SAL Update 1.22.2023 | A Year Inspired

Hoping for mini happy dances year round! I’m happy to have completed the first wedge for the January release of A year Inspired by William Morris, designed by Stitchdoodles Designs.

The first wedge was inspired by Strawberry Thief, which is definitely one of my favorite William Morris designs. I’ve had the pleasure of working with this fabric reproduction for one of my Etsy customers and it was stunning! The only change I made to this design was backstitching the flowers in pink vs the blue that is used in the veining and stems. A little hard to see, but the leaves are also outlined in the blue thread.

Excited to start on the February wedge soon!

We post an update on our own project every three weeks and encourage each other to make more progress and stay motivated. I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the SAL group has progressed with their projects this time around. Read along with me by clicking the blog links below:

Avis, Claire, Gun, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen, Connie, Cindy, and Mary Margaret

SAL Update 1.1.2023 | A Year Inspired

Happy 2023 Everyone! I hope you all had a a wonderful New Years Eve, whether you were out celebrating with friends and family or if you stayed cozy at home stitching. I was definitely part of the latter!

For my 2023 SAL, I’ve decided to switch things up a little with a new start. My new start is a year long stitch along designed by Stitchdoodles, A year Inspired by William Morris. If you know William Morris, than you are familiar with his beautiful textile designs and I’m so excited to reproduce them with thread.

The first month’s stitch guide was just released a couple of hours ago, so I’m off to get started!

A perfect project for my William Morris project bag! I’ll be sure to continue making progress on my scarlet quince full coverage and share some progress updates from time to time. Many thanks for all your encouragement in 2022!

We post an update on our own project every three weeks and encourage each other to make more progress and stay motivated. I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the SAL group has progressed with their projects this time around. Read along with me by clicking the blog links below:

Avis, Claire, Gun, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen, Connie, Cindy, and Mary Margaret

Christmas FFOs

I recently finished a quirky Christmas design by Lindy Stitches from her series Christmas Down Under. I stitched up the Kiwi bird as a gift for my husband’s friend who dreamt he was a kiwi bird. Such a cute coincidence, I just had to offer up some of my time to stitch it up. I decided a flat fold was the best choice for the recipient to enjoy the gift during the holidays, then store it flat or have it out on display year round. I used the Twisted Stitcher’s flatfold tutorial with some minor adjustments, and I loved how it turned out!

I was truly inspired to finish more of my cross stitch this year. With my day off for the holidays, I decided to FFO a couple of my Noah’s Christmas Ark finishes. I already have 2 from the series on my tree and with these FFO’d, that makes 4 complete. The giraffes were stitched in 2019 (I didn’t realize that much time had passed!) and the doves were stitched in 2021. They are finished similarly to the chart’s cover picture, but with a more natural jute twine and darker red bells. I’m currently stitching the bees…maybe that will be on the tree next year!

I’ll definitely need a bigger tree to fit the rest of the designs. Are you enjoying your own cross stitch ornaments on the tree? I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!