August (August Already??) Gifted Gorgeousness

My goodness this year is flying by at a fast and furious pace!  I can't believe it's August already.  I feel like I've been on a treadmill travelling 90 miles an hour and getting absolutely NOWHERE!  Oh well, on with the show!

If you haven't got a clue what Gifted Gorgeousness is, why haven't you visited my blog before??  Just kidding!!  I enjoy this challenge so much!  We are encouraged to showcase stitching things that are gifted.  It could be fabric, a special floss, a pattern, something we made for someone else or something someone made for us.  Pretty much everything goes in the gift department!  If you want the official rules, head on over and see Jo from Serendipitous Stitching.  If you click HERE it will take you to the page where you can sign up.  But....if you click HERE, you can see the amazing things Jo is stitching and find the links to see what everyone else is stitching too!  The reason I love this challenge so much is because it encourages me to sift through all that stash I have hanging around and stitch something someone has generously given me.  (My husband likes it too, because it keeps me out of the LNS and out of his pocket!  LOL)  I rarely go to the store anymore, and that makes me sad because I've become good friends with most of the ladies who work there!  Gee, I keep taking tangents...ok....on with the show (where have I heard that before?)

Let's see....first up is  Christmas Morning Goodies by The Frosted Pumpkin.  This was an ornament from the 2018 JCS Ornament Issue and is part of a challenge I'm doing.  I didn't stitch the border because I really didn't like it that much, and I decided I would finish it in a circular manner and the border would have looked a bit odd.  The fabric for this was a gift from my friend Mouse who lives in England.  We've exchanged Christmas and Birthday gifts for years.  Thanks Mouse!!  This was stitched on 32 count Glacier Blue Sparklies fabric over one.

Next is 8 Maids a Milking from the 1989 May issue of Cross Stitch and Country Crafts Magazine.

Next is  Snowman Mitten by Ursula Michael from the 2005 JCS Ornament issue, part of the same challenge as above.

Last is 1999 Christmas Ornament by The Vermillion Stitchery from the 1999 JCS Ornament Issue.  It's still a work in progress but I hope to finish up in the next day or so.  Can you tell what it is?  

All four of these are stitched on 28 count over one except the first which was stitched on 32 count over one and the magazines were gift subscriptions from my husband over the years.  They are all challenge pieces and you can see which areas they are from by visiting the 2019 goals page above.  

Ooops, I almost forgot!!  My son's fiance was here a week or so ago and told me she was having problems with her scissors poking through her bag while she was carrying her project back and forth....we can't have THAT now can we?  I had this Alice Peterson Kit on standby for emergencies when I have to quickly make a gift for an exchange...so that weekend I whipped this up for her.  Now this is needlepoint, and it's already made into the scissor case, all you have to do is stitch it up and zip it up and voila!  Hopefully now she won't have any more mishaps with her scissors poking through her bag!

I'm editing this to post this last item that was a gift from a friend.  I have only stitched the top portion, there is more in the pattern to do.  This is Sarah Elliot's Sewing Chest.  I just love this serene scene!  All the sheep were supposed to be white, but I couldn't resist putting a little me in there.  Can you find the black sheep?  Don't confuse him with the black dog...hahah.  I took a poll and it was unanimous that I put a little black sheep in there to represent me.  This was my LNS challenge piece for July and I finished just in time!  I will be doing more from the series as time allows.  I'm having so much fun!  Thank you to my friend who gifted this to me.  I'm honored, and so excited to finally be working on it!  It has so many things in there that I love.  A light house, whales, and that beautiful tall ship.  

I'm still working on the challenge my LNS is hosting, but trying to finish up WIPs we've had going or new patterns we've had lying around for ages that we truly want to stitch.  So far I've finished all but one!  I'm still working on that and really hope to finish before the year is up!

Til next time....Happy Stitching everyone!