WIPs are getting done!!

Just a little update, as I'm getting stuff done, I'm so excited to get some framing done!

I finished off the Mystery Spot Sampler SAL from Weihenberg Designs that I started in 2008...can you believe it?  This has always been a favorite, but it's stitched on 36 count over one with Gloriana silks, Egyptian Nights and I made a mistake way back when.  I packed it away and a month or so ago, I pulled it out and ripped out the part that I made the mistake on, and finished it in one day.  I love this one so much, I took it (along with a couple of other ones) and got it framed.  Here it is in all it's glory!!

I finished off the Blue Poppy Learning Sampler SAL by Tempting Tangles.  I sent her a picture of the framed piece and she showcased it on her Facebook page!  I do love the frame I chose!!

I also finished off Royal Gardens by Debbee's Designs.  This is a counted Needlepoint piece.  I fell in love with the colors in this piece then went to look for it.  I had a little trouble keeping on point with it though, so took a lot of time and planning, so it took a long while to get it together.  It looks great on my wall!!  

I finished up a very old WIP yesterday that I had started for a friend of mine.  I set it aside because it needed to be personalized, and then I forgot about it.  I learned that my friend is moving out of state and they had a going away party for her today, so I finished it up last night so I could give it to her.  This is Love One Another - Famine Relief by Little House Needlworks.

I have had this next pattern for years.  I found it as a freebie on Ellen Maurer-Stroh's website and this is the second time I have stitched it.  It's called Spring Messenger.  My Grandmother's name was Violet, and violets were her favorite flower.  She taught me to stitch when I was 7 years old so this piece has a lot of meaning for me.  I love violets too.  I stitched it a few years ago for my cousin, but it was time I stitched it again for me!  I have a couple ideas how I want to finish it, and I'm hoping this will be a year when I get a lot finished.....so stay tuned!

That's all the news for now.  I hope those in the path of the latest storm have kept safe and warm!  We haven't got any snow, but it is pretty cold out there...and oh so windy!  I'm hoping to go out and get some shots of the lunar eclipse tonight....but I don't want to freeze, so we'll see how I do!  Take care!

January Gifted Gorgeousness

It seems the 15th comes faster and faster these days!  It's time for Gifted Gorgeousness!  If you don't know what that is, you can head on over to Jo's Blog Serendipitous Stitching sign up page (click here) to see the rules and sign up.  Or if you want to know what everyone is stitching, you can just click here to go to her blog.  Basically we showcase things we are stitching that is from something that was gifted to us (fabric, floss, or pattern), a gift we have received that was stitched, or something we have stitched for someone else!  It's a great way to show folks we appreciate our gifts!

I showed some of the gifts I've been given in my last post...one of which I stitched from a French Christmas ornament pattern.  It is listed in the 2019 goals page and here is the finished piece.  Sorry for posting twice, but I can't wait to stitch more from this set of patterns!

I made a few ornaments toward the end of last month for Christmas.  I didn't get them finished before Christmas, so here they are fully finished except for one...I still haven't figured out how I'm going to finish the last one.  Can you tell which teams the guys like?

I made one for Ben's GF too, so here is the front and the back.  I found this free pattern on a blog, and if you go back a few posts you can find the link to the pattern. (Edit - I've had so many ask about this pattern I decided to post the link here.   Enjoy!)

I started the gift my husband gave me for our anniversary last year.  It's the Amazing Marie Antoinette Caleidoscope by Chatelaine Designs.  I'm hoping when I get a little farther along you can see the black and dark blue stitching (it's hard to see against the black fabric just yet).  The light stitches you see here are gold and silver metallic stitches.

I also received a lovely gift from Jo.  She know's how much I love nativities and sent this little one to me.  (It's the little one in front of the white nativity.)  Isn't it the cutest?  Thank you so much Jo!!

Last is a little gift I got in September (an early birthday gift).  I don't have much stitched on her yet, but hopefully I'll get more stitched at a stitch day I'm attending today.  Shown is a picture of what she will look like done too!

And I guess that's all that's fit to print.  I hope you are all safe and warm and survived the storm we had last weekend if you were in it's path.  We got 7-8 inches depending on who you ask.  Happy Stitching!

Off to a good start....

Well,  2019 started off a little slow, but it's starting to pick up momentum!  I signed up for a few challenges and it has taken me a little time to sort out what I hoped to stitch, and then find everything!  I'm pleased to say, I will be stitching from stash again this year, and so far I've been able to find all the floss I needed for the projects I'm thinking of doing.  

I have all my requirements stitched for the challenges I'm participating in this month!  Yippee!  If I were to stitch one project for each challenge I would be stitching 6 ornaments each month.  As it is, I can overlap some, so this month I only had to stitch 4.  Here they are!

The first one I stitched was from La Grande Historie de Noel No 1 by Les Brodeuses Parisienne  and was finished 1/7/2019.  This was a set of patterns given to me by my husband for Christmas this past year.  

The second one was Get in the Spirit by Brittercup Designs I found in the JCS issue 2008.

The third one was Joy by Rovaris found in the JCS issue 2018.

The fourth was a partridge in a pear tree from the Better Homes and Garden publication but were patterns originally published in Cross Stitch and Country Crafts from the Mar/Apr issue 1989.  

Hubby also gave me Calendrier de l'advent by Les Brodeuses Parisienne!  I fell in love with these patterns a long time ago.  I had a wish list on my computer and he found the wish list....aren't I a lucky lady???  I also got a few others.  Dance by the light of the moon by The Nebby Needle, Holy Night by By the Bay Needleart, and Chanson de Noel by GRille point de croix Vintage Collection.    They are pictured here, along with the 12 Days of Christmas I am stitching for one of my challenges.  Just as an aside, my husband is so thoughtful, when he gives me gifts, he always includes the thread and fabric...I'm truly spoiled!!

I also had a finish from a very old WIP.  I will have to go back 2012 I think.  I tried to go back to find it, but I'll have to save that for another day...haha.  This is Quaker Diamonds from Rosewood Manor.  I'm pleased to have this finished!!  I do love it, now to find time to frame it!

The kids wanted to do something fun for New Years, so the night before New Years eve we drove to the National Harbor and visited the ICE! exhibit.  It was quite an experience!   All the characters inside were from the Peanuts cartoon, except for the last room which had a larger than life size nativity.  Breathtaking!!  Since they keep the ice at a constant 9 degrees F....they offer these stylish big blue parkas.  Don't we look lovely?  haha  There was a large slide inside, but the three of them came down too fast for me to get all of them on the slide....so I only got Ben...it sure was a lot of fun!!

We had a little trouble starting our van a week or so ago.  We finally got it started and off to the mechanic who checked it out and found some expensive repairs.  Lovely time of year to find that out, huh?  So...since they were having some pretty good sales and incentives, we thought we would put the money we were going to use for repairs into a new vehicle.  I'm going to miss out van, so many good memories...160,000 miles and 12 years of fun...but I like our zippy new Toyota Rav 4!  It's the first time we have had a "fun" color....so I'm naming her Ruby!

I guess that's enough for this time.  I'll be back in a few days with my Gifted Gorgeousness post!  Thanks for stopping by!

New Year...New Goals...New Starts...

Happy Belated New Year!

I kept telling myself, as I ran out of time in 2018, next year will be different.  Who am I kidding?  Can I really reinvent myself overnight?  Well I guess I can try, right?

So....here I am, it's already 4 days into the New Year and I've already broken some resolutions.  I still haven't been to the gym....but it's usually crowded this time of year anyway...I'll give it another week, or so...  I still haven't organized my stitching goals...I mean I have SOME plans, but they aren't completely ironed out, and I can't find my Discs with my JCS magazines on them *Heavy sigh*....so I can't even iron out exactly WHAT I'm going to stitch.  I'm WAY behind in some SALs I started last year....I'm almost ready to throw in the towel!!  However, Rome wasn't built in a day.  Though I'm not starting out at a dead run on January 1st, I'm giving myself permission to IMPROVE over the course of the year.  

On a positive note, I did start something new on New Year's Day.  I started the Amazing Marie Antionette's Rose Garden Caleidoscope by Chatelaine Designs.  Yep, on black but 28ct over 2.  It was supposed to be 32 ct. over two, but the person who sold it to me gave me the wrong count fabric.  Oh well, It's on the frame and has some stitches in it so consider it started!!  I was so completely spoiled by DH when he gave it to me for our anniversary.  He splurged and found all the silks and other specialty threads, and beads and whatnot.  Other than being crazy big, it's a dream to stitch with all those silks.  The problem came when the frog came to visit, then took up residency, so I haven't been back since I started that day.  I will though...don't worry!  I apologize for the terrible pictures, it was a cloudy day and the lighting is awful!!

On Wednesday I stitched on Quaker Diamonds by Rosewood Manor.  This poor WIP has been sitting around for ages.  I keep all my projects well covered, so it hasn't gathered dust, but it could have!  haha  I'm going to continue stitching on WIPs on Wednesdays because that seems to work for me, incentive to get things done!

Yesterday I started an ornament.  I've signed up for a few challenges stitching ornaments this year.  You can see them on my 2019 goals page.  I'm hoping they take pity on me and let me overlap some of my stitching.  haha  I'm going to do my best NOT to do that, though.  Everyone hates a cheater, right?  So I started a Victoria Sampler bell pull ornament from the 2008 Just Cross Stitch Ornaments issue.   Then I realized the first month of this year we were supposed to stitch from the 2009 issue...back to the drawing board, if I can ever find those Discs!!!!

Now...on for a little taste of what I did last year for fun.  We took a few trips and I never once showed where we went or what we did.  I have to say, 2018 was a bit of a blur.  We took a trip for a couple of weeks.  We went to Niagara Falls, then on to Toronto where we met up with Ben and his Girlfriend, then left them and went on to Kingston, then on to NY to visit my Mom.  We stopped at Watkins Glen on the way home to walk the glen.  It was a fabulous trip, here are a few pictures of the highlights.    

Niagara Falls....we took a helicopter tour, went to a Butterfly Garden, Toured Niagara on the Lake and visited Fort George in the daytime and the nighttime (ghost tour).

Toronto....we visited the Stanley Cup, went to the Aquarium, took a boat tour, and saw Jason Mamoa (you know....Aquaman?) but couldn't get a good picture of him.

Kingston...took a bus tour, took a ghost tour, and walked around the city.

Watkins Glen

We also took a trip into DC to visit the Madame Tussaud's Museum.  Yes, we are goofy, but we have fun!!  We also took in a Caps game!

I'll write about our recent travels next time!  Thanks for stopping by!