Midnight Drift - Cottage Garden (Start)

 I'll be stitching Midnight Drift from Cottage Garden for my Dark October stitching. 

I'll be stitching on this project on the 13th and the last day (30th/31st) of each month with the DotDotGoose Discord group.

Fabric:  36 ct. linen, Sepia Sorcery

Flosses:  Called for

Big Hearted Tiny Town - Heart in Hand (Start & Finish)

 

This is the Big Hearted Tiny Town by Heart in Hand.

Fabric:  32 ct. linen, Strawberry Latte by Grace Notes 

Floss:  Suggested DMCs

Snowman 2025 - Primrose Cottage (start and finish)

 This is Snowman 2025 from Primrose Cottage.  I almost forgot I had this.  It was waiting to be kitted up.  I had purchased the pattern and the finishing kit. As usual, this was a joy to stitch.  

Primrose Cottage - Assorted FFOs

 

Primrose Cottage FFOs ready for stuffing.

Home for the Holidays
Cup of Cheer
Cocoa Quaker
Cocoa Quilt

Christmas Folk - Hands on Design (FFO)

 

I decided to purchase an additional folk paddle and try my hand at the paint staining technique that I learned in Chantelle 141's patreon.

I was pleased with the result.  

Mystery SAL AI1664 - Fox & Rabbit

Fox & Rabbit Mystery SAL 2026 AI 1664 - January 

This is part one of the Fox & Rabbit mystery SAL band sampler.  

Fabric: 36 ct. linen, Valley Forge from Needle & Flax

Floss:  Pas de Deux from Colour and Cotton

Let it Snow - Hands on Design (FFO)

 

 I finally FFO'd this Let it Snow ornament from Hands on Design. 

I changed all the floss colors.  I like the way it turned out.

Nativity TIny Town - Heart in Hand (FFO)

 

Here's the FFO of the Nativity Tiny Town on the Paisley's and Polka Dot board. 

The background fabric is from Teresa Kogut.

Free Stitch Friday January 2026 - Primrose Cottage (Finish)

 

It's a finish!

This is the Free Stitch Friday for January 2026 from Primrose Cottage. I switched on the light blue floss to a rosy red color.  I like the way it came out.

Christmas Garden by Blackbird (New Start)

 

This is my start on the Christmas Garden.  I got started and couldn't stop.  What a pleasure to stitch!

Fabric:  30 ct. linen, Weeks Dye Works

Floss:  I changed all the flosses.  I wanted a brighter version that matched the rest of my Christmas decor. 

I selected:  

RED - DMC 115 (variegated red)

LIGHT GOLD -  WDW Bee's Knees for all the stars

DARKER GOLD -  DMC 680 for the darker gold on the pots with a gold silk lame thread to make them look like shiny bronze.

DEER -  I decided I wanted my deer to be more brown so I picked CCW Almost Auburn. 

GREEN -  CCW Pine Needles.

I will be stitching this project on calendar days ending in the number 5. (5, 15 & 25).  It is also listed on my WIPGO board for 2026.

Chatelaine: Watergarden SAL updatae

 

Watergarden SAL 2025 - I fell behind on this SAL and am just getting started again.  I've got it all transferred to my new Painting Fair scroll rods and floor stand.  It was a pleasure to work on.  

I got the top gate done, I just need to put the flowers in the vase on the left before moving to the next side.  I thought the backstitching around the treasure braid was going to be weird, but it really looks nice.

New Floor Stand!

I got a new floor stand!   This is the floor stand from The Painting Fairy.  I can't wait to try it out.  

I got one of their scroll frames earlier this year and loved it, so it will be fun to try this one out.  

Update: Halloween HiJinx by Carolyn Manning

 

This is my progress on the Halloween HiJinx by Carolyn Manning.

Fabric:  36 ct. linen, Sepia Sorcery

Floss:  DMC

I am doing this stitch as part of a SAL in the DotDotGoose Discord group.  We stitch one block a day.  

Free Stitch Friday January 2026 - Primrose Cottage

 I'm starting the January free stitch Friday from Primrose Cottage today.

Fabric:  32 ct. white lugana

I changed the flosses. 

I used the suggested DMC but I didn't want to use the blue color, so I swapped in a dark rosey red.

Nativity Tiny Town (Finish)

 I finished the Nativity Tiny Town by Heart in Hand today.  

Fabric:  32. ct. light taupe lugana

Floss:  suggested DMCs

I will flat finish this and display it on the Paisley's and Polka Dots board I already have for the Tiny Towns.

(Love the DotDotGoose project bag that matched perfectly!)

First stitch of the year! Blessing Stitch 2026

 We are Blessed - Teresa Kogut & Chantelle 141

Teresa Kogut and Chantelle 141 collaborated on a blessing stitch for January 2026. It's a round stitch by Teresa on a little drum created by Chantelle.  It's sticking cute!

I was lucky enough to get one of the first batch of kits that went out and stitched it up right away.

I will wait to finish it until I watch the YouTube LIVE's from Chantelle 141 on Jan. 20 & 27 at 7pm EST.

Stitched 1/2 on 36 ct. Mica from Cedar River Linen using all the called for flosses.

January - WIP List

 Horror of horrors!  I now have a list of WIPS.  I used to work on 3 at a time, one large year-long stitch, one larger stitch and one small stitch at a time. Not any more!  These are all projects that have been started.  All are listed as part of my 2026 WIPGO.  Several are part of year-long SALS.  As I finish some of the smaller ones, I will substitute a new start.

Here's my current WIP list:

1. Facebook SAL: Watergarden - Martina Roseberg/Chatelaine
2. Nativity Tiny Town - Cecelia Turner/Heart in Hand
3. Dwelling Place - Teresa Kogut
4. Discord USA 250 SAL:  Lucy to Henry & Henry to Lucy - Beth Twist/Heartstring Samplery & Paulette Stewart/Plum Street
5. Discord USA 250 SAL: America the Beautiful - Stitching with the Housewives
6. Discord Square a day SAL:  Halloween HiJinx - Carolyn Manning
7. January Blessing SAL:  We are Blessed - Teresa Kogut & Chantelle 141
8. Seasons in the Garden - Jeannette Douglas
9. Tired Trio - Paulette Stewart/Plum Street
10. HOME wreath signs - Stitching with the Housewives
11. The Garden Trellis - Carolyn Manning
12. Friend SAL:  Cardinal Points - LongDog
13. 12 Monthly Minis - Lindsey Weight/Primrose
14. Spring Quaker - Lindsey Weight/Primrose
15. Snowmen Word Swap - Stitching with the Housewives
16. Friend SAL:  Christmas Garden - Blackbird

I will prepare a WIP movie to capture the starting progress of each project in the near future and will post a link here.

DotDot Goose Discord Group

 I joined another cross stitch discord group hosted by Dot Dot Goose. 

If you'd like to join us here is an invite link.  https://discord.gg/78RqE73QMj

(If you don't have a discord account, you'll need to create one first.)

You'll be dropped into the server in a text channel (#) where you can type messages and post items.  Please look around the server.  There are several voice channels and several text pages.  You can usually find some people online in the voice channels early in the morning, late afternoon, evening, and during the night.   Please feel free to stop in.  You don't need to turn on your camera or microphone if you don't want to.  

There are many events running with many options for you to choose from like sals, smalls exchanges, challenges, meeting times, location maps, birthday greetings, etc.  You can see all of them under the Events (calendar icon).  Make sure you click on the event to see the full description.  You can take part in any or all events.  Click interested and you will get a reminder email before the event starts.

Time Off until Jan 1, 2026

I'm still alive!

My intentions were to bring the blog up to date for the end of the year, but I think I'm just going to move on and look ahead instead of behind.  If I get some free time, I may still do an End of Year movie showing some of the FFOs not posted in the blog.  I'll also post the statistics for the end of year.

During my time away, I did some model stitches, worked on some baby quilts, and a lot of stitching was done with the folks on the new discord group I joined. I blame them totally for my hiatus from the blog.  More about that later! I'll post it separately.