Winding down another year

To finish off 2014 I decided to go back to a WIP from 2011 that hasn't seen the light of day since first started.  When I set it down it looked like this:

And now it looks like this (woohoo!):

I also started a new SAL, (a zentangle Christmas tree), finishing part 1 of 5:

Playing catch up with the inch sampler, I stitched the house, the tea pot, the castle, and the blue X squares:

And finally .... drum roll, please .... a finish!  Symmetry, originally started in June 2010, finally completed in December 2014.   I haven't signed and dated it yet because I'm trying to decide which end is up.  The right pic is the designer's choice but I like it either way.  Any opinions?

Happy New Year!  I hope 2015 is a good one for you and yours!

Plans for the upcoming year

Yikes!  It's hard to believe another year is nearly over!  As usual, I didn't get as much done as I wanted in 2014 but no sense crying over that.  Besides that, it's more fun to anticipate the projects of the next.  And here's what I'm planning for 2015 ... but please don't hold me to them.  My plans tend to be more fluid than written in stone.

To begin, I'm happy to read that Measi is continuing with WIPocalypse in 2015.  I didn't do a very good job on older projects in 2014 (except Symmetry which I should  have completed very soon).  So here's hoping 2015 will be better.  I'm not going to make grand plans for the year but would really, really, really like to finish Mary Wigham and then get a couple more squares done on my Tulip Sampler.

Secondly, Jo announced a super SAL called the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL.  The only requirement is to stitch something that has been gifted to you.  My plans for this are a tiny dog kit that was given to me by Ingrid:

And then this is cute little spring sampler kit from Lainey:

And, if time permits, My Stitching Treasures by Jeannette Douglas given to me by my EGA Secret Sister, Jessie a couple years ago. 

Then thirdly, I will (of course) continue with the really fun Halloween SAL over at Halloween Ornie SAL.  The topics are set and in January I'll pick my patterns for the year.  Looks like another fun year of ghosts and witches and other things that go bump in the night :)

Finally, I plan to continue the Inch Sampler from Facebook.  I haven't worked on it in awhile because of other things but I want to catch up and then keep current with it.  I think I'm 4 or 5 squares behind now but they're small so it won't be hard to catch up.

And that's it!  Here's hoping I get everything accomplished.  Though don't be surprised if I get side tracked by some other little lovely that comes along in 2015.

Good luck everyone .... and happy stitching!

WooHoo! Christmas stitching is DONE!

Thank goodness!  Here are my finished ornaments for this year.  All I have to say is ... it's a good thing I stitched all those hardanger angels earlier in the year.  And you'll notice that the last one doesn't look very Christmas-y because I still don't feel very Christmas-y.  It was the only one I just stitched (finished it last week) and I'm still feeling like Autumn.  Luckily the friend I made it for is an Autumn kind of gal.

 And my favorite one this post .... 

sums up my Christmas spirit.  I love this little gingerbread-style house under attack from the spiders.  Cracks me up!  It's for the Halloween Ornie SAL.  Our subject for November ... BUGS!  Can you tell?  I'm still in a Halloween-kind of mood  ;-)

I love the Bad Neighborhood series from Ink Circles.  They make me giggle.  I need to stitch the Upstairs Downstairs one for my brother ... he's a drummer.  I probably should make one for my dad, too.  My brother loved to practice when he was growing up.  Hmmm, maybe I should make one  for each of our old neighbors.

The spider is from one of the Halloween issues of JCS.  And in case you didn't notice, there's a sleeping beauty on the back of the couch totally oblivious to my photo taking session.  This is my old lady beagle Willow.  She's 12 now and does lots of sleeping.  Her hearing isn't what it used to be so she sleeps through almost everything now.  Unless it smells like food.  That generally gets her attention.

I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving on Thursday and safe travels for those going home for the holiday.

Symmetry with a little postal rant

Symmetry is mostly finished .... woohoo! 

The only thing left to do is the border and, unfortunately, I have to stop here so I can get my Christmas stitching done.  I think I'm going to change my name to Scrooge this year.  I really just do not feel like stitching Christmas.  Hopefully, with Symmetry calling to me to finish it, I'll get going.  Well, after I stitch this month's EGA friendship sampler, that is.  Which I started last night and should be able to finish tonight or tomorrow .... so that won't hold me up.  I'm having lots of fun with that project but can't show any pictures 'cuz it's a surprise. 


I also really enjoy exchange stitching and have been blessed with some lovely stitching partners.  I've been very lucky with the postal service until a couple months ago.  I recently joined the Facebook phenomenon, not because I'm particularly enamored with it but because a friend of mine became sick earlier this year.  And to keep in touch with her recovery, for better or worse, I joined.  And since I was there, I may as well 'enjoy' the whole experience, so I signed up to some group pages.  After the whole initial sensory overload subsided, I decided to participate in a card exchange and (dammit!) didn't my card get 'lost' (probably destroyed by those wonderful automatic postal machines) by the postal service on it's way to England.  After a month and a half of waiting for it to get there, I decided to stitch another and send it out again (this time registered mail .... ka-ching!).  And I'm happy to report it got there.  (I bet you never thought I would get to the point, did you?)

 

While I received this back in early September, because going from England to my house was more successful.  Check it out ... a PINK butterfly and a tiny biscornu.  Love it!

 



 

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the first card but it was my favorite butterfly in autumn colors.  Now probably on it's way to the dead letter office for destruction .... grrrr!  And, because of this, I'm done with mailing cards. 

 

Later ..... and, you Americans, don't forget to get out there and vote today, I did.

 

 

 



It's almost Halloween .....

And I have some exchange pictures to show you.  I received a wonderful package from Pilar that included the fun freebie from The Primitive Hare.  Unfortunately, I can't find the picture I took with my camera so this junky one from my tablet will have to do for now.

 I love it!  It's been on my to do list for awhile.  Thank you Pilar!

 

For my partner, I stitched this fun freebie.  Sigh.  Unfortunately (again) I can't find the pattern copy or the blog I got this one from right now.  (How organized is that?).  Since it's on my to do list for me, I better find it.

 

 

And for the Halloween ornament SAL (October's topic is trick or treaters) I stitched Tricks or Treats from the 2010 JCS  Halloween edition.  I'm making a little sampler with 3 ornaments stacked on some fabric I dyed purple myself.

 

 

 

 I have a couple non-Halloween stitchings to show you, also.  First is my inch sampler:

  

 

 

And second is an old WIP that I picked up again after several years of collecting dust.  It's called Symmetry by Needle Delights.  I've taken quite a few liberties with this one so it looks very different from the original.

   

 

 

I'm writing this on my tablet and am just about ready to pull my hair out.  This thing is so frustrating!  And that's about all I can stand right now.  So have a Happy Halloween everyone.  I'm outta here ....

 

He's finished with months to spare!

I haven't been doing much Christmas stitching this year.  Just not in the mood, I guess.  Not a good sign.  So I decided  to work on my Santa for 2014 to help get some Christmas cheer.  Introducing 2009 Santa by HeartStrings from the 2009 JCS Christmas edition. 

And here he is framed:

When I showed him to my dad, he commented on the cute sheep toy.  Hmmmm, I was thinking it was a little polar bear toy.

Every year, I stitch myself a Santa and I love keeping them up year round.  I have a wall of Santas in my hallway and he'll look nice there.

Santa for 2013 -- Stitched St. Nick VII,  Simply Old Fashioned

Santa for 2012 -- Wee Three, Lorri Birmingham.

Santa for 2011 -- And to All a Good Night, Cheryl Shaeffer

Santa for 2010 -- Rose Wreath Santa, Libby Sturdy

Santa for 2009

Santa for 2008, another one from Simply Old fashioned

Santa for 2007, Winter Magic, Cheryl Shaeffer
The beginning of my yearly Santas

My very first Santa from 1989 and still one of my favs.
It was a kit of some kind.

I love my Santa collection.

Assorted Stitchy Stuff

A couple weeks ago I went to Antiques in the Woods in Columbiana, Ohio with a friend of mine.  I found these lovely tea towels.  I'm not sure what technique this is but it's gorgeous and definitely hand stitched.  They probably aren't antiques because one has a Made in Japan tag on it but that's okay.  They were incredibly cheap so I snarfed them up. They're too pretty to wipe my hands on so I won't be using them as towels.  Instead, they will serve as doilies hanging over the ends of my shelves.

That same weekend my EGA group held our President's Luncheon.  We always have some kind of stitchy class after we eat and this year it involved beading.  This is how the finished ornament will look:

And this is where I am in the process:

I added another square to my inch sampler .... a cupcake with cherry icing and chocolate sprinkles.  Yum!

And finally, I finished and stitched Yeow from Prairie Schooler for the Halloween SAL blog.  Our subject for September was black cats.  

I also finished Halloween Manor into an ornament.  The Manor is mine.  Yeow is a gift.  Both are hanging for my enjoyment until I mail Yeow off next week.

Happy stitching everyone!

Tutti Fruitti Exchange is complete

I recently participated in an exchange hosted over at Mii Stitch.  It was the Tutti Fruitti exchange, celebrating all things fruit, and was great fun.  I received the most awesome purse from Veronique.  Let me say this first, I don't sew or quilt or anything like that.  I have managed to learn some rudamentary hand sewing to make little pillows or ornaments but that's it.  So when I get something like this, I'm awe struck that someone would make it for me.

Isn't it lovely?  Thank you Veronique!  It's wonderful!  And cherries are one of my favorites  ... yum!

But that isn't all.  Veronique sent some super fruitti goodies with this.  I especially like the blueberry pattern (which came with threads but I forgot to take out to photograph) because my dad's favorite fruit is blueberries.  I'll be stitching this for him sometime soon.

For my part, I stitched strawberries for Albena onto a little pillow.

And had fun searching for fruitti goodies to add to the package.  And Albena, being a quick stitcher, has already finished the little Summer pattern.

Many thanks to Ingrid over at Mii Stitch for hosting this exchange.  It was a fun one!

I also want to post a pic of my inch sampler.  I've added 2 more squares, a red headed little witch and a butterfly.  Still undecided about the border color.

Have a good day!

A super moon WIPocalypse update

I went out the other night to see the super moon and, frankly, it didn't look any closer or bigger than other full moons.  It was, however, a beautiful sight to see.

For my WIPocalypse update, I'm sad to say nothing on the older WIPs.  However, I did get some stitching in this month.  To begin, I started something new.  It's a sampler of inch sized blocks from a Facebook group.  Right now there are only 3 blocks done on my sampler.  When it's finished there will be 100.  I can't decide on a color for the separating border.  Many of the stitchers are using black thread, which looks nice.  I may use a dark brown like DMC 3371 but since I'm so indecisive, I'm leaving it blank for now.

 

Another project for this update is an exchange over at Fair and Square.  The subject of this exchange was NATURE.  Anything .... anything at all in nature.  Hmmm, such a big area from which to choose.   So I asked my partner, Linda, what she likes in nature.  She replied 'Everything'.  Well that narrowed things down a bit.  But when I learned a favorite color of hers is blue, I immediately knew she would love a blue butterfly (after all, who doesn't like butterflies).  So I picked my favorite butterfly pattern.  And so for about the 4th time now, I stitched the butterfly from Butterflies and Flowers, an older design from Carolina Cross Stitch.  Happily, Linda likes my butterfly.

I love this pattern.  It's fun to change the colors and play with the stitch inside the wings.  Here are a couple more I've stitched.

 

 

 

And because I can't get this darned tablet to do what I want, here's the link for Measi's WIPocalypse blog to check out the other WIPocalypsers (now that's a mouth full).  That's where I'm going after I'm done here to see what everyone's been stitching.  Have a good stitchy day!