December Smalls

 December was another busy month for smalls in terms of final finishing. I needed a push in the butt to get moving because once again I left things to the last minute and with less ambition and enthusiasm.

My granddaughters ornaments were the first priority specifically their requests, the snake and the rabbit. Here are the results of the final finishes. I've included photos of the backing fabric I used as well.

It was difficult to find a fabric in my stash to back the snake with. The fabric I chose reminded me somewhat of a snake's skin although it's not as clear in this picture as I would have liked.

With those two finished I moved onto finishing their Christmas ornaments. I cheated and pulled two previous stitched ornaments out of my pile and finished them up.

I squeeked out the final finishes on Dec. 14, packaged all their gifts up and mailed them out by Xpress post on Dec. 15. Believe it or not, they arrived at their home in Quebec two days later!! I was shocked. After all we all know how long it's taking to receive mail during the pandemic. 

I wasn't able to see the girls over Christmas but they took and posted a few pictures for me to see them opening their gifts. It looks like the ornaments were a hit as well as their requested pieces.

I also managed to finish off a name tree for my friend Trish and I finally got around to stitching one for myself after all the others were finished.

The first name tree is designed by Nouveau Encore Designs and my name tree was designed by M Designs who unfortunately is no longer designing.

I also finished the stitching on two small ornament finishes of a design called Twinkles by Stitcharoo Gifts. I spotted this little ornie on either a Facebook or Instagram post by another stitcher. I thought it would be a sweet and quick little finish.

I have stitched in on two different fabric linens. One is a pink-blue colour and the second is a light green with brighter colours for the floss.

As you can see, I have almost completed the final finishing on the first one. These will be put aside for next year's gifts for my granddaughters so I'm already ahead of the game!

I don't know how but I managed to squeek out all my finishes on time!

February Smalls

Plenty of snow dumps in our area during the latter part of January and continuing on into February have led to plenty of time for hibernating with my stitching. As my thoughts turned to Valentine's Day, I worked on this pretty stitch for the occasion.....Blackbird Designs Sweetheart Pincushion. 

The linen I used for this design is a lovely 36ct from Dames of the Needle called Sweeney Red. One of the two floss colours used is WDW Fawn. Fortunately I had two skeins from different lots because the first skein was almost identical in colour to the WDW Sandcastle being used as the other colour. There were no variations in colour between the two and I ended up doing some serious frogging and hunting for another skein. I'm really pleased with the end result though. As usual, final finishing will come at a later date.

My second finish for the month is a sweet little winter design released by By The Bay Needleart called Chilly Winter. This is the second of two designs released under the same title in this chart.

I'm hoping to get around to stitching the first design in this series as well. I'd love to finish the two little cushions to add to my winter displays next year.

Since I've finished these smalls I've had trouble settling down to stitch anything else. I've been doing a little reading and browsing the needlework market's upcoming releases. I am considering stitching another of the Blackbird Designs strawberries and there is a Threadwork Primitives pincushion which I'm interested in too. Decisions, decisions..... See you soon with a post of my larger work in progress.

A Final Post for 2013

The final hours of 2013 are quickly disappearing and it won't be long before we ring in the New Year. Some of you already have at this point in time. To all of you I wish all the best in 2014. May it be a year of good health, prosperity, peace and many blessings.

I leave you with my final two finishes for 2013. I have one ornament remaining that I'm still stitching but seeing how I'm going to be celebrating with the neighbours very shortly I don't see how it will be finished before year's end.  However I did manage to finish up a couple of bigger projects during the past two days.

First is Plum Street Samplers Ghoul Tidings. This was so close to a finish I just knew I could squeak it in on time.

This was a really fun stitch and it makes me want to start another of her designs soon.

My final finish is Torah Stitch By Stitch. I had hoped to have this one complete in the fall but I grew tired of it once the script was stitched and put it aside for awhile. When I picked it up again to stitch the border I found that I had bit off more than I could chew. The border wasn't difficult but time consuming and I was itching to start other designs. I also think I had problems because I'm not used to stitching in hand and the side borders really had to be stitched that way. I'm glad I stuck with it because I think it turned out quite nicely.

For those of you not familiar with the Torah Stitch, this is an international project originating out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They want to stitch the complete Torah and need some help. Stitchers of any nationality and any religious belief are welcome to join in. I know that there have been a few others who have seen my progress and ordered their own kits to stitch. If you are interested at all, click on this link for the info. 

This brings a grand total of 39 pieces stitched this year! I'm pleased with my finishes and over the next couple of days I'll begin to choose patterns I'd like to stitch during the coming year.

Wherever you are, enjoy your New Year's celebrations and I'll see you next year!

A finish for my giveaway

I finished stitching my little chicks on Monday and today I spent the morning getting them all finished up. For those of you who guessed Prairie Schooler, you would be correct. They're from book 107, Just Hatched. I thought I had some 32 ct fabric for stitching this but alas there was nothing but 28 ct so the egg is a little larger than I'd planned. As for the egg shape, my finishing skills leave a lot to be desired. What I lack in finishing I make up for with enthusiasm. I'm thrilled to be sharing something I stitched with one of you. If I could I'd make an egg for each and every one of you. You have all blessed me with your friendship, insight and skills. Thank you all so much!

BTW, I have no intention of sharing just how long it took me to complete this today. Can someone please tell me how to finish off the ends on this kind of trim!? Just suffice it to say that during the process there were several words that need not be spoken here that passed through my lips, lol!

In any case I'm learning as I go and hope that whoever wins my little chicks will be forgiving.

In addition to my own giveaway I've got together some items for the TUSAL giveaway over at Daffycat's blog. I picked a few more fabrics as well as finishing off a small pinkeep. It's from a freebie offered by Donna at By The Bay Needleart.

Now I just have to get everything into an envelope and mailed. This promises to be a very exciting draw at the end of the year to which so many people have donated items, both handmade and otherwise.

I've managed to finish off Maison No 4 this week with the exception of the outside border on 2 sides. I didn't calculate very well and consequently ran out of floss before I'd finished stitching. So now it sits on hold until another skein arrives which I purchased online. I'll post a final pic when that happens. I've spent a couple of evening stitching on Cast All Your Cares but a good portion of that was spent frogging so I won't have an updated picture of that until later this weekend.

I know several of you have commented on the snow you received on the weekend after such a promising leadup to spring with all the milder temperatures. Our snow had pretty well disappeared until that time as well. The first days of spring brought some pretty heavy snow which fortunately has now disappeared. Here are a few pics I took from the window during one of the snowfalls.

I love how the little sparrows have huddled under the boughs of the tree next door.

Gotta feel sorry for all those little critters who are once more out and about and then get whammied again!

Hope everyone is having a good week. Happy Stitching!

TOGA!!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!! I didn't realize until I sat down to start this post that it would be my 200th. Wow, have I really had that much to say over the past few years? Not quite 4 years to be exact. So I would have to say that this calls for a giveaway, wouldn't you? After all, I have a lot to celebrate in the upcoming months. So it's my almost four years blogging anniversary (in June), two hundredth post, not quite 100 Followers, nearly retired giveaway also known as The Almost Give Away or TOGA as I like to call it. I figure it's about time that I give back something in exchange for all the friendship, laughter, stitching tips, gifts and enablement (is that a word?!) that I've received ever since my blogging life began. It's been a wonderful journey and I wouldn't trade it for anything. You have all enriched my life in sooo many ways. So, if you would like to have a chance to win this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post only and you must be a follower to qualify. I will leave the giveaway open until Sunday, March 26 at which time I will draw a name to receive a stitched finish from moi along with some other awesome goodies. A most lucky day to enter a draw, is it not?!

As far as stitching goes here is a pic from Spring Quakers but it's not my most recent one. My DH has left town this past week to visit his mother and took our camera with him. So I'll show you the picture I took just prior to his leaving. As you can see I'm working on the motifs at the upper portion and the upper left. Still loving this one!

In the motif at the bottom right an initial is to be stitched. Up until now I hadn't decided whether to stitch the initial of my first or last name. However I finally decided to go with the initial of my first name. I managed to get a picture of the finished stitching but it was taken with my cell phone and unfortunately it's not all that focused. Sorry about that. I didn't manage to get another pic of Maison No 4 either so that will have to wait until next post. I decided to bring out Cast All Your Cares and spend some quality time with it this week only to end up with some major frogging. So no pic there either.

What I did manage to get a picture of before the camera took off was my recent framed stitch.

Does everyone remember my By The Bay Needleart Halloween Cove? It came back to me in all its glory this week. I love, love, love the frame!! It looks absolutely fantastic with the piece. So much better when you see it in real life. Now I can't wait for Halloween to roll around again so I can hang it. When I picked this one up I dropped off my Jardin Prive Christmas. It should be ready in a couple of weeks.

That's about it for now. Spring is trying so hard to get a foothold around here. The temperatures are starting to climb and the snow to melt. My hubby returns tomorrow and my weekend off promises to be a lovely one. Bring it on!!

Edit: The final date for the giveaway will be Sunday, March 27 not the 26th as stated earlier. I just can't get my dates straight yet!