Hi Stitchy Friends!
It is time for Stitch Maynia! If you are not familiar with
Stitch Maynia it is a facebook stitching group that was started a few years ago and the original idea was to start 15 new projects in the first 15 days of May. Since it started Maynia now means different things for different people. You can focus on WIPS and work on a new one everyday, have new starts as many or as few as you want, monogamous stitching if you are used to working on quite a few things or vice versa - whatever works for you and fits your schedule. The point of it is to have fun and kind of push yourself to try new things, get a little out of your comfort zone or try something that to you is Maynia!!
Last year was my first time participating in Stitch Maynia and my goal had been to try for 16 starts for 2016. Well I failed at that and only got 7 started. Of those 7 that I started I only finished one of them since then. Kind of a weird fact about me - starting projects intimidates me a little. I really enjoy searching for patterns I want to stitch, choosing the fabrics and kitting things up - but when it comes to actually starting them - well I have no idea why but it is a little intimidating sometimes. Once I get started and get going I am fine but there is just something about starting them.
As of today I currently have 16 wips total. Many are larger sized pieces that will take me awhile to finish. 5 of these are Heaven and Earth Designs - 4 regular and 1 supersize. My 4 regular size Heaven and Earth Designs are my work projects and I rotate these according to my work schedule which is close to a weekly rotation. So my other 12 Wips are my "at home" ones. I don't get to consistently stitch at home so I work on them sporadically. Usually it is the one already on my scroll frame or q-snaps so I can just grab it and start stitching. So what I decided to do for my Maynia this year is to focus on these 12 neglected wips and also have 4 new starts, one for each week in May. That way I work on the things I have started plus get to have a few starts as well.
For Day 1 of Stitch Maynia I decided to work on the project I started on May 1st of last year for Maynia which I have not finished yet. It is
The Fortunate Traveler by Teresa Wentzler. This is my very first Teresa Wentzler pattern that I have stitched. I remember back in the 90's when we didn't have a lot of money for things and I was obsessed with cross stitch, my hobby consisted of mainly buying and hoarding cheap pattern finds from garage sales and ebay, not actually stitching things because we couldn't afford for me to kit things up. Teresa Wentzler was that one designer that intimidated the heck out of me back then. I think her work is gorgeous and stunning but I wasn't confident in my ability to stitch them at that time. Her work was what I aspired to stitch someday....and now I am :)
Here is what The Fortunate Traveler will look like finished:
Here was my starting point for Day 1.
And here was were I was able to get to today:
I mainly focused on getting the width of the outer border done so I could be sure that this was going to fit on my fabric and that I had did my math correctly :) It fits and is actually pretty centered which I consider a miracle! I have had a lot of fun working on this one so far and it hasn't been as bad as I had pictured in my mind. Lots of blended threads which is fine and just cross stitches so far so I can handle that! Isn't my needleminder cool?!?! It is my Dragon Eye from
Brenda's Minders and More.
LOVE it!
I plan on working on this one again tomorrow for my Maynia project as the one I had started for Day 2 last year was the one I finished :)
Have a great stitchy day or night! Thanks for stopping by!
Laura
Design Details:
Name: The Fortunate Traveler - Teresa Wentzler
Fabric: 28 Count Cream Cashel Linen by Zweigart
Stitched: 2 over 1 Full Cross & 1 over 1 in some areas
STARTED: May 1st 2016
Needleminder - Brenda's Minders and More
