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!