Carol Harper's articles with the keyword: WIPocalypse

The final WIPocalypse post of the year has the theme "Recap your accomplishments for the year! " This will be easy because this is one of the least productive stitchery years I have had in ages. Travel, a series of nasty respiratory infections and just general malaise pretty much dominated... At the end of 2014, I set the following goal: "I hope to make 2015 a year of catching up and maybe even re-organizing my crafting space (which is currently a hot mess!). So my stitching goals are to f…

This month's Topic: Which designer has inspired you to stitch the greatest number of designs and why do you think that is? This is a hard one since I "collect" a lot of designers but don't really stitch a lot of them. For example, I have ALL of the little black cats from Calico Crossroads but haven't stitched a one (choices are harder when there are so many!). I do have a few Michael Powell designs stitched - maybe two or three are framed and have won ribbons in our county fair (and I o…

This month's topic is "Are there any fibers or materials used in stitching that you’re nervous to try?" I'd have to say "not really". I think I've tried most of the fibers out there and while I don't LIKE to use some of them (metallics, rayons, even linens), I can use any of them if pressed. I have to admit my favorite is silk, but I can't really afford silk in quantity so I tend to stick with my old stand-by DMC six-stranded cotton. Last month, My goals were (not necessarily in the order lis…

Harvest Moon, Super Moon, Blood Moon, Total eclipse of the Moon! And all celebrating the death of my pizza stone (the stone cracked from side to side, to paraphrase the Scottish Play!) and my birthday! What an event. And now it's time to report in for WIPocalypse, where the topic of the moon is "Where do you buy most of your stitching supplies?" Sadly, online, when I do buy, as we have no local needlework shop and the big box stores aren't very good about keeping what stock they do have u…

Topic: Pick one of the WIP pieces you’ve stitched on this month, and tell us about your stitching journey with the piece. Well, I have two BAPs that have been ongoing since 2013! The first (which I did NOT stitch on this month) is "Save the Stitches", a blackwork sampler design by Elizabeth Almond. I started this back in early February, 2014 and it is now nearly half completed It was last touched in early April, 2015: The other, which I did stitch on this month, was the series of…

This month's topic is: Reality or Fantasy. Which do you prefer to stitch? Figures or Abstract? Well, I'm not exactly sure. I do a lot of stuff that clearly is what it purports to be but isn't exactly realistic, if you know what I mean. Lots of primitives (a la Prairie Schooler) and lots of "sketches" (al la Michael Powell), in other words. I also do a lot of samplers: traditional alphabet samplers aren't my favorites but I really like Quakers. And then there is blackwork, which really isn't…

So far, no topic has been posted for this month so I will proceed to my progress, such as it was(NOT)... A pretty sad month to report on as I was ill for most of it and I can't focus on stitchery when coughing and with a nasty headache and fever. In fact, I only worked on one piece since the last WIPocalypse. At quilt guild in April, a friend loaned me a copy of the pattern her EGA group in Naples, FL is using for their charity giving and I told her I' do a couple for her to send along w…

The question for this month is: "Which specialty stitches do you love doing on projects? Which do you dread?" Well, isn't hard to answer which I dread --- it's French Knots! It's not that I can't do them but I do have issues with how regular they look and so, when possible, I substitute beads! As for which I love? Well, that's another thing altogether. I'm not a big fan of most specialty stitches. I willingly do backstitch (after all, I like blackwork), but I grumble if there are more tha…

This month's topic is: "If money – and time – were not limiters, what projects would be on your stitching bucket list?" Well, I'm not really sure how to answer this. I subscribe to a number of stitchery magazines and have a HUGE stash of charts (some kitted, most not) as well as a slowly diminishing stash of fabric (I really need to replace some of the linens) and floss. I know that my taste has changed over the last four decades of stitchery and most of those charts will never be stitched (a…

This month's topic for discussion is "How do you overcome that feeling that you’re in a rut with a particular project?" I'm afraid I have no answer for this one. At present, I am in a rut with two big projects: • "Roll Your Own Mandalas", of which there are 9, and I had planned to do all nine on one piece of fabric; I am stalled at #3, "Bride"! • "Save the Stitches" blackwork sampler, where I have the entire piece outlined but have more than half of the filling stitches to do It…

This month's topic for WIPocalypse is "Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year!" I'm Carol, AKA ThatYank in NW Ohio, which identifies me and where I am. I'm a retired teacher (community college level) and into many forms of stitchery: Cross stitch, blackwork and needlepoint primarily although I used to do a lot of crewel (MANY full moons ago!) and have dabble in quilting and knitting. My projects at this time are two BAPs: Elizabeth Almond's "Save the Stitc…

This WIPocalypse report is to cover my accomplishments for the year! (my finishes, my final before/after photos, etc). This should be a short report given how little I feel I have accomplished this year but I will have my personal wrap-up on December 31, JUST in case I actually accomplish something more between now and the end of the year (highly unlikely with the holidays had upon us, but I will try!)!! FINISHES Quilting: Green Thumb Challenge quilt for my quilt guild "Dossier" b…

In addition to my weekly wrap-up, this is also report-in day for WIPocalypse! Wipocalypse question of the month: "Am I a Halloween or Christmas stitcher?" Well, I'm not either, really. For a while, I stitched a lot of Halloween things, mainly ornaments. I have several dozen Christmas ornaments that decorate two artificial tress each season. I need more --- one of the trees is a little sparse and I calculate I need about 4 dozen more --- 12 of which are "underway", but these twelve are my…

The question for the month is: "Who is your favourite person to stitch for, or do you prefer to keep your stitching yourself?" I rarely stitch for others, exceptions being close family (husband, a few in-laws, etc.) and the occasional friend and neighbor. I tend to keep my stitching for myself, mainly because I usually have no clue as to what is appreciated by others (style, colors, decor, even if they appreciate hand work at all) and I KNOW my own taste. Not that I have purposes in mind for…

This month's theme questions is "Tell us about your oldest and newest WIPs." Well, for starters, is it a WIP if it is over 20 years old and hasn't been touched since? Personally, I consider this a UFO, but here is a picture of what I think my be my oldest UFO --- a crewel pillow top from sometime around (it has a copy right date of 1980 so it had to have been started after that, but I'm pretty sure it became a UFO before 1988 when we moved to Texas!). Here is the "progress" so far: while…

This month's theme question is "Do you start your holiday stitching this early? If so, what do you hope to accomplish this year?" In the past, I have done holiday ornaments (I can decorate two Christmas trees with the ornaments I have made in the last decade or two), and I have made two or three gifts (for people that I KNOW will appreciate the theme and the work that went into producing the item) in that same time period, but, as a rule, I don't do holiday stitchery. I don't stitch well t…

These stitches are the Beaded Vandyke and the Bullion Vandyke. I know I can do Vandyke. I've done it before in TAST and I did it here: But ask me to put beads on it and it goes all wonky: and as for bullion stitches on it (especially since I hate bullion stitches - I think my fingers are just to big and clumsy to handle all those winds around the needle), even wonkier still: Still, I completed this assignment (with a lot of grumbling, to be sure - ever try to frog a bulli…

This month's question/theme is: "Have you ever been to a stitch gathering such as a retreat or a festival? If so, tell us about it!" Besides price, the main obstacle to my attending any stitchery retreats or festivals is the complete lack of them in our part of the US. My attendance has been constrained by those factors. If you count our quilting guild's annual retreat and biannual work days,I have been to one guild retreat (and am signed up for one this year). It was a weekend event…