SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey - Updated 9/17/24

September 17, 2024--Won a 2nd Place Ribbon in the Canvaswork/Needlepoint category at Rehoboth Beach Museum's 12th Annual Needlework Exhibition in Rehoboth Beach, DE.  So pleased.

February 27, 2024--Picked up this gorgeous project from Michael's Arts & Crafts frame shop yesterday and I love how it turned out.  The photo doesn't show the beaded "bling" and how much sparkle there is.  

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Finished

December 5, 2023--Fini!  All that needed to be done with this month's lesson was to add black seed beads and gold bugle beads which added some dimension and sparkle to the piece.  

I'll wait until next month to take it to the framer--they have enough to worry about getting things done by Christmas.

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Lesson 12 December

November 5, 2023--Well, that was easy.  All we had to work on this month was a Greek stitch around the edge and a square eyelet stitch in the corners.  Now for the really fun stuff next month.  Almost done.

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Lesson 11 November

October 8, 2023--This month's lesson had us stitching a herringbone pattern in two colors of silver around the edges.   Almost done.  Two more months of stitching and bead work and it'll be ready for the framer.

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Lesson 10 October

September 10, 2023--September's lesson, the 9th this year, is done and it looks like all the "empty" canvas areas are pretty much filled in.  I believe the borders will be next along with some beading.  Yay!

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Lesson 9 September

August 15, 2023--The stitching through the August lesson is done and it continues to be an enjoyable challenge.   Four more lessons.... looking forward to finishing this project and getting it framed.  I know exactly where I'm going to put it.

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Lesson 8 August

July 10, 2023--This project is beginning to look very lacy.  Every month's installment is a challenge, but so enjoyable to see how it looks as it is worked up.  Here's the 7th installment for 2023.  Five more to go.

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Lesson 7 July

June 10, 2023--The installment for June is done and the areas yet to be stitched are nicely defined.  I love how lacey it looks.

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Lesson 6 June

May 4, 2023--Here is the addition of the May installment to ANG's Stitch of the Month (SOTM) project.   In future months, more will be added to the squares as well as to the project's edge.

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Lesson 5 May

April 19, 2023--This beautiful ANG Stitch of the Month (SOTM) project designed by Melita Glavin is now stitched through the April lesson and I'm loving the process.  There's lots more to do, but the lessons are distributed one month at a time, so I have to wait until next month for more.  This process actually makes the project very manageable and not so daunting when you have a year to complete it.

Here's Crescent Journey through the April lesson:

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Lesson 4 April

March 8, 2023--The March installment of ANG's Stitch of the Month (SOTM) project called Crescent Journey by Melita Glavin is now stitched and everything put away until the April instructions are published on the ANG website.   This is really a fun and challenging project so far.  Each section worked up adds to its beauty.  Here's a photo of what it looks like so far.

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Lesson 3 March

February 14, 2023--Happy Valentine's Day!!!  This blog, however, isn't about hearts, but instead about the 2023 ANG Stitch of the Month (SOTM).  So far, I've stitched both the January and February installments and below is a photo of the results to date.  

Whew--the center medallion was certainly a challenge, but a fun one and I can appreciate how much more beautiful it will look with the addition of beads.  Looking forward to the March instructions.

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Lesson 2 February Closeup

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Lesson 2 February

January 5, 2023--I just completed the first month's lesson to this year's Stitch of the Month (SOTM) project designed by Melita Glavin and available for free to members of the American Needlepoint Guild (one of the wonderful benefits of membership).

This lesson focuses on stitching the outline on 18 count mono canvas, and I love the stitches used by the designer.  Instead of the usual gobelin or smyrna stitches, Melita chose Mosaic and Diagonal Knitting Stitches, and the results are very attractive.  I chose to work this up in the Neutral Colorway which incorporates golds, silvers, beiges and black (with some beads thrown in).

SOTM 2023 Crescent Journey Lesson 1

SOTM 2021 Stratigraphy - Updated 9/12/25

September 12, 2025--Won a 1st Place Ribbon in the Canvaswork/Needlepoint category at Rehoboth Beach Museum's 13th Annual Needlework Exhibition in Rehoboth Beach, DE.  So pleased.

December 26, 2021--This fun project is now framed and hanging in my guest bath.  Looks wonderful--the colors are spot on.

SOTM 2021 Stratigraphy Framed

 

December 5, 2021--The last lesson, published this month, is done and this project is now ready for framing.   All that had to be done is a Slanted Gobelin stitch over two threads all around the piece as a border using the last color labeled as D6.  The lesson also called for stitching the blue sky on top in a Nobuko stitch which I had completed last April.  

Below is a photo of the completed project along with information about what threads I used and in what month.  If you are thinking about doing the 2021 Stitch of the Month, hopefully this additional information will be helpful in figuring out what colors were used and when.

All in all, a fun project to work on

SOTM 2021 Stratigraphy Lesson 12 December and Completed

Thread List

Threads Used Each Month

SOTM 2021 Thread Choices

November 8, 2021--I may now be finished stitching this project.  The lesson for November covered the rest of the layers or rows (9 of them this month) for a total of 42 layers, so that's done.  I believe the only thing to cover in December is the top or sky area, which I've already stitched.   

The thread colors in the photos below look different, dependent on the lighting available to me.  I apologize for that since this makes it hard to figure out exactly what colors I've used.  Also, we weren't given the number of skeins/cards needed for each color, so when I put my threads together from stash, I did run out of a few colors and, rather than ripping out previous stitching, just went with a different thread, but with a similar color.  Hope it's not too noticeable.

Below are two concerns about the November lesson:  

1) So far, I have not used the last thread identified as "D6" in the January suggested thread list.  Since this is identified as a black thread, I'm wondering if it's used as a border around the project.

2) The last layer, a Slanted Gobelin stitch, is worked over 2 threads except under the second column.  There we are instructed to work the stitch over 5 threads.  I believe she meant to say over 4 threads.

SOTM 2021 Stratigraphy Lesson 11 November

October 7, 2021--The October lesson consisting of 7 layers is now done.  Coming into the home stretch with darker colors becoming prominent.

SOTM 2021 Stratigraphy Lesson 10 October

September 6, 2021--Here is Stratigraphy stitched through the 9th lesson in September.  We're now over halfway through the design layers and it's starting to look interesting.

SOTM 2021 Stratigraphy Lesson 9 September

 August 7, 2021--The August lesson is stitched and there are now 22 layers or rows.  I'm working up this project using threads from my stash and learned I don't have enough of a few colors, so had to reorder more.  Unfortunately, dye lots have changed, so some of the layers look a little different than earlier stitched ones.  Oh well, it's not enough to make me start over or rip out previous layers.  

SOTM 2021 Stratigraphy Lesson 8 August

July 3, 2021--This piece is moving along nicely.  Here's a photo with 7 months of lessons done.  I know this is less than half of the project, so I suspect we'll get really busy in the next 5 months (August through December).  

SOTM 2021 Stratigraphy Lesson 7 July

June 3, 2021--June's lesson consisted of only two layers, so it was stitched in hours.   It's beginning to look interesting.

SOTM 2021 Stratigraphy Lesson 6 June

May 5, 2021--There were six layers to stitch for May's lesson, so now a total of 12 layers have been done.  There are a lot of greens in this group and I'm hoping to see more color variety in the upcoming lessons.  

It took me two days of occasional stitching to work up the six layers for this month, not bad.

SOTM 2021 Stratigraphy Lesson 5 May

April 6, 2021--The fourth lesson published April 1st has been stitched.  I decided to also stitch the "sky area" since there was so little to do with this month's lesson.  I could see from the project photo that the sky consisted of the Nobuko stitch which is easy enough to do.  I chose a very light blue which wouldn't fight with my beige, blue/green and gray colors of the stratigraphic layers.  So far, so good.

SOTM 2021 Stratigraphy Lesson 4 April plus Sky

March 3, 2021--Completed the third lesson published March 1st on the ANG website for its members.  

I'm wondering why we had only one row to stitch--at this rate, there will be many, many rows to stich during the last months of the year.  I also wanted to stitch more rows to see how my colors look together before going too far. 

I'm also wondering why her M1 thread in February is darker than the M2 thread used in March as shown in her project photo.  Oh well, here's my three months worth....

SOTM 2021 Stratigraphy Lesson 3 March

 February 1, 2021--The lesson for February was fast and easy, especially now that I have my colors picked out.  Here's the result to date with three rows stitched:

SOTM 2021 through February Lesson 2

January 11, 2021--I love working on ANG's Stitch of the Month projects.  They usually require a few days of time each month and by the end of the year, you have a very nice project that was fun to work on all year long.  This year is no different.  It is designed by Jennifer Riefenberg and called Stratigraphy.  I love the two folded columns, one moving forward, the other back.  

I'm including a picture of the threads I plan to use taken from my stash (tans--4 threads, blue/greens--4 threads, silver greys--6 threads).  They aren't exactly what the designer called for, but they'll work perfectly in the room where this project will be placed (I hope 🤞).

Here's a photo of the January lesson which covered canvas types, threads, information about the design background, and the first row or layer of stitching.    I'm working this on Congress Cloth.

SOTM 2021 January Lesson

SOTM 2021 Thread Choices