Finished!

I just finished this tonight.  At first I was planning on framing her, but I think I've changed my mind and will turn her into a small pillow.  I don't think I'll have that done by this Christmas though.  I'll work on finishing techniques after the New Year.  :0)



November 2014 Gatlinburg Stitching Retreat

I wanted to share about the retreat I went to in November.  I wish I had taken more pictures, but I didn't.  The first morning of the retreat as I was leaving my hotel, I fell outside on the sidewalk.  It was a very bad fall and I was in pain the rest of the retreat, so taking pictures really did slip my mind.  I was black and blue and swollen and it took me two solid weeks after getting home before the pain started to get better.

 

But...I still attended the retreat, I still stitched and I still had a great time!  The retreat was hosted by Crossedthreads Needlework in the Mountain Mall in Gatlinburg.  I did a short video about the retreat for my #flosstube channel that I'll share here.  I know I sound tired in the video, but just keep in mind that when I made this I was still in a lot of pain from that fall and the healing process from it was going very slow for me.

 

But I will say this - except for the fall - I had a wonderful weekend and I fully plan to attend this same retreat again next year.  I'll just be a lot more careful when walking on the sidewalk!!

 

 



WIP update

Just a little update for my 1950s-esque Christmas lady.  She's a pretty quick and easy stitch but will be cute as a button once she's done.  I decided to change her shoes just a bit and give her high heels.  The pattern made her look like she was on her tiptoes, but I thought she'd be better suited with some heels.

 

 

I don't think I'm going to do the backstitching on her hands/arms until I finish the ornament she's holding in her hands.  It shouldn't be long now though and she'll be finished.  :0)



Stitching with a purpose

Well, another year has come and gone (basically) for my stitching charity.  Our group has done so well.  In the span of one year and two months we have done projects for a Ronald McDonald House in Tennessee, a Habitat for Humanity family in Illinois and a domestic violence shelter in Florida.  I think that is pretty darn good.  I'm proud of us.  We're currently taking a break for the Christmas season and we will get back together with new plans in January.

 

Potholders I did for the domestic violence shelter:

 

 

 

In my own personal stitching news, my needles have been flying.  I wanted to finish Honeybees by the end of November, but then ended up putting it to the side to work on Christmas ornaments.  I did nine of them.  Pretty good considering this is the first year I've ever done ornaments.  I did 6 sleds - 4 for my family to keep and 2 for an exchange at the retreat I went to.  I did Quaker quilt patterns for the exchange and Eskimos for my family.

 

 

 

 

Then two more ornies for my own tree and one for my charity.  Christmas cardinals, one for me and one for the charity.

 

 

And then a pink snowflake for our tree.  This was my first time doing true finishing and I'm very excited about how it turned out.  For a first try, I think it's pretty good.

 

 

 

Then I did a Christmas pattern based off of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  There is a whole series of these based off of the book.  I eventually want to do all of them.

 

 

 

I'm now working on a Christmas piece that I'll frame.  It may or may not be done by Christmas, but I'm sure it won't be framed by then.  So it will be put out for display next year.  This is what it will look like when done.  (She's bigger than she looks.  Way too big for an ornament.)

 

 

My current progress:

 

 

So you can see, I'm still doing Christmas themed stitching.  I have new projects to start after the New Year, so I'm eeking out the last of the holiday stitching that I can.  :0)