Last Day of November

Well, I have not done much blogging this month although I will probably do less next month. I haven't even started thinking about plans for 2019! Yikes!
First of all, it is the last Friday of then month and I have been posting about Reptiles. But I put it away to work on this:

 I had high hopes of having it stitched by this Christmas, but life got in the way. This is what it looked like last November:

 And here I am today.

I could start putting in Joseph, but I think I will backstitch the stable first.

I was cleaning my basement and found all my framed stitching. It was propped against a wall taking up space. I know our basement needs to be totally redone, which won't happen any time soon, so I just started hanging pictures on the wall randomly. This upset my sons-didn't find studs or use the right type of fastener and my daughter as I did not preview where I would hang them.
Here is what it looks like:

It makes me happy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends!

Wabi-sabi Notebooks

 I keep a daily journal. No great thoughts or great art. Just a place to spill what is running around in my small mind. I use composition books or spiral bound notebooks like this one:
 

I try to make them look pretty as it adds to the appeal for me.
Earlier this year I found my Ukrainian Nyzynka piece designed by Phyllis Maurer. I checked and it has been stitched since July 2013! That is too long in a state of unfinishedness....So I made it into a journal cover:

I think it came out fairly nice.
It seems I am in a constant state of trying to clean my art room. Sigh.While attempting to clean, I came across some quilt squares made by my grandmother. One seemed to be the right size for a journal cover so I tried it:

 Not the best, but it will work. Also, it reminds me of my abuelita and all the times I visited her.
This is the fabric I used for the back:

Now to get ready for college students and Thanksgiving! It isn't at my house, thank goodness, but I do need to prepare some things.

What I Stitched This Weekend

This weekend is the International Hermit and Stitch Weekend and I got a fair amount of stitching done. Don't know whose brainchild this was, but you can find the details  here  at Jo's blog.
I am bound and determined to get this piece finished before I start another LARGE piece.
  Here is my starting point:

 I managed to get all the flowers around the center stitched.

With Christmas coming and all the decorations going up, I will have to place this piece downstairs. My goal is to work on it down there. But I do have some ornaments to finish before the holidays, so we shall see.
One thing I keep asking myself, why don't I get this done? It is so lovely stitched. I think I know what my problem is. It is very hard to get the stitches to look really nice. My stitching is less than perfect. I was beating myself up over tension and the problems I was having. Then I remembered the stitching I received from my grandmother and great aunts. Was it perfect? NO! Do I love it? YES! So I have given myself permission to do the best I can and move on. I need this piece done (and the companion piece that is also close to being finished).

Do you have any pieces like this? Ones that have stretched you and made you want to give up?

A Gift to Me!

Last month I taught at the Region Workshop for EGA and I had a few ladies from my guild help me as I taught. One gal asked to borrow some magazines on crazy quilting, which I gladly did. This is what she made me as a thank you gift:

It is a pin cushion with a little scissor pocket on the back. So cute! Thanks Pat E.!
I am counting this as my Gifted Gorgeousness post for this month.  Jo      puts this SAL on and all you have to do is shoe horn the idea of "gift" in the post. Lots of fun!

MH 1656 Progress

I was able to get the row done for November and am okay with the way it turned out.

I think the blue rows would have been better in a navy blue, but I am leaving it for now. Also, the value of the light blue in the center is probably too dark of a value-it is the same value in color as the green leaves. Again, I am leaving it. Not sure what colors I will use next, but my goal it to stitch with the threads I have. This is a long sampler......

Welcome Progress

I was able to get all the stitching done on Welcome and I even added glow in the dark Kreinik blending filament on the ghost.

Now it is in my bedroom where I will try to stitch on it for 15 minutes every night and get the beads on. HA!
I was cleaning my craft room and trying to organize when I realized I do not have the January/February one of these kits. This is sad as I had planned on stitching it next. If you see one, please let me know. The official name for the series is Simply Seasonal Welcome. I did look on e-bay, but no luck. (Not that I don't have OTHER things to stitch!)

November TUSAL

I finally remember to post this wonderfully useless stitch-a-long. It is hosted by  Daffy Cat  .  All you are supposed to do is take a photo of your ort container and post it. Simple. As long as you remember to take a photo and post!

I pushed my orts down into my jar so you could see all the colors. It is fun to see the jar fill, as long as I am not ripping things out!

I Voted

Well, I haven't voted yet. My DH and I like to go to the polls together so I will wait until he gets home.
I took time yesterday to stitch this little piece up:

 It is so small!

I put magnets on it and made it into a  needle minder.  The pattern was from Ink Circles . If you are in the  United States of America, go vote!

A Little Christmas

 I have been stitching on my Christmas stocking. I did some math and realized there is no way this will get stitched before Christmas 2018.

This is sad, but a fact that I cannot change. So I decided to keep it upstairs and work on it when I am too tired to work on Drawn Thread Sampler.

That little square took an evening. Actually, that is a lie. It took me three evenings. One to cut the threads, another to do half the wrappings and last night to do the little dove's eyes. But I have decided to work on this until it is done. I need it out of my stash and into my finishing pile.

Let the People Choose-Birthstones

Got to love Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching. She has a lot of great stitch-a-longs to keep things interesting. The first Saturday of the month is her new one called-Let the People Choose! Just a way to share blogs and meet fellow bloggers.

Anyway, this month's theme is Birthstones. There are interesting monthly stitching pieces that have birthstones in them. I used to have a few needle rolls with different months and gems. Wonder where they are?

My birth month is July so my birthstone is ruby. I think that is why I love red so much. I have a few needlepoint pieces in my stash that I hope to stitch someday in my favorite colorway. But here are a few that I have stitched and shown at various times:

ANG Stitch of the Month

Gay Ann Rogers Townhouse needlecase

Solar Flare

I love red! Maybe that is why I like stitching Santas so much as they normally have a ton of red!          

New Start

Thanks for all your kind words. I am moving along on the Welcome piece and may get to beading on in next week. Haunted House has already left my house and moved to a better home although I did keep the little mad scientist. He reminds me of my science days and my college boys. Next year?

I did get my windows washed yesterday and gave myself permission to start a new project. Nicola Parkman of Hands Across the Sea Samplers  offered this as a SAL on Facebook. (I like the one she is teaching better, but until it is released in 2020, this will keep me busy.)

I am using an off-white, 40 count linen and some Splendor silks that are in my stash. I did the first row and am thinking about restitching it. Why? It is supposed to be reversible and I can see my starts and stops. I do believe it will bug me. So once I post this I will go to my stitching spot and frog. Oh well. It is a learning piece.