and then there were 4!

I finished the last of these four ornaments on the last day of the month.

I made 23 starts for the Crazy January Challenge.  I had 20 finishes, 19 of the finishes were Crazy January starts.

and then there were 3

I finished the 3rd Be Merry ornament on Wednesday.    I also got a good start on the fourth one!

Let it Snow!

It has been unseasonable warm here in the midwest, and I am stitching "Let it Snow!"

Here it is all finished.  I will pick up a frame next time I am at Welcome Stitchery and get it framed up soon.

and another finish

I finished this Sweetheart Tree design, Pink Flowers on Gingham.  It is much more sparkly in person than shows up in the picture.

There is enough fabric to either stitch it again, or to make a bottom for a biscornu.  Not sure yet what I will do.

Another New Start

Started Baked Goods, another Little House Needleworks 2011 ornament.  I didn't get too far, but it's a good start.

I am stitching it on the recommended 30 count linen with the recommended threads.

In case you are keeping track, this is the 22nd start this month.

Silent Night Ornament Finish

I finished the stitching on Silent Night by Little House Needleworks.  This is one of the 2011 ornaments, and I changed it to Stille Nacht because I could.

I think this is my favorite of all the LHN ornaments!

It is done with the suggested threads on the suggested 30 count fabric.  Ornamentification will happen at a later date.

In case you are keeping track, this makes finish # 16 for January so far.

Sampler au bouquet part 1 statred

Sampler au bouquet by Jardin Prive' is a Stitch-a-long

piece for a Facebook stitching group.  I started part 1,  and I love how it is coming along.  

This is the first time I am stitching on 40 count, and I love it.  The piece is charted for DMC but I am doing in  with various overdyed floss.

Freshly Baked

This evening I finished Freshly Baked by Sue Hillis.  It is found in the 2012 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue.  I stitched it on the recommended 28 count Fabric Flair fabric with DMC floss.  The piece of fabric is big enough to stitch it a second time, so I will start it again soon.

Bacon and Eggs

I finished Bacon and Eggs, by Bent Creek.  It's part of the Photo Booth series and the third of the series that I have done.  I plan to do them all, they are just so cute!  It's done on whatever 32 count fabric came with the chart with the recommended threads

6 Snow Belles, Week 19, Finished!

Since I had Monday off, and my car didn't start, I had lots of time to stitch.  I managed to finish Frosty Friends and Blizzard Babe, thus completing the piece.  It took a total of 19 Mondays (73 hours of stitching).

I will miss spending my Monday's with the gals, just as I missed spending them with the boys in 6 Fat Men.  I looked back and found that it took me 19 weeks to finish the boys also.

Now that they are both completed, all I have to do is wait for the framing sale at Welcome Stitchery in May to have them framed.

A finish, a Start, Another Finish and Another Start

 As part of my IHSW (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend) I picked up this snowman by Val's Stuff, (found in an older JCS Ornament Issue) and finished the stitching on it.  It is stitched over 1 fabric thread with two strands of WDW floss on 20 count fabric).

Since the piece of fabric I had was big enough for 4 of these ornaments, I started another one.  I finished that second one, and started a third!

With the finish of Logan's ornament on Friday evening, and the finish of the LHN ornament on Saturday, and then the addition of this stitching, I would say the the IHSW was quite successful for me!

...and another finish

This is Fresh Fallen Snow, by Little House Needleworks from the 2011 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue.  I started it on Thursday evening, and finished it on Saturday evening.  It is stitched on 30 count cocoa linen by Weeks Dye Works with DMC floss instead of the recommended Belle Soie.

Another Start, Another Finish

Do you know how hard it is to find a small firetruck chart or a chart for a firetruck ornament?    Well, let me tell you, it isn't easy especially when you want to stitch it now and not take some time to keep searching.  I finally found a freebie on an obscure web site somewhere, and stitched up this little truck last evening.  Today I stitched Logan's name, the year and the border.  So, now the 2013 ornaments for the grand kids are stitched.  Ornamentification will happen soon.

Please note that this is the 18 start for January and the 8th finish.

This weekend is an International Hermit and Stitch Weekend!  I haven't been able to fully participate in one of these in a long time, but after work today I will begin stitching.  I have to teach German School on Saturday morning, and need to attend a luncheon on Sunday, but other than that, I plan to stitch!  Laundry is all caught up, grocery shopping is done, the house is clean.....so I plan to stitch!

and the stitching continues......

Now that I have had my 15 Crazy January Challenge starts, I can continue on and either finish the things that I have started, work on some WIPs or WISP, or even start something new!

On Tuesday, I finished all of the borders on Seasonal Baskets by Sue Hillis.  On Wednesday, I stitched the Winter square and finished it!  This piece is now ready to send out as my Round Robin piece.  Sue, Leta and Lena will each have a turn to stitch on of the seasons and I will have a finished piece when it comes back to me around mid-May.  In the mean time, I will be working on their pieces as them come in the mail.

January TUSAL Report

So why is the gnome scratching his head?  Probably because so many people are scratching their head, wondering why we have this TUSAL (totally useless stitch-a-ling) report.

The jar was empty on January 1st, and now on the 16th (just a few days late) there are quite a few orts in there!

6 Snow Belles Week 18

No new start on Monday, but great progress.  I finishes the "border" part and made great progress on Frosty Friends.  I really, really want to be finished with this.

Crazy January Challenge Day 13

Sunday was the 13 day of January, but I had my 15 start, and I finished it.  (the 4th finish if you are keeping track).

This one is Pine Tree Inn, by Little House Needleworks.  It's #6  of the 2011 ornament series.

Crazy January Challenge Day 12

 Saturday, I started this Purple Penguin ornament for Natalie.  It is done on 32 count lavender bliss Belfast.  The design is by Casey Buonauguirio and was in the 2009 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue.
As, you can see by the photo, I also finished this piece.  In case you are keeping track, this is start #13 and finish #3.

Since I still had some stitching time left, I started #14, which was Freshly Baked by Sue Hillis, found in the 2012 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue.  It is being stitched on 28 count pink peppermint by Fabric Flair.

Crazy January Challenge Day 11

Friday's start was this Sweetheart Tree chart called Pink Flowers on Gingham.  When I kitted this a many years ago, I planned to make a biscornu, so I bought a bigger piece of fabric so that I could stitch it twice.  Not so sure if I will make a biscornu or just stitch it twice and make two ornaments.

Crazy January Challenge Day 10

Thursday's start was Rose Quaker by Stickideen von der Wiehenburg.  I am stitching it on ivory 25 count lugana with mostly the suggested DMC colors ( just changed one) with one strand over one fabric thread.  Although it only looks like a tiny bit was stitched, it was actually quite a bit, but the stitches are very, very tiny.  I plan to stitch one page of this 8 page chart every 6 weeks or so, and plan to finish it in this calendar year.  Wish me luck.

Crazy January Challenge Day 9

On day 9 of the Challenge, I started "Let it Snow", a free chart by Ozark Sampler.  I purchased the fabric and kitted it up a bunch of years ago, when a few of us did our own Michigan shop hop.  Barb and I both admired this model on a shop wall and purchased the overdyed fabric to get the free chart.  Barb stitched hers up right away, but it took me a few years to get to it.  Here it is!

Crazy January Challenge Day 8

On the 8th Day of January, I started the border for Sue Hillis' Seasonal Baskets.  I am going to also stitch one of the squares and then send it off to 3 friends, who will each stitch a square.

Crazy January Challenge Day 7, Snow Belles Week 17

 For my Crazy January Challenge (this is start # 8 in case you are keeping track) I chose Blizzard Babe, the last of the charts for the 6 Snow Belles, thus killing two birds with one stone so to speak.

Since it is a Monday, I stitch on the 6 Snow Belles, and here is the entire piece so far.  The end is in site.  Just a few more weeks and it will be finished!

Crazy January Challenge Day 6

Natalie's birth sampler was Sunday's new start.  I hope to finish this one before her 2nd birthday which is the end of May.

Unfortunately this is a kit, although I am using evenweave and DMC floss instead of the fabric and floss included with the kit, and I am not fond of the charts in kits.  I find myself trying to "fix" the chart by changing stitches from whole stitches to partial stitches and it makes my cranky.

Crazy January Challenge Day 5

On Saturday, I stitched on Silent Night, by Little House Needleworks.  This is the fifth ornament of the 2011 series.  I plan to finish the 2011 series this year if all goes well.

Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone, I had to re-chart the lettering to read "Stille Nacht" instead of silent night.....

Crazy January Challenge Day 4

On the fourth day of the challenge I started stitching an ornament for baby Owen, who was born just yesterday.   While I was at it, I also stitched an ornament for my older son's baby who will be born next month.  I just need to do the first name on that one once he or she is born. 

The ornament I chose is a free chart on the Victoria Sampler website and I an enjoyable one to stitch.  I stitched it on 28 count white jubilee with DMC floss and some Kreinik gold metalic.

The ornamentification will happen at a later date.

Crazy January Challenge Day 3

Day 3 gave me lots of stitching time while the two little ones napped and their parents were off at the hospital having baby number 3.  (Owen George arrived Wednesday morning, weighing in at 9 lbs, 6 oz, with a very healthy pair of lungs!)

This is Bent Creek's Photobooth series, Bacon  Eggs, done on the fabric in the kit (32ct) with the suggested floss.

Crazy January Challenge Day 2

On January 2nd, I started the second piece in the Crazy January Challenge:  Be Merry, an ornament by Val's Stuff from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue a few years ago. 

It is stitched on 20 count blue lugana with one strand of floss over one fabric thread.  I plan to do four of these, and here is the first one!

6 Snow Belles Week 16, Crazy January Challenge Day One

 Here are the Snow Belles at week 16.  Since Monday was New Year's Eve and I had a lot going on, I worked on this piece on January 1st instead. 

I started a new chart on this piece, Frosty Friends, and it is Chart 1 of the Crazy January Challenge.  This challenge is where you start a new chart each day for 15 days ( I may do more) and then finish them sometime during the year. 

December Progress, January Goals

Happy New Year blogging buddies!  I spent the day before New Year's Eve kitting up all the projects I want to start in 2013. I made another trip to Welcome Stitchery to pick up some odds and ends  that I needed and to order the things they were out of stock on, so that I can just pick up a project bag and start once the mood strikes me.  I have a long list that is waiting to be started.  I want to start at least 15 (but hopefully more) of them in the month of January and make sure they are finished by the end of he year. 

Finishing wise, there was lots of progress this year.  Lots of things got framed and finished.  I guess I still need to post pictures of some of them.  I do still have 12 teacups and 12 teapots that need to be framed, but I just have to order the frames and do it!  More "finishing" is planned for 2013, mostly ornaments.

December wasn't too bad stitching wise, (5 finishes) only 41.5 hours, but with Christmas and family obligations, it's not bad.  The year was pretty good, more stitching time than most years, 854.75 hours.  93 finishes for the year.  I did also manage to get the Work in Slow Progress list down to 5 (from 13!)  I hope to finish at least 3 from that list in the coming year. 

December Progress

WISPS:
Work on Bavarian Table Topper  worked on it
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas  
work on Logan’s stocking 
Antique Map and Needlebook
Heirloom Christmas Sampler

In Progress

Poinsettia Stocking
Halloween House #9 
Baby It’s cold Outside  finished

New starts

afghan pillow bear
afghan pillow moose
Photo booth
Sue Hillis Seasonal Baskets – stitch border
Natalie’s Birth Sampler
Quaker Rose Sampler
4 Snowman Ornament (Val’s Stuff)
Crystal Violets
Leta’s RR  finished
6 snow Belles border  worked on it
Cynthia’s RR  finished
Ice Queen  finished
ANG 2012 ornament  finished

January Goals

WISPS:
Work on Bavarian Table Topper 
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas  
work on Logan’s stocking 
Antique Map and Needlebook
Heirloom Christmas Sampler

In Progress

Poinsettia Stocking
Halloween House #9 
6 snow Belles border

New starts

Blizzard Babe
Frosty Friends
2 baby’s first Christmas ornaments
Logan’s ornament
Natalie’s ornament
Photo booth
Natalie’s Birth Sampler
4 Snowman Ornament (Val’s Stuff)
Crystal Violets
afghan pillow bear
afghan pillow moose
Sue Hillis Seasonal Baskets – stitch border
Quaker Rose Sampler
French Alphabet block sampler
Jardin Prieve bouquet sampler (3 parts)
Pine Tree Inn
Silent Night (Ornament)
Baked Goods
Hallelujah
Joy and Peace
Snow in Love
Good Tidings
Silent Night (CCN)
Around the World in 80 Days
Sweatheart Tree pink biscornu
Blue freebie
blue Marne Ritter Heart

Julie's RR