WIPcoalypse 2015 - February 4

Okay, so it's February 5. It's close! I actually got quite a bit of stitching done in January (and the first few days of February). I really surprised myself, honestly. It wasn't every day, but it was definitely more than half. I certainly wouldn't expect to see this much progress every month! Let's talk about the topic, and then we'll move on to why you're really here: the pictures! LOL

Topic: How do you overcome that feeling that you're in a rut with a particular project?

I tend to burn out more than I get stuck in a rut (unless that's what was meant). When that happens, there are three possible solutions for me. One is to switch projects (as you may have noticed). The second is to just put away the stitching for a while, which typically means moving on to one of my other hobbies (usually reading). Shopping can also help, but there's only so much of that my bank account can stand! I actually did two out of three this month. Every time I burned out on one project, I moved to another one. I also did a little shopping towards the end of the month. Seeing everyone post about the Year in Chalk series by Hands On Designs finally convinced me to do it. Picked up a few other things, too, which will probably gradually start making appearances on these monthly updates. ;-) I am still feeling a little burned out, though. I haven't stitched since Monday (it's now Thursday). I'm starting to fear that I won't have much to show you next month.

Anyway, on to the pictures! Click on any of the stitching pics to see a bigger version.

Titania, by Mirabilia (click image to biggify)


I started with Titania. I actually did many hours worth of work on it this month (probably about 20), but I don't feel like you can see much progress. I filled in a lot of the dress/sleeves around her arms, did some of the bottom left wing (close to the dress), did the leaves on the left, and the last bit of sash/swirl on the right.

Baked Alaska, by Glendon Place (click image to biggify)


Next up was Baked Alaska. I needed to stitch something besides pink! I feel like this one is going pretty quickly, but it's hard to say for sure. I do find it very soothing to work on. Not sure if it's the blues or the silks or what, but it is quite calming.

Tiramisu, by Glendon Place (click image to biggify)


But there is also only so much blue I can stand to look at. I know, I'm wishy-washy like that. I don't feel like Tiramisu is going quite as quickly as Baked Alaska. That might just be perception, though. It's so pretty, though, I really love watching it grow. The white/natural silk shows up better in person, though I do wish the fabric was about a half shade darker than it is, like if the lightest parts were the color of the dark parts, and the dark parts were correspondingly darker, if that makes sense. (That's probably what the fabric would have looked like if I'd ordered the same color in a different fabric type; live and learn).

Adia the Garden Fairy, by Mirabilia (click image to biggify)


My friend Terri has started #MirabiliaMonday on Facebook, so I snuck in Adia at the last minute on February 2. I only put in 4 strands of floss, but it's pretty obvious where they went. All I can see when I look at it is a chainsaw, LOL!

Taj Mahal Mandala, by Chatelaine (click image to biggify)


There was progress of a sort on Taj Mahal. I finally pulled the trigger on the fabric, which traveled all the way from New Zealand! 28 ct Lugana in Twilight from Country Stitch. Again, because I went with Lugana instead of a linen, it's lighter than I anticipated (I knew it would be lighter than the linen, but it's even lighter still than I expected). I think it will be fine, though, plus it's too expensive to not use. Since I'm stitching on 28 count fabric (instead of the 32 count the chart called for), the actual stitching part will be about 19 inches (50 cm) square when finished. That means that it won't fit on a fat quarter of fabric, which is only 18-ish inches wide. Thus, what you're seeing is actually a fat half of fabric (folded in half, so it looks like a fat quarter). Unfolded, it looks like this:



That is 27 x 39 inches (70 x 100 cm) of fabric, larger than a standard USA piece of poster board (which is 24 x 36 inches). For reference, my son is about 5 feet tall (1.5 m). I am completely intimidated by this gigantic piece of fabric! I'm sure once I get some stitches on it, things will be fine, but wow, my mind is still boggling a bit at how huge this thing is.

Currently feeling: intimidated