Busy, Busy, Busy

 And a little sick. I have a bit of a sinus infection. with my college students home and the holidays, I just don't have the energy to blog.

But I wanted to share what I will be starting January 1 with the rest of the Fiber Talk gang:

Springhill by Rosewood Manor ! Mine will be stitched with 100/3 Au Ver a Soie on 45 count Florence. It will be gorgeous! If you are interested in a kit or other options, Needle in a Haystack has them listed.

I have a few finishes to share along with some progress on WIPs, but I really just want to go to bed. Hopefully I will feel better soon and can add a long post then. 

Happy New Year everyone!

A True Finish

 Well, my guys came through and made little cardboard pieces so my Nativity couls stand.

Not the best photo, but I love how it looks in person. Maybe next year I will string some lights around the piece.

Merry Christmas! I pray that the peace of the Christ Child is with you today!

If you get this early enough, Fiber Talk is doing a stitch and chat on their YouTube channel today at 2:00pm EST.

Fiber Talk

Gifted Gorgeousness for December

 This fun SAL is the brainchild of the lovely Jo of    Serendipitous Stitching        .   You are supposed to post a photo of something that is a gift to you, from you or you can squeeze into the gift category. This piece is the later.  MH  1656, My Beloved was a gift Nicola Parkman received from her husband. She charted it and released it and I am busily trying to stitch it.

It took me forever to stitch the yellow and pink band and I have decided it needs to be removed. Well, just the yellow. I will rip it and replace it with the green that is below. The section I am currently stitching is a doozy! I spent an hour last night just thinking about where to start. While studying I realized, the yellow needs to come out.

TUSAL and A Finish!

 First, thank you for the idea of a mug tree to hang my ornaments. My brother-in-law also suggested making a stable and stand-up bits for them. Will see if he and my husband get together and do it or if I need to come up with another plan.

I managed another finish for 2020!

I made a least one major counting error, but fudged it. I need to make it into a pillow. That will happen after Christmas.

And here is my ort jar:

For those who don't know, TUSAL  stands for Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long. We are supposed to post photos of our orts for the month. I just keep putting orts in my jar and when it is full, I dump it.

Now bake to my holiday candy making. I have a bit more toffee to make!

Advent Calendar Blog Hop 2020

 This year has been a doozy but one of the joys is joining Jo for her blog hops! This one is an Advent themed with hops for the days leading up to Christmas. Go to  Serendipitous Stitching          and get all the blogs you missed!

The question this year is your favorite Christmas book. That was a difficult one. My favorite Christmas story is from the book of Luke:

Birth of Jesus

But there is always the Christmas Carol by Dickens.

 

I did not stitch anything for Christmas this year. I do need to think about finishing some larger pieces to use to decorate.  And I have an issue; I finished these Mill Hill bead kits, but cannot for the life of my figure out how to display them. Any help would be appreciated!

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season!
 

I Had Hoped for a Finish

 But I am busy with my holiday baking. My sister even shamed me into making challah for the first night of Hanukah.

I am so close to a finish on this one! But I am too tired to think about it right now. Next week?

New Project- Springhill by Rosewood Manor

 

Well, this is a true #fibertalkmademebuyit  Gary Parr wanted to do a Rosewood Manor piece and I said I would join the fun. So I am starting this piece January 1, 2021 

Below are my color choices:

 

 If you want to hear our discussion about this piece and  thread counts, check it out  HERE    

Or to watch on Flosstube 

At least it doesn't start until January 1..... 

 

 

 

 

I Have a Finish-So I Can Start a New Project, Correct?

 Last night I was able to finish this piece while talking with my girlfriends on Zoom.

It was a fun piece to stitch, but I am not ready to start any of the other hearts. I did make several mistakes, but I think it will be fine. 

Now, should I start a new project or try to finish one in my WIP pile? I have been holiday baking all day so the decision will have to wait until tomorrow.

Several Mistakes

 It is always sad when you make a single mistake on a piece, but when you make three. Sigh. I see some reverse stitching in my future.

A Finish!

 I decided to concentrate on finishing this piece before the end of November and I did managed to do it!

I noticed that I skipped one stitch on a square, but fixed it. What to do with this piece? No, I won't frame it. And I do have the Red, White and Blue Inchies that is finished too....I'm thinking they need to be project bags. But do I want to mess with that?

IHSW for November

 Well, I have more WIPS, but I am tired of posting them. Oh well. There will be an opportunity to revisit them in January, right?

I did get some serous stitching done over the weekend.

Inchies has started getting borders!

I tried white floss, but was not happy with the results. The black does make it pop!

I am moving forward on my heart project. I would love to finish it and then be able to start a Santa in December.

And I put a few stitches into Agnus Dei:

I have not counted to see what finishes I have for 2020. But my fear is that I only finished things that I started this year. Hmmmm. Not good.

I Almost Forgot!

 It is time for the Totally Useless SAL where we show our orts to the blog world!

I did some totally unnecessary reverse stitching on my Inchies project. Sigh. At least I have made a little progress on it!

A Project That I Hope to Finish Soon

 I really hope to get this WIP finished soon. I am trying to teach it to my guild via Youtube. It would be so much easier to meet in person, but that won't happen soon.

And here is progress on my Gay Ann Rogers heart:

Gifted Gorgeousness For November and A Few More WIPS

 So Gifted Gorgeousness is the brainchild of Jo from Serendipitous Stitching

You are supposed to post photos of a project that is a gift for someone else, a gift from someone else,  or has the word gift in it.

I have actually started working on My Beloved, MH 1656 by Hands Across the Sea Samplers again. This piece was a gift to Nicola from her husband so it counts!

Here are some of my other WIPS that are in my stash:

Lotus Box by Terri Bay

Paisley Passion by Deb Forney:

Reptiles by HAED

Scissors and lace(?) by Shakespeare's Peddler

Linen and Threads Mystery SAL

How many WIPS do I have? I'm not counting......

A Few More WIPs

 First up, Agnus Dei by Moedern Folk Embroidery:

I would love to get this done for Easter 2021.

Next, my Whitework Samplers by Gay Ann Rogers:

Doodle-

And "real" sampler

Royal Garden by Debbie Rowley:

I do love the colors on this piece.  

While doing yardwork today, I thought of a few WIPs that I don't think I have posted in a while. Will try to snap a photo and share with you soon.

Gay Ann Roger's Heart

 As you know, I love all things Gay Ann. Her hearts are particularly fun to stitch. I started this one because a friend said she was starting hers....

 These are not colors I am normally drawn to, but it will look fabulous when stitched.

A New Challenge

 A friend challenged me on Facebook to list all my WIPS. I didn't really list them all, just sent everyone to my post HERE

But I then had another friend talk about how many WIPS do you really have? Good question. It is starting to be time to gear up for the holidays, but I am going to try to post photos of my WIPS during the month of November. No particular order. There may be more than one a day or I may skip days. But the goal is to see how many I have...Then I can be prepared for plans for 2021. HA!!!

This piece was started recently, but I took it on vacation with me. I plan on doing a hemstitch around it and using it to decorate in my house. 

Trick or Treat Blog Hop

 Welcome to Serendipitous Stitching

has an annual blog hop every Halloween. Start at the link above and follow the links to make a phrase. 

We are supposed to post a photo of something spooky we have stitched. I had hoped to have this piece framed before today, but no such luck. But this is all I have to share this year. (I will try to do better next year!)

 

 Then you need your letter for the phrase!

 

 You will find your next letter HERE

What I Stitched This Weekend

 It was the International Hermit and Stitch Weekend; a perfect excuse to take as much time as I could and stitch! No before photos, but here is where I ended.

I am caught up on the Linen and Threads Mystery Sampler for October, except for initials.

I have the letters in for Amber Waves of Grain:

I have made some progress on my Avlea project:

And I have done a little, very little on Agnus Dei:

Inchies is creeping forward. I am debating on whether to do something around the borders. Yes? No?

What color? White? Black? Purple?

So did you stitch this weekend?

Gifted Gorgeousness for October

 I am doing very little on my sampler, but here is my progress. I have gotten distracted by my other projects.

Have I made any progress since last month? Probably not. Oh well. Good intentions and all.

This SAL is hosted by the wonderful Jo of    Serendipitous Stitching  . Go check out her blog and see all the wonderful things she has been stitching!

A Little Update on Some Projects

 I have been stitching lately, but I am scattered with all my projects.

First, I need to get a move on Inchies by Kathy Rees as I want this done before the end of the year.

Gary and I talk a little about this thread on  Fiber Talk .

Also, I have been working on my heart by Gay Ann Rogers:

Her sale starts tomorrow (Thursday, October 15,2020) and you can find it HERE .

One more thing, we are taking another tour of Gallery76 tonight on YouTube. If you can, join us as it will be an interesting show.

Fiber Talk Channel 

A Bit of Frogging

 I was moving along on my Linen and Threads Mystery Sampler when I realized Brendon gave an alternative to the Halloween section. Since that section did not appeal to me, I need to rip. But here it is at its current state:

And I realized I should have planned better where I was going to place initials. Those are staying in as I have a bunch more to add! 

Wednesday Again?

 I feel like I am running around like a chicken with my head chopped off. Is that anything new?

I have managed to keep up with stitching every day on my heart:

I also decided to work every day on Angus Dei:

Will see if I can manage both! I am also working on the Linen and Threads 2020 Mystery SAL, but I forgot to take a photo. Will do that and post it soon. I would say tomorrow, but don't hold your breath!

A New Project and a Challenge

 Melissa over at Measi Musings 

is the host for the WIPocalpse SAL and this month she has challenged us to put at least one stitch on a piece. I decided to use Amber Waves of Grain by Gay Ann Rogers. Here is my starting point:

 I have been planning to start a Gay Ann piece all year and I finally have an excuse to start one. Let's see how much I can get done.

Fiber Talk on Wednesday

 We’re chatting once again on a Wednesday. This week Beth and Gary gush about Gay Ann Rogers and her designing talent and talk about meditative stitching, the Avlea Octokafe embroidery design, how history adds interest to needlework projects, and the Thistle Threads 17th Century Whitework Samplers course. Gay Ann Rogers will return for our next live show on Wednesday, Oct. 7, to introduce a new design.

 Podcast

Flosstube 

 

WIPocalpse for September

 This will be brief, but I had to share some progress:

 Well, actually, finishes:

Enchanted Pumpkin by Mill Hill is stitched

And I started and finished Octokafe by Avlea Modern Folk Embroidery!

Are question by the lovely Melissa this month is:

Are you a seasonal stitcher, or can you stitch on any holiday/seasonal stitch at any time of year?

I normally am fairly seasonal. I am so in the mood for some fall stitching it is crazy. Maybe that is why my bead kit got finished!