Around the World in 80 Stitches Update

I spent a lot of time working on Cleopatra's Cat and still didn't get the darn thing finished. As it was a group correspondence course for the EGA, I still sent it off for evaluation partially done. I enjoyed stitching it but also avoided it, just like homework in high school. Gee, I think I'm grown up and then wham! look I'm not.

Anyway, I'm trying to catch up on Papillon Creation's SAL Around the World in 80 Stitches. Part 12 (of the eventual 24 parts) was recently released. I'm working on part 8 right now.

Check out the greek crosses in the middle.

Four petals of drawn thread.

No drawn thread, just pearl cotton stitches.

This has been a really enjoyable project for me. The stitch diagrams are excellent. Since choosing my colors, I've learned more about color values and would probably make some different choices, but I'm NOT going to restart this project again! Several months ago, my friend Debbie told me about custom q-snap covers she bought for her projects and I decided to get one for this. After all, IF I stay current with this project it'll take two full years so I bought one in fabric that goes with my project.

  It's handy for controlling all that excess fabric. I also have one for my Flower Power (another WIP I'd like very much to get finished). They're fun for seasonal projects, too, like Halloween and Christmas since so many of us stitch for those all year long.





I've also had a good long laugh at my page for my 2013 stitching goals. I was completely out of the running by March 1! Ha! But I still want to complete as many of my WIP's as I can. There is nothing more satisfying than getting a large project completed.

Around the World Part 3

Here is Part 3 of Around the World in 80 Stitches, a 24-part stitch-a-long from Papillon Creations.

Remember I mentioned that I'd done the plaited fly stitch wrong? I'd misread the chart and thought that some of the stitches had longer "legs." That was actually part of the cutwork stitching. Soooooo, once again, I had to restitch it...again as I'd already messed up and restitched once before! I really am having fun with this project despite (or maybe because of) my errors.

I'm having so much fun with it that I decided to buy a special q-snap cover from Christine in Hanna, Indiana. I saw Debbie's at a get-together and really liked them. I think this print complements my project. I picked up two more for more pieces I'm working on. The covers are well made and were delivered super fast. Sure, I could make one myself, but by the time I dug through my fabric, got my machine out, measured, cut the fabric, messed up the cutting, realized that I didn't have any fabric I really liked after all, went to the store for more fabric, stitched it up, looked for my elastic, went back to the store for more elastic, struggled to get it into the cover properly, and finally got it finished, it really is faster (and cheaper) to buy from Christine.

I've been working on a side project and thought I'd give you a hint. I'm having fun with this too and it's going surprisingly fast. I'll share more later.