Gifted Gorgeousness - February 2021

The fifteenth of each month is for posting items that relate to gifts, either some part of the item was received as a gift or the item will be given as a gift.  This is another brainchild of the fabulous Jo at Serendipitous Stitching .  You can click the link for more information and/or to see what others have  received and/or are gifting.  

In my case, it's all about giving to others.  I have four projects that qualify this month.  One ornament,  two Furry Tales and one Owl.  The ornament will be going to a Ronald McDonald House.  I'll decide which one later in the year.  The Furry Tales quilt squares will be going to either a Ronald McDonald House in Canada or to WOCS (World of Charity Stitching).  I'll decide once they're all completed.  The Owls will be going to WOCS.

Back to School Mouse (September)

October Mouse (October)

Santa Jingles

December Owl

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

Happy Valentines Day!

Which means it's time for another blog hop from Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  This time we each received a valentine from a Secret Stitching Sweetheart.  Click the link to see all of the valentines and see if you can guess who sent them.  Here's the one I received.

 I love this, especially the hanger, but I don't know who sent it.  Was it you?

 

Weekly Update - 2/11/2021

This was a pretty good week for stitching.  I stitched everyday and finished two of my projects.

My first finished project was the Halloween Mouse from Lucie Heaton.  This was found in an older World of Cross Stitching Magazine and is the October square for the female Furry Tales quilt.  It's stitched on 14-count white Aida as charted with the called for DMC.

 Started: 1/31/2021

Finished: 2/7/2021

Total Stitching Time: 7 hours 5 minutes

My second finish was Santa Jingles, one of the Mill Hill Santas that I started back in May.  I used the kit materials, but I had a mishap with the beads and had to borrow some of the cream ones from another kit.  It's also missing the jingle bells on the hat since I've somehow managed to misplace them.

Started: 5/7/2020

Finished: 2/11/2021

Total Stitching Time: 9 hours 32 minutes

I also worked on my Blackwork USA and completed the outline of page one and parts of three more states.  I'm really enjoying this one.

As of 1/21/2021

As of 2/11/2021

For next week, I'm planning to work on Day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas, start and finish the Thanksgiving Mouse and work on another Christmasitis Start.

 

Fully Finished Gallery SAL - February, 2021

It's time again for the Fully Finished Gallery SAL which was created by Rachel at Ten Hour Stitcher to encourage us to fully finish our projects instead of just storing them in a drawer or box rarely to be seen again.  Click on the link to see more details and what other stitchers have posted.  

The 10th kind of crept up on me again, but I went into a finishing frenzy and managed to finish five projects this month.

Blackwork Candle was finished into a pillow ornament using a scrap of Aida for the backing and a red ribbon. 

 

Merry & Bright was stitched in 2020 and was also finished as a pillow ornament.  It used a scrap of gold flecked Aida as the backing and another red ribbon.

The other three ornaments were trimmed, backed with felt and had ribbons added.

Santa Paws

Gingerbread Santa

Away in a Manger

Weekly Update - 2/4/2021

This past week was another one where I didn't stitch much and only managed about eight hours.  I concentrated on two projects, but didn't manage to finish either of them.

First up was Santa Jingles from Mill Hill.  I don't have much left so I should be able to finish it this coming week.

As of 1/31/2021

As of 2/4/2021

Next was Halloween Mouse, my October Mouse for the female Furry Tales quilt I'm working on.  This was a new start this week and now I only have her face, hat and broom to stitch so it should also be a finish this coming week.

Next week, I plan to finish both of these projects and continue stitching on Blackwork USA.  I also plan to work on the Thanksgiving Mouse and Merry Camper Van.

January Recap

 First, some pictures:

My cat has found a new place near me to vegetate during the day.  This is my box of WIP envelopes.

 Kyleigh is a Cadette Girl Scout again this year and is selling cookies.  Because of the pandemic, they aren't doing booth sales this year, but you can purchase from her at this link if you like. Kyleigh's Girl Scout Cookie Site  I understand there's a $12 shipping charge on 1-12 boxes so I don't expect anyone to buy any, but it's an option if you're desparate for cookies.

Now, onto stitching:

As usual, you've seen most of these pictures in other posts, some more than once.  However, I like to put everything in one place to see what I've actually accomplished during the month.  I'd hoped for a better month as far as stitching is concerned, since January is usually one of my best months.  But I had a four day period at the end of the month where I didn't stitch at all as well as a couple of other days with no stitching and a few with less than normal stitching.   However, I did manage to finish five projects in January although all of them were small projects.

Back to School Mouse

December Owl

Blackwork Candle

Hodgepodge Stocking

 I also worked on three other projects this month.

Blackwork USA

Halloween Mouse

Santa Jingles

 And I FFO'd two of the projects.

Gingerbread Bell

Hodgepodge Stocking

 

February Plans
I'm going to continue working on Blackwork USA and stitch Day 2 of my 12 Days of Christmas project.  I'm also planning to finish the Halloween Mouse and Santa Jingles.  I'm hoping to finish the rest of the female mice, at least one more Mill Hill and at least one more Christmasitis start.  This should keep me pretty busy and out of trouble.

Statistics:

Days Stitched This Month = 25

Days Stitched This Year  = 25 (possible = 31)

Total Hours Stitched This Month = 54 hours and 8 minutes

Total Hours Stitched This Year = 54 hours and 8 minutes

Number of Projects Worked on This Month = 8
Number of Unique Projects Worked on This Year = 8

Number of Projects Started This Month = 3

Number of Projects Started This Year = 3
Number of Projects Finished This Month = 5

Number of Projects Finished This Year = 5

It wasn't the month I'd planned, but even with the reduced stitching time, it wasn't a bad month.