight of it. I like to keep my rotation small because I can make faster progress on my pieces and I aim to complete at least three substantial WIPs a year.

Anything I am creating for friends and family will take priority and I often put my rotation WIPs to one side so that I can meet a relevant due date (I like to have wedding samplers framed by the wedding day and birth samplers framed before the baby turns 1 year old). 

If the due date blows out, then I tend to treat the cross stitch like one of the WIPs I am making for myself (ie Summer Flowers for my mother).

I measure the time spent on projects in terms of weeks or months rather than hours - I don't count how many hours I spend per project. On average I stitch an hour a day during the week and about three or four hours on a weekend. That's just an average though, as I can go several weeks without stitching anything and then get crazy obsessed for a month or two.

The following are my WIPs as at May 2016

#1 Balloon Glow - Dimensions Gold
Stitched on 18 count ivory aida

I fell in love with this pattern a long time ago, stitched it exclusively for about three months last year and then got sick of it. I am looking forward to getting back onto this one as I still love the pattern and I think the finished product is going to be great. I used to take this to work and stitch in my lunch hour.

#2 Kitty Litter - Dimensions Gold
Stitched on 18 count ivory aida

I initially started this one for a friend, but decided that progress was too slow and switched to a Bothy Threads design instead (the Love Cats picture on my pre-2014 finishes page). I lost a lot of the threads moving between Victoria and Western Australia a few years ago.

I emailed the people at EK Success Brands (who own Dimensions) to request some thread that I lost when I relocated between Victoria and Western Australia. Hopefully one day soon I will get this beauty finished.

#3 Candy Cane Santa - Christmas Stocking

This is a piece for my daughter. I have not made her a birth sampler and not sure if I will, but I intend this piece to be an heirloom she can use throughout her childhood. I am really enjoying stitching it, I am using a Pako thread organiser which is making the constant colour changes easy. I also find the pattern is satisfying in that I can stitch a few chunks in one colour and changeover without feeling like I am fighting constantly through confetti. I hope to finish this in time for Christmas 2016.

#4 Anchor birth sampler

This is a piece for a friend's baby who was born in January and I'm starting to grow embarrassed by how long it is taking me to finish. I smashed through the cross stitching part but the back stitching is tedious (the stitches come up and go down places that aren't in the gridholes - very frustrating). To add further frustration, my cats recently chewed up some of the backstitching instructions so this has slowed me down even further as I try to guess my way through some of the stitching. I loved this design initially but by the time it is done I will never want to see it again.