December Smalls

There was no new stitching of smalls that took place this month. I had all these plans and had pulled all manner of charts from my stash however a vile virus destroyed all my plans. Around Dec. 8 I started to feel not quite like myself and over the next few days realized that my body was fighting something. By my husband's birthday on the 12th I knew I was full out sick and I didn't recover to any extent until the 23rd! By then I had seen the doctor who diagnosed a chest cold/virus that had morphed into bronchitis and now required antibiotics. The drugs did their thing and my lungs are very slowly recovering. I suspect the coughing will go on for a couple more weeks though.
Consequently I did nothing and I mean nothing! I had no energy to even pick up my needle and I'm only just now starting to stitch again. Once my energy did start returning I got down to some serious finishing. I had my granddaughters ornies to complete as well as a friend's gift. During the process I also finished off several other small pillows.

Here are my gift finishes:

The two for my granddaughters are designed by The Little Stitcher and the last one is a design by Little House Needleworks called Potted Poinsettia.

Here is a pic of the ornaments and pillows I set out to finish followed by some pics of my small pillow displays throughout the house.

So no new stitches but lots of finishes! I'm pleased with how the month ended after losing most of it to ill health. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was very low key because although I'm somewhat recovered, my hubby is just coming down with a cold. 
Here's to lots of new smalls stitching in the New Year!

November Smalls

With Christmas just around the corner I pulled out my Christmas stitching and got started with a few ornaments. None of the final finishing is complete yet. I'll do them all at once when the time comes. 
I started with the ornaments for my granddaughters. These two ornaments are part of a collection by The Little Stitcher called the Twelve Days of Christmas, Part 1 and Part 2. They can be purchased separately or as one booklet and can be found on her Etsy shop. 

 The Day of Snow and Ice

The Day of Folly

These ornament designs are so sweet and took very little time to stitch up. I've picked my backing fabrics and will finish them both as tree ornaments.

Two by Two Deer is designed by The Prairie Schooler and is an oldie but a goodie! The chart can be found in the Just CrossStitch Christmas Ornament issue from 1998. I've been meaning to stitch this one for quite awhile. It's about time I got around to it!! 

Those are my three Smalls finishes for this month. I hope to have a couple more next month but often time runs out as we get closer to the holidays. I really only need to stitch one more gift so keep your fingers crossed! See you next month.

October WIPocalypse and Smalls SAL

It seems like it's been quite a while since I last posted. I had hoped to be back here sooner but life got in the way, more specifically I've been knocked flat by a miserable virus. It's been 4 weeks now and I've still not rid myself of it entirely but I am feeling much more human now than I was earlier.
I've decided to post my WIPocalypse and Smalls post on the same day since they fall only a day apart this month. I actually do have some stitching to report although a good portion of it has occurred in the past 4 days or so. I'm making up for lost time!  

I'll start with my WIP. Since my last post I have been working on three projects. I started two of them on the same day right at the end of September. The first is Plum Street Samplers Autumn Fraktur.

I'm stitching this on 32ct Picture This Plus Mello. Once the leaves and vine are done I'll get into stitching the two colourful birds in this piece.
Once I had stitched a leaf or two on this I switched over to my second start which is Stacy Nash Thistles and Spells Pinkeep.

I'm really loving this fabric which is another Picture This Plus called Shale. Of course this will never be complete by this Halloween but next year is just fine.

My third new start is as a result of participating in a SAL on Prim Stitchers Society Facebook group. I can't remember the exact number but I know there are more than 200 of us who on Oct. 15 started stitching Kathy Barrick's new design And Heaven And Nature Sing. The recommended floss on this is NPI silks but I'm using a number of silks I found in my stash including some Vikki Clayton and Belle Soie. I am using the recommended fabric, Lakeside Linen Vintage Pecan Butter.

Of course I also completed a small finish for my commitment as part of the Smalls SAL. For me it couldn't be anything except a Halloween finish. Here is The Little Stitcher Pickety Witch!

Again I used the PTP Shale for this stitch. The finished piece fits right in with my existing Halloween decor. Love it!

October is also the month in which Canada celebrates their Thanksgiving. So on the second Monday of the month our family gathered to celebrate. My eldest and his family were unable to join us however this year we had an extra member at the table. My sister Laurie, who lives in the U.S., joined us as part of a week long visit. We all have so much to be thankful for including the wonderful meal we feasted on. Everyone had a hand in helping!

The others at the table included my son Dan, hubby Bob, and my son Chris with his girlfriend Violet. The boys had a great time catching up with their aunt.

How nice for Laurie too. Since she lives in the U.S. she gets to celebrate Thanksgiving twice this year!

My final photo is of a Halloween finish from 2013. I finally had this one stretched and hopefully it will be framed in the coming year. This is Plum Street Samplers Ghoul Tidings. Love those cats!

I'm hoping that by this month's end I'll be feeling 100% improved and this virus will be history. That should lead to plenty more stitching in the coming month. See you soon!

My first posting for the Smalls SAL

What was last year's Ornament SAL has become this year's Smalls SAL and I'm so glad to be a part of it once more. I gave you an early peek at one of my small finishes on a previous post but I have since completed the final finishing on it.

The Primitive Apple Spicy Winter Tea is a freebie pattern which can be found here. I finished this one up as a small pillow using crushed walnut shells for the filling along with a healthy dose of some Pumpkin Spice potpourri. It smells wonderful!

The Little Stitcher Give Love is also a freebie pattern which is found here. Another quick stitch but so effective when finished.

I also complete one of Threadwork Primitives Valentine freebies, found here. 

I stitched my own and my husband's initials.The original date on the design is 1856 and I know that makes the finished product look more primitive but I chose to change this to the year of our wedding.
I haven't decided how to finish this stitch yet but hopefully by next month's post I'll have the final finishing completed in addition to some new smalls.
Speaking of Threadwork Primitives, I took one of my completed stitches of Nan's from last year and finished it up as another small for my Valentine decor. I could have used a little more fill in this one but I ran short so it will have to do.

Here are my bowls of Valentine pillows.

I seem to have plenty for now but there are so many wonderful Valentine freebies out there! 
I've already decided on a small for next month's post so now I'm off to pull fabric and floss.

June's Ornament

I had every intention of stitching a Christmas ornament this time around. I even had the pattern all picked out and had put in a few stitches. Then I spotted this little fellow in my stash. 

The Little Stitcher Little Bluebird

I stitched him with the recommended floss, CC Deep Fennel which ended up not being quite as dark as I thought it would be. In any case he is finished and now I'm on the hunt for some matching fabric for the ornament finish. 
So my original start may well be next month's ornie!

Two More For The Tree

Seems I'm hooked on stitching ornies this year and as a result I have two more finishes to show you.

First up is Homespun Elegance Pomegranate Joy which can be found in the JCS 2012 Ornament issue.

The next one is a free design I found online called Merry Christmas Deer and is designed by The Little Stitcher. The chart can be found here.

Tonight I'll be stitching with my Tuesday night group and I plan on giving some quality time to 'Tis The Season. I've also started on another ornament. This one is a freebie offered a couple of years ago by Gazette 94. I'm stitching it as a Christmas gift so unfortunately, no pictures.

The weather is extremely mild here which certainly doesn't give you that Christmas feeling but nevertheless I'm off to Ottawa a little early in order to pick up a few things for the holidays. I' rather run around in this weather than in the snow.
Hope you all have a wonderful week!