Weekly Update - 1/14/2024

 It was another moderately busy week.  I had two doctors' appointments, Bible Study and Senior Moments.  Senior Moments is a group that meets twice a month--once for a free lunch with some kind of program and once for either an outing to a local restaurant (where everyone pays for themselves) or Bingo where you bring your own lunch.  I did skip church on Saturday night, because I just didn't feel right.

As for stitching, I continued working on the PJ Critters Lion, but I'm definitely not happy with the chart.  For one thing, it's shown in two pieces, but there are no grey areas showing an overlap which caused me to miss two rows of stitching which required a couple of hours of frogging.  Second, there are no grid lines marking 10 stitches.  Also, in one area, two of the symbols are the reverse of each other (Why do designers do this?) 

 

 

I love the design and it's going to a premature infant through the Q4OC charity group so I'll keep on with it, but otherwise I'd probably set it aside for awhile because of how frustrated I am with it.  I expected to have it finished by now!

And now for the progress pictures:

As of January 7th

As of January 10th

As of January 11th

As of January 14th

Fully Finished Gallery SAL - January, 2024

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.   

I've set a goal to fully finish the pieces as I complete the stitching and so far, I'm meeting that goal.  The following ornaments were finished in late December.

The first two were done as a flat ornament fringed and backed with a 3x5 card cut to size and the fabric shown after a ribbon hanger was added.

The next one was made into a pillow ornament with a backing of the same fabric as the front.

 The next two were finished as flat ornaments using the shapes that came with the magazine charts.

 

 The next one had a ribbon added and then was backed with felt.

Weekly Update - 1/7/2024

The last half of 2023 was rough with medical issues and lack of stitching, so the blog didn't get much attention.  The medical issues are mostly still there, but under control and I'm in a better place mentally so I decided to revisit my blog.  This year, I'm going to try to do weekly updates, rather than just post finishes.

The first week of January was fairly busy with my daughter coming most days to do the housework I can no longer do and help my husband with various tasks.

I had doctors' appointments on Wednesday and Friday and on Thursday we went to the Spaghetti Factory to celebrate birthdays as a family.  My son-in-law's was the 3rd and mine was the 6th so  we always choose a day between the two.

Saturday was my actual birthday so my husband, daughter and I went out to lunch at Spires, the only place I can get filet of sole and real spumoni.  We also visited a new, improved and much bigger Barnes & Noble where I was able to get three stitching magazines, two World of Cross Stitching ones (I'm between subscriptions) and Cross Stitch Favorites - the Cute Issue.  Saturday night I went out with friends from church after the service to Los Ayalas, a local Mexican restaurant.

I also went through my stash of cross stitch kits and found a bunch I really wanted to stitch and some I knew I never would stitch.  I'll be putting several unopened Thomas Kinkade Disney kits up on eBay next week.

As for stitching, I've stitched every night for at least 45 minutes on PJ Critters from Cross Stitch Wonders.  I'm stitching the lion in the top left corner. I'm stitching him on 14-count Aida imprinted with blues, purples and greens  that remind me of watercolors.  It will be going to Quilts for Older Children and Adults as part of the 2024 Stitcher's Challenge when finished.

At the beginning of January, it looked like this:

Now it looks like this:

I haven't posted my finishes since March, but I went on a finishing spree in November to finish the ornaments going to the Ronald McDonald House in Orange, CA.  There's too many to post details, but here they are for the record.

2023 Advent Calendar Blog Hop

While I haven't posted since June, I did sign up for Jo's annual Advent Calendar Blog Hop and she assigned me Day 24.  We're supposed to post a picture of a Christmas-y stitched item and answer a question about our Santa stories and/or traditions.  You can check out  Jo's Blog for more information and to see all of the posts.

I love stitching Christmas ornaments and have many to show, but here are the Santa ones I've stitched this year.

All of these ornaments plus quite a few others (not made by me) will be delivered to the Ronald McDonald House in Orange, California.  If you'd like to stitch ornaments for this house, I've created a Facebook group called "Stitching for Families (RMHCSC).  Let me know if you're interested.

 As for the Santa Stories, I don't remember visiting Santa as a child, but I always took my daughter and then together we took my granddaughter to see Santa.

 Our only real tradition doesn't have to do specifically with Santa Claus.  Every year, the five of us set aside a night to look at Christmas lights (we do see a lot of Santas). This year we did it on the 19th and found a new-to-us neighborhood which we'll be returning to next year.

Happy Dance - Hummingbird

 

Started: 6/1/2023

Finished: 6/2/2023

Total Stitching Time: 6 hours and 22 minutes

This is Hummingbird, part of the Woodland Animals SAL for Quilts for Older Children and Adults. It was designed by La Selva Designs and is available on Etsy.

The chart and fabric were provided by the owner of the Quilts for Older Children and Adults Facebook Group. It's stitched as charted on 14-count light green Aida with the called for DMC.

It will be going back to the group to be made into a quilt for a gentleman with COPD.

Next up:  Giraffe Bookmark

Happy Dance - Merry Mouse (with Ornament)

 

Started: 12/9/2020

Finished: 5/31/2023

Total Stitching Time: 9 hours and 17 minutes

This was one of my Christmasitis Starts in November/December, 2020.  It's from the Ultimate Cross Stitch Christmas Magazine, Winter 2016 and was designed by Margaret Sherry.

It's stitched as charted on a scrap of 25-count Opalescent Sparkling Interlude with the called for DMC.

I'm planning to make it into a pillow ornament and it will be going to Ronald McDonald House.

Next up:  Hummingbird