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!

Crazy Challenge 1 & 2

My first Crazy Challenge piece is The Great Pumpkin Conspiracy designed by Cross Eyed Cricket.  I picked a bigger piece for the first day because I planned on getting lots of it done.  Unfortunately it didn't work out as planned, so I only got a little done.  But the important thing is that it's begun.

Day 2 I was at an agility trial so I took a small, portable and easy pattern from Angel Stitchin' (Just Cross Stitch magazine's 2009 Christmas edition).  Between walking courses, running dogs, yakking with people, eating, pottying dogs, I managed to get more done than anticipated.

See you tomorrow for day 3's stitching.

A plan

Since I am mostly caught up with Christmas stitching (just one more ornie to finish) and with SALs except one (Mary Wigham), I have picked MW back up and plan to work on her until Dec. 31st.  Hopefully, I can get lots done on her, especially since the dogs and I don't have agility classes until February.  Maybe I could actually finish her, not by the end of Dec, of course, but sometime in Feb .....  hope springs eternal ......

I stitched a little on MW Sunday evening.  Unfortunately,  a very little, since I'm seem to have a cursed cold now.  Here's were I left off with MW in June:

And the arrow marks the little bit I did on Sunday:

Not much, but it's a start .....

Anyway, back to the 'Plan'.  On Jan 1st I begin the 15 day challenge.  And on Jan 1st I plan to begin with The Great Pumpkin Conspiracy from The Cricket Collection.  Jan 2nd I will be at an agility trial so I'll start an ornament.  The easiest one is from Angel Stitchin' -- the reindeer peeking around the Christmas tree.  After that, I'll just start whatever hits me that day. 

I have decided what my last piece will be.   I already stitched it for a friend of mine and want to do one for myself.  It's a beagle puppy in a basket with eggs.  This was hand drawn onto some kind of fabric (unfortunately, not waste fabric) and then cross stitched by a client of my friend onto a jersey as a gift (kind of like paint by numbers).  My friend has a kennel (Echo Run) and raises beagles and, when younger, she used to have egg-laying chickens.  There's no pattern for this piece except the original on the jersey, which makes it difficult and why I haven't done it before now.  The picture is the reproduction I stitched for my friend.  I absolutely love the face on the beagle pup -- it's so sweet. 

Have a good day!