I’m such a fickle one! 🙂
Sunday night I went to bed thinking . . I’ve been on the fence about starting 12 new projects on NYE. I’ve wanted to do it; not wanted to do it. If I don’t do it, am I going to wish I had done it? I don’t think it’s one of those things I’ll be remembering for the rest of my days but . . I still remember that purple dress I didn’t buy probably 40 years ago but, who knows?
I got up this morning saying no . . not going to do it. I even pulled out a bunch of the WIPS I want to finish in 2023, took pictures, put them in a separate bin. I was thinking of working only on WIPS but as the day went on, I came up with a new plan.
My Version of NYE 12 in 12:
I’m going to start six new projects. All of them except one will be projects I’ve wanted to stitch almost since I started back to cross stitching at the end of 2020.
I’ve also pulled six WIPS that I’d like to get finished in 2023 (there are more than six but I only have six for this challenge).
At midnight, the challenge will be over but if my hands still feel like stitching, I’ll start on Three Things Sampler and stitch on it for an hour. It gets rather noisy around here on New Year’s Eve and Oscar and Rita will not be happy about it and it will be difficult to sleep til things quieten down so I’ll try to get some stitches made on that SAL.
Here are the projects I’ll be working on and it will be in whatever order I pull them out of the bin:
New Projects:
This is the same chart I gave Nicole for Christmas. It’s Redwork Santaas by Prairie Schooler. I’ll be stitching it on 32 count Vintage Smokey White linen and using Sulky floss.
I have a lot of the Prairie School annual Santas and have wanted to stitch them since I first saw them. I’m starting with 1997 because that’s the year Vince and I got married. The fabric is Ale by Picture This Plus with the called for floss.
This is Come Into My Garden by Blackbird Designs. I’ve had this one kitted for more than a year but then I saw it at Cecilia’s in Branson and wanted the same fabric they had used. The fabric was Veldt by Picture This Plus but their fabric varies so much from one batch to the next and Veldt is very hard to find. I did find some but it didn’t look like what they had used at Cecilia’s so I went back to my original fabric choice, which is Legacy by Picture This Plus.
This is Sergei by Plum Street Samplers. I’ve wanted to stitch it for a while too. I had all the floss pulled but had to make floss tags. The fabric is 36 count Winter Moon.
The linen is 40 count Mobi Dick by Wabi-Sabi. I wasn’t sure about the linen. It reads grayish to me. Vince said it looks tan to him. The house is brown but the roof is gray and the pot is dark gray so . . Mobi Dick it is. This is another chart I ordered in the beginning of my renewed interest in cross stitching. I’ll use all called for floss colors.
The last of the new starts will be Peace on Earth by Samplers Not Forgotten. This was the most recent club piece from Country Sampler. This is the project that is new where the others have been in my stash for at least a year, some two years.
WIPS:
Now to the six WIPS:
This is Eloquent Christmas that I started on Christmas Day. I got some of the “t” stitched before Chad and his family arrived and then later finished the “t” and started the “m”. I didn’t stitch at all yesterday but hope to get some a good bit of stitching done on it this week. I doubt I finish it before Saturday afternoon but if I do, I’ll sub in another WIP.
This one is Ellen Carr 1843 by Needlework Press. I did change it up a bit. All I have to do is finish the border and while I’m pretty sure I can’t finish this in one hour, I’m almost sure it will be finished in 2023.
This is For the Love of Nature by Teresa Kogut. This is one that everyone says they can’t put down once they get going on it. I want to finish this one in 2023 but not in one hour. I wish!
Love is the Key by Teresa Kogut. Again, it won’t get finished in an hour but I will finish it soon.
Deck the Halls by Hello from Liz Mathews. This one also won’t be finished in an hour but it will be finished soon.
The last of the WIPS is Noel Sampler by Brenda Gervais. I’d love to have this one finished in 2023 but there’s a lot left to be stitched on it so I’m not even going to guess.
That’s it . . 6 new starts and 6 WIPS . . all will get one hour of stitching on New Year’s Eve.
Barbara Yarnell says
Love it! Great plan 🙂
Amy says
Thank you for the motivation. I am a quilter but have started a little cross stitching again. I don’t want it to take over from quilting so I am sticking with simple easy projects. I have 4 that I would like to finish in 2023. Maybe I can finish one a quarter? Hopefully I can finish them sooner but we will see. My quilts to finish list is a lot longer. Again, thanks for the motivation! I am excited to see your finishes.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Another quilter headed to the dark side. 🙂
Have fun and enjoy the quilting and the cross stitching.
Cindy F says
I love the new plan and I need to go downstairs and get myself organized to see if I can be ready….lol Working or WIPs will be easy to get going but I need to see what I have kitted up, what charts have fabric selected and serged, and which ones need the floss readied. Looking forward to this! I may start earlier in the day but I’ll likely be up at midnight since we’ve become night owls since my husband retired….lol
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I told Denise I’m going to start at 11 a.m. so I can take an hour off, fix dinner and eat with Vince. I never have any trouble staying up til midnight. Watch what happens on New Year’s Eve . . I’ll probably be sleepy at 10 p.m. 🙂
Louverna says
Hi Judy:
I have a question and wonder why stitchers do what they do and the reasons why. What is the reason to start 12 projects at one time? Or counting how many stitches you have to stitch each day, etc? I stitched years ago (in early 80’s) and did one project at a time. Or two at the most. My thought is about time mgmt. I would work on one (or two) at one time, get them finished, framed and on the wall to look at. Then go on to the next one. If you work on so many at one time, it will take forever getting a finish to hang on the wall, because they’re all in bags getting a few stitches at a time.
Stitching is so different today, with so many frames, fabrics, needles, hoops, etc. (Things were so simple back in the old days. LOL) I was just wondering about so many projects at once. I enjoy reading your blog each day.
Louverna
judy.blog@gmail.com says
We all do things differently. It’s the same with quilting. My grandma would start one quilt. Piece it, then quilt it, bind it and get it on the bed. I have always had multiple quilts going. I do the same thing with books. I may have four books I’m reading on my Kindle. One may be motivational. One may be a love story, one may be historical, etc.
As far as the 12 in 12, it’s probably more social.
There are “process stitchers” and “product stitchers”. A process stitcher just loves the stitching and doesn’t necessarily care so much about finishing. A product stitcher wants a finished project. Again, we’re all different.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I forgot to mention about counting stitches: I don’t count my stitches. If I’m stitching from a pdf, I use Pattern Keeper which is an app where it’s all on my tablet and I touch the squares, or a block of squares when I’ve stitched them and they show they’ve been stitched. The program tells me how many stitches I’ve made each day and resets itself at 4 a.m.
In 2022, I think I finished 12 or 13 items. In 2023, I’m going to try to finish 23. I don’t know that it’s about time management. I could never finish 23 projects in one year unless half of them were halfway finished already so I think it all comes out in the end.
Again, we all do things differently. There are people who would lose their minds if they had 15 WIPS. I watched a youtube last night where the lady said she had over 100 projects started. That might send me over the edge but . . maybe not. 🙂
Stephanie says
Nice selection! I wasn’t going to do 12 in 12 but may change my mind, especially since I have such a narrow window for new starts this year. I like to think though if I had the time I would start everything I have kitted, I mean why let it gather dust. (says the crazy lady with a 100 WIPs, more or less, lol) I would love to document this journey but YouTube seems to time consuming, seriously considering a blog just to keep track of all the things. Anyhoo can’t wait to see how your 12 in 12 turns out!