Saturday, January 2, 2021

2020 Year in Review

I haven't done a very good job of keeping up with my blog this year. I started off strong, but then the whole pandemic hit. Soon after that, my dad entered hospice care and suddenly keeping up with my blog just didn't seem important any longer. After my dad passed at the end of May, I lost my stitching mojo completely and only recently picked it up again. 

With all that in mind, here's a recap of my stitching year:

Works in Progress (WIPs)

I went a little crazy with new starts during March Stitchy Madness, so my WIP count increased dramatically during 2020. I started the year with 15 WIPs and ended it with 47 WIPs. Oops! LOL Given I started two new pieces on January 1, that brings my total to 49 WIPs as of this writing. I'm really hoping to get that number down quite a bit during 2021.

Year of Smalls and Six

I started off really strong on this challenge with my BFF, Tracy. Sadly, after losing my stitchy mojo for several months, I didn't finish this challenge. That being said, I did manage to finish two of my six WIPs I hoped to complete. I also completed 12 smalls toward my goal of 20. While I didn't complete it, at least I made some good progress on it.

Stitch-a-Longs (SALs)

I participated in a total of eight SALs this year and actually managed to complete five of them. Here are the five I did manage to complete:

  • Pumpkin Farm SAL - done with my BFF
  • Suffrage Act - hosted by Stitching with the Sisterlies and 2 Martini Stitcher
  • Be Well and Stitch SAL - I completed a design by Erica Michaels
  • Merry & Minty SAL - hosted by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread
  • Berries in Bloom (Merry SAL) - hosted by Cathy Habermann of Hands on Design
  • A Christmas Carol SAL - hosted by The Stitching Book Club/Sapphire Mtn Handcrafts
Here are the SALs I didn't manage to finish:
  • Baby It's Cold SAL - done in memory of Leanne of the Lost in Floss YouTube channel
  • Family & Friends SAL - hosted by Linens & Threads
  • Jane Marshall 1857 SAL - hosted by Hands Across the Sea

Finishes

With all that in mind, I still managed to get in 20 finishes this year. The last one was completely with literally less than a minute to go before the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. Talk about finishing by the skin of my teeth! 

Here is the list of my finishes for this year:

  1. January 3 - Two Turtle Doves - Prairie Schooler (Year of Smalls finish #1)
  2. January 7 - Caroling Cardinals - Blue Ribbon Designs (Year of Smalls finish #2)
  3. January 9 - Trimming the Tree - Blue Ribbon Designs (Year of Smalls finish #3)
  4. January 13 - Chicken Joy - Stitching with the Housewives (Year of Smalls finish #4)
  5. January 19 - Suffrage Act - Little House Needleworks
  6. January 25 - Be Inkspired - Stitchrovia (Stitch Six finish #1)
  7. January 27 - Pumpkin House - Shannon Christine Designs
  8. February 10 - Hello Spring - Stitching with the Housewives (Year of Smalls finish #5)
  9. February 29 - Dorothy's Red Shoes - The Little Stitcher (Year of Smalls finish #6)
  10. March 15 - Spring Hare Etching - Heart in Hand (Year of Smalls finish #7)
  11. March 24 - Bee Well Scissor Fob - Vonna Pfeiffer/Fiber Talk (Year of Smalls finish #8)
  12. March 26 - Stay Home and Stitch - Erica Michaels (Years of Smalls finish #9)
  13. March 30 - Pumpkin Patch - Shannon Christine Designs (Stitch Six finish #2)
  14. April 4 - Chocolate Bunny - Teresa Kogut (Punch Needle & Primitive Stitcher magazine)
  15. November 26 - Ladybug Santa - Just Nan (Year of Smalls finish #10)
  16. November 27 - PiƱata Party - The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery (Year of Smalls finish #11)
  17. December 5 - A Very COVID Christmas: Santa - Beverly Ellis (Year of Smalls finish #12)
  18. December 16 - Merry & Minty - With Thy Needle & Thread
  19. December 31 - Berries in Bloom - Hands on Design
  20. December 31 - A Christmas Carol SAL - Sapphire Mtn Handcrafts/Stitching Book Club

Stitching Goals


For the first time in many years, I'm not setting any stitching goals this year. I've reached a point in my life where I'm kind of over setting stitching goals. In the words of my friend, Abi, I just want to stitch what I want when I want (#swywwyw). 

The only real exception to stitching what I want when I want will be my WIPGO board. I don't think that will really be an issue though because I love each of the WIPs I've put on my board. My goal for each square on is a minimum of 10 hours of stitching time. These are the projects I've selected for my board.
 That wraps up my 2020 year in review. Here's to a very stitchy 2021. Happy New Year!