Starry Night Stitch-a-Long, part 3

Hey there stitchy friends! 

I'm writing this ahead of time because I'll be in a cozy, if spartan cabin on the 28th celebrating my husband's birthday. 

Last time I had completed one skinny column on Starry Night:  

This time I completed the "full" (10 wide) column next to the skinny column: 

(Yep, thread management still chaotic,,, but hopefully a little tidier!)

Again, it's so nice to dive right in to that swirly moon in the top right of the painting. 

I'm feeling excited about working on this project, but trying to be mellow and just do one column per check-in. That leaves me time to work on other, smaller projects, gifts, etc. So when we check in again in three weeks I will have the next column complete, and no more. 

Until then, join me and check out what my fellow stitchers -- Avis, Claire, Kathy, Margaret, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Mary Margaret, Cindy, Helen -- have been up to. We all do very different projects but it's always inspiring. 

Starry Night Stitch-a-Long, part 2

Hi stitchy friends! 

Time continues to fly, not always in the best way. Last time I was set to start work on a big (for me!) project: DMC's version of Van Gogh's The Starry Night. 

All I had done last time was grid the fabric, which I find really helpful:

I gave myself a little pass this week and just did a "skinny" column -- it's only 7 stitches wide rather than 10. But I put thread into needle into fabric, and I like how it looks!

(I know I need to improve my thread management... it's almost difficult to see the stitching with all those trailing threads!)

When I started Great Wave a few years ago, the first six months or so were all very delicate beige, cream, ecru, the palest rose... So it's really nice to start right in with the swirly, em, starry night and the colors that are so familiar to me. 

There's a long way to go here; by next time I plan to have the next column completed. But before then, join my and check out what my fellow stitchers -- Avis, Claire, Kathy, Margaret, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Mary Margaret, Cindy, Helen -- have been up to. We all do very different projects but it's always inspiring. 

Starry Night Stitch-a-Long, part 1

Happy 2026 everyone! 

It's been a busy SIX WEEKS since our last check in. We just returned from Antarctica, which was amazing, but I still managed to get a LOT of stitching done. 

First I want to share the secret projects that I couldn't share until after Christmas. 

Here's the lovely burgundy beaded project I kept teasing: 

It went to my pal Suz who loves her black cats. 

And here's an "American Robin" ornament I embroidered from my sweet mother-in-law; we often laugh that robins are totally different in the US and the UK: 

And, finally, here are some sardines for my foodie friend Rebecca: 

Okay, that's the past. Let's talk about the future. 

I've decided to dive in to another big, full-coverage piece: DMC's version of Van Gogh's The Starry Night. 

I am going to follow what I like to call "the Avis method" again, like I did on Great Wave -- and just stitch a column of the pattern every three weeks. That means it will take about two years of stitch-a-long to complete it, but I think that will still allow me to work on other projects. 

So far all I've done is grid the fabric and mount it on the frame... it feels overwhelming but I hope to get the first "top half of a column" done in the next three weeks. 

I have realized, however, that my roller bars are too short for this... so I am going to have to find longer ones. That will actually allow me to stretch the fabric taut.

Now, a little more history. I wanted to make a special notebook for my Antarctica trip. I found an amazing stitchable notebook, bought a pattern on Etsy, and stitched part of it on the front. I'm very, very happy with it: 

I had planned to have the notebook as my "travel project", but it was so fun to stitch I finished it before we left. 

So I dug up a few smallish projects that would be easy to work on while travelling. And, well, I finished ALL of them. (Nothing like 28 hours of travel each way to get some work done!). 

an old "stitch and zip" kit that has been languishing in my stash

a quick felt kit I picked up a few years ago

a tiny cross stitch card kit

Finally -- if anyone is still scrolling! -- here's a picture I took the night we got to camp (!!!) on Antarctica. I'll be writing more about the trip, eventually, when I can really process everything. 

gentoo penguins and a hungry gentoo chick

I can't wait to check out what my fellow stitchers -- Avis, Claire, Kathy, Margaret, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Mary Margaret, Cindy, Helen -- have been up to over the past six weeks. I'm sure it's amazing stuff!