Welcome 2020, a time to reflect where we have been and where we are going

I'm not sure what all this year will bring, but know that at the end of it, while my WIP number itself might not change, hopefully the WIPs in the pile will change - i.e. I will have finished some of them.

For the past 6 years I've participated in the WIPocalypse SAL.  You work at your own pace, on your own projects in hopes of finishing up some of those WIP's before the world ends.  Hopefully that won't happen this year and I still have many years to work on this goal.  So if you aren't participating and would like to know more go here:

WIPocalypse

The first question of the year is to introduce yourself and your goals for 2020.

So who am I?  Or maybe how do I define myself?  I am a 60 plus woman who works with numbers (CPA in real life, who works in the private sector in healthcare).  I've been the workforce since I was 16 only taking brief time off for college and having kids.  I am the mother of 4 kids (3 daughters and 1 son) and the grandmother to 4 grandchildren (2 of each).  I am also married, but I don't define who I am by being married, hubby and I have been together for 40 years or more, married for 35  Our youngest child will be 37 this year so being married wasn't as important as being together  However back in the day, employers didn't cover significant others with health insurance, so getting married was more of a necessary evil than something we felt should do (second marriage for both of us - so we were gun shy).

I have been cross stitching for over 30 years, but have always been a crafter since my grandmother had me sewing on buttons and hooks & eyes on scraps of material.  I don't do much clothes sewing anymore, but do enjoy quilting, knitting socks and of course lots of stitching.  I also love to collect teddy bears, and have made a few myself.

What are my goals, hopes and dreams for 2020?  Well I have looked at my WIPs and I have 34 of them that I admit to having, but there are probably a few more that I've purposely forgotten, unfortunately I just can't bare to actually toss any of them away.  I took pictures of them all on 12/31/2019, so I know where my starting point is for 2020, with the exception of 3, one I was just too lazy to pull out of it's bag and the other two, haven't been touched in 10 years or better, so I'm sure I have pictures of them someplace.

Then I looked at the list and decided which ones I really would like to get finished this year, so those will be my focus and here is the lofty list:

1. SB - Angel's Song Sampler - this one is over 1/2 done, enjoy working on it, not sure why it's not finished.

2. Nora Corbet - Letter A Mermaids - have to admit I really don't like this one, so it is more of a chore, but the sooner it's done the better.  Might not get it finished, but want to put a dent in it and maybe I can get it to the point where I can see the end.

3. SB - Peter's Patch - the center is done, just need to do the outside border, so shouldn't take too much to get it done.

4. Nancy's Needle - Starry Night - about 1/3 done?  It got put in time out because of a mistake, I fixed one of the 4 areas.  I should have fixed the other 3, or at least frogged out the incorrect stitching.  I didn't, so now need to figure it out again.

5. As You Like It - The Wiz which is a canvas - working on the back ground and still have a few spots on the wizard to finish, this one received loved in 2019, but it has lingered for years.

6 Plum Street - Vexation Sampler - which is a multiplication table, love this one as I'm a number person.

7. Raymond Crawford - Glenda - which is over 1/2 done, working on the hair and not happy with what I did, so debating if I need to frog it out and try something different.

8. Lee's Crane canvas for a pocket size mirror.  This is for my granddaughter and was going to be Christmas, but didn't make it.

9. Bent Creek - BEGIN which is my 2020 start :)  Get it Begin.  (the picture of the chart is at the top, my progress with be posted at the end of the month)

I want to give some loving to the following - they are all big projects so not fooling myself I will get them done:


1. Rosewood Manor - American Flag Quilt Sampler, I saw this chart years and years ago and loved it.  So it will get finished one day.  I have one square done out of 50, not very good.

2. Rosewood Manor - Autumn Quaker (have Winter all kitted up and ready to go).  I love the colors, they are so rich and warm.  I am embarrassed how little I have done, I really need to pull it out and do a little bit more.

3. L&L - Peace Angel - want to get the wings done and start on the face.  This will be one of my lunch projects.  this is for my youngest granddaughter, I'm a little bit late in getting it done.

4. TIAG -  EarthDancer is for my youngest daughter - it was supposed to be her high school graduation present, she is a teacher with her masters - missed that goal by a long shot.

5. Thistles - Family Tree - this one is huge too, but when I saw the chart I knew it had to find it's way into my stash and into my stitching rotations, such as it is.

6. Scarlet Letter - The Four Angels Mourning Sampler - this one is hard to work on because it's for my daughter who passed away 5 years ago this month.  Parent's should never have to bury their children and would wish this heart ache on my worse enemy.  I pull this out to work on when I need therapy, it will get done at some point.

I have many others that may see the light of day or may not, which is OK, the point this year is to be stitching a little bit every day.

New Starts?  Yes of course I have 3 kitted up and ready to go and they may be started sooner rather than later:

1. Rosewood Manor - Winter Quaker
2. Ink Circle - Witch's Wheel
3. SB -  Noah's Ark band sampler
4. A SAL with a local shop - I have all 13 parts, but haven't started it as I just joined the group - it's a Halloween sampler, which I love stitching.  I need to pull the threads, the charts and material are all purchased.

I have others that are ready to stitch as well, so they may put in an appearance during 2020, I'm just excited to be stitching again after not doing  much at all last year.

Sandy