Happy February!!!

Wow! January flew by and here it is February 1!  Of course it doesn't feel like February outside with the temperatures hovering around 70 the last couple of days but it has been so nice to have sunshine and springlike temperatures!  I am not going to complain about it.  Spring is my most favorite time of year and I will take a springlike day anytime of the year!

Quite a bit of stitching was accomplished in January! 16 Crazy January Challenge pieces were started! (I was only suppose to start 15 but just couldn't resist #16!) There were even a couple of finishes, too!!

I promised you a picture of my start on "He is Risen" in my last post and here it is:

"He is Risen"
Little House Needleworks
JCS Magazine Mar/Apr 2010

More progress would have been made on this one but there was some frogging to do because I couldn't seem to read the right color number on the chart.  Bifocals can be bothersome sometimes!

Now for the finishes....yes plural finishes!

LHN
Snow in Love

LHN
"Joy and Peace

LHN
"Winter Forest"

LHN
"Frosty Flakes"
Little Bird changed from white to a red bird

Homespun Elegance
"Blessed Heart"

Homespun Elegance
"Birds and Blossoms"

I am 1/3 of the way to completing my CJC 2012!!  So glad I chose small projects this year!

My goal this year has been to cut out stash building and get some stash stitched and completed.  Well, I was doing so good until Little House Needleworks came out with the first ornie for 2012 "Blessed".  I resisted until almost the end of January but on January 30th an order went out to 123 Stitch.  How I love that ONS!!  And of course when you only have one thing in your cart that is not a good use of shipping cost so a couple of other charts landed in my cart along with the needed threads to stitch them.  I know...I am hanging my head in shame...I couldn't even go a whole month without adding to the stash collection...BUT  IT  FELT SOOOOO  GOOOD!!!  LOL  I will show you my stash when it arrives in the mail!

Now for a big announcement!!!  My oldest daughter is expecting a baby on August 21!!!  She told us right before Christmas but didn't want it made public until she got through the first trimester.  Let me tell you, it has been so hard sitting on that secret these last weeks!  I am so excited!

Well, that's all the news for this post.  I leave you with a wish for Blessings and Happy Stitching!

CJC....Remaining Projects!

Here are the photos of the remaining CJC projects I started this month!

Homespun Elegance
"Bird 'N Blossoms"

Little House Needleworks
"Red House in Winter"

Little House Needleworks
"Pine Tree Inn"

Little House Needleworks
"All Is Calm"

My Big Toe Designs
"Revelation"

I do have start No. 16 but I neglected to take a picture of it to show you.  It is "He Is Risen" by Little House Needleworks.  I will include a picture in my next post along with some finishes!

Until next time....Blessings and Happy Stitching!

TUSAL...First posting of 2012!

There has been some stitching happening with the CJC starts!  Here is my ORT offering for January!

Blessings and Happy Stitching!

More CJC Projects!

Welcome to part 2 of my Crazy January Challenge 2012!  Here are a few more of my projects!

LHN "Snowy Pines"

LHN "Hallelujah"

LHN "Joy and Peace"

LHN "Fa-La-La"

LHN "Bringing Home the Tree"

It's a cold, icy winter morning here in my neck of the woods!  After a little bit of house cleaning and laundry I am going to settle in and stitch away the afternoon. 

Blessings and Happy Stitching!

Time for an Update....

Here we are half-way through January, before we know it the first month of 2012 will be history.  Time is rushing by so quickly!  I hope that everyone has had a good start to the new year and been able to keep those resolutions, if you made any.  Hopefully you have been getting in some quality stitching time too!

Welcome to my new followers!  Thank you for taking an interest in my blog!  Thank you to all those that take the time to comment on my posts also.  It is so nice to hear from you and I love reading your comments! 

I decided to join the Crazy January Challenge for 2012 even though I only completed 9 starts in 2011.  This year my project choices are mostly small so I think I can complete all my projects this year plus finish my 2011 projects.  That is what I am working toward anyway! 

Mostly this year's projects are Christmas ornaments which I can stitch and finish to use as gifts for presents come Christmas 2012.  The only problem I am having with this is I need want to keep the ornaments all to myself so I might have to stitch two of each so I can give one to myself too!  My tree is already more than full of handmade ornaments so I don't know what I would do with so many new ones but wants don't have to make sense, they are just wants!  We shall see what the year brings in regards to stitching duplicate ornaments.

I am not going to show you all of my 15 starts, actually 16 starts, this post but will spread them out over a couple more posts.  In my sidebar you can see the list of my CJC projects for 2012 and the 2011 projects left to finish.

Homespun Elegance
"Festive Redbird"

Homespun Elegance
"Blessings Heart"

Little House Needleworks
"Snow in Love"

Little House Needleworks
"Winter Forest"

Little House Needleworks
"Frosty Flakes"

Festive Redbird only needs the Colonial Knot berries stitched and it will be finished but I was too tired the night I was working on it to attempt those Colonial Knots.  Frosty Flakes worked up very fast, as did Blessings Heart and won't take long to complete. Look for finishes on these three soon!

See you soon!!

Blessings and Happy Stitching!

Finishing up the old year...Edited

Can you believe that 2011 is almost history?  Time does fly by faster and faster each year!  Seems like only yesterday that my own kids were babies and now they are grown and having babies of their own! 

2011 was a good year for my family with the birth of two new grand-daughters!  My family still mourns the loss of my youngest daughter who died tragically in 2010 and these two new additions to the family have been such a blessing. The babies are a reminder that God gives us joy even in the midst of sorrow.  The babies have given my family hope for the future and they have given me the ability to find the joy in life to keep going even when I am in the depths of grief.  All blessings really do come from God and are given to show his love for us!  God is good!

I wish you all a Blessed New Year...May 2012 be a year of happiness, good health, much love and the making of wonderful memories!

Just had to share....

I finished my two granddaughters ornaments today and just had to share them!  This was my very first pillow finish ever for an ornie and I am pleased with how they turned out!



Homespun Elegance
"Cradle of Christmas Joy"
stitched on scraps of natural linen 32 ct.
DMC & Crescent Colours threads

 And as long as I had the camera out, I took a snap of the ornies that are stitched but have to be finished!

I will give details on these when I show them finished.

Thank you so much for all of the comments on my previous post, I enjoyed reading your comments!

Again, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukka, or whatever you celebrate!

Blessings to All!