It is WIP Wednesday for stitchers in the United States. Social media gets flooded with unfinished projects in various different stages. Some of the images look like no progress has been made at all while others are almost finished. Stitchers respond with encouragement and exclamations of awe. 

WIP is an acronym for Works in Progress. It's bascially any project that a stitcher is currently working on. It could have been started yeaterday or 20+ years ago. It could be the only project a stitcher is currently working on or it could be #56 of 75 projects. In my case, I have lost count of how many WIPs I have currently.

I am not sure when or even how WIP became associated with Wednesdays. Its just one of those things that started somewhere and has become a trend. Of course, social media has been a huge asset in this trend. Stitchers for a long time never had the oppurtunity to share their projects or enthusiam for their hobby. We were isolated or regulated to small groups that gathered occasionally. Younger stitchers were made fun of for doing an activity for old women; including the occasional male who would pick up stitching.

Social media opened a whole new world globally to stitchers. Projects and ideas began to flow between continents along with embroidery techniques being shared. Every stitcher wanted to see what everyone else was working on and WIP Wednesday was born. Stitchers take pictures of the progress they have made during the week as well as a picture of the design they are working on. 

Sometimes there are links to the designs or store the products were purchased from. Sometimes the stores or designers sponsor WIP Wednesday and are featured on their website or Facebook pages. This includes the same design with thread color changes, fabric changes (count and type), or design changes or edits. Which brings me to my WIP that I started back in June.

It's a birth sampler that I started for my granddaughter Bean, nickname, and it looks like an old comfy quilt that someone's grandma made. I choose some hand dyed thread with linen fabirc to emphasize the quilt look. I have yet to choose the buttons for the inner and outer border. I think I am going to wait till I have the stitching done to find the perfect buttons.

Next Wednesady I might post a WIP of this project or another project that I might pick up. That's part of the fun of WIP Wednesday, all the different projects a single stitcher is working on and what they feel they want to share with the world. 

*Supplies for It's a Girl Birth Sampler bought through Stoney Creek Collections