Crafting Away

From the very long list that I published a couple of weeks ago, I have settled on 4 or 5 projects to consistently work on right now.

Santa is taking priority as I have been working on him for quite a while and I want to know that he is done for next Christmas. As you can see, I have added to the red ribbon at the bottom of the gift below that diamond that will be the gift tag..

I have added several rows to the Baby Elephant blanket. You can see the beginning of its trunk and the ears are very noticeable now.

This apron is a project that I do at work when I don't have any students to help. 

I didn't have two of the recommended colors and didn't feel like shopping for them when I have so much other floss so I substituted. I found this site to help me make the substitutions. Usually the first or second recommended color works well. When this is finished I will find another small project to work on. I have several stashed away. 

I took out October Morning to work on also.

 I have been working on this for a very long time. My mother started it years ago, but didn't enjoy cross-stitch. Unfortunately, I had to frog all of her work as she used the wrong color floss and didn't follow the chart. I would say that it is about 1/3 completed. I have added some confetti stitches in recent weeks so the progress is hard to see. You might notice the yellow flowers scattered by the fence.

Finally, I want to work on the Log Cabin Star quilt I am making for my daughter and her husband. I haven't added anything to it since last summer, but I am hoping that if I know it is on the rotation list, I will at least make the attempt to go to the basement and add a few more rows. Hmmm, I know that I had to clear off my sewing table again. Isn't that always the way? We were experiencing bitterly cold temperatures yesterday with a steady wind, so that was yesterday's clean-up project. Now I am ready to sew whenever I put my mind to it.

 My son is here for the weekend again. He moves to CA on Wednesday, so I am not sure how much stitching is going to happen this weekend. When he was here last weekend I decided I wanted to celebrate his birthday (didn't know he would be back with us this weekend). We haven't been together for his birthday for a few years now and I know he will be alone this year too. I made him a small chocolate cake and Hubby and I sang Happy Birthday. 

We will enjoy every moment we have with him this weekend as we probably won't see him again until just before his wedding in April. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I might add some stitches to Santa today. 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

First Stitch Along update of 2022

 Friday was a Snow Day for me. I put away all of my Christmas decorations except for the village which I put away on Saturday. I was also able to add some stitches to the Santa Stocking. This is where Santa was for the last update.

The cross-stitching on one of Santa's arms is now completed. I have moved on to the other arm and more of the gift. 

I am finally using the scroll-frame stand that I received as a birthday present last year. 

Our son is visiting again this weekend as his moving company packed up all his belongings on Friday. They were supposed to come tomorrow, but when he called to confirm they stated that they were coming on Friday instead. That was definitely not what he expected. He is moving from King of Prussia, PA to Carlsbad, CA. He will be starting a new job and finally be able to live with his fiancee. They are getting married in April. 

A big "Thank you" to Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea for hosting this Stitch Along every three weeks and sending us the needed posting reminders.

Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and take some time to visit the other talented bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along. You will see a wide variety of stitching projects. These talented stitchers are from all over the world so please allow for the time differences and check back for each post. 

Avis, Claire, Gun, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, 

Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan,

 Deborah, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy,

 Anne, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen  

Thanks for stopping by!

 

2022 Crafts

Hmmm, what will I be working on in the coming year? 

I definitely want to finish the Santa Stocking. I have been adding white stitches to Santa's cuff. It is hard to see the progress. This is what it looks like as of yesterday. 

Please excuse the dark photo. We have had cloudy, rainy weather for days and days and days.....

I also want to finish the Baby Elephant Blanket. This is where it is at the moment.

I plan to get back to stitching October Morning 

and Three Boats. I haven't worked on this since April. Wow!

I really want finish piecing the Timberline Log Cabin quilt for my daughter and son-in-law. 

I think I will call it the Log Cabin Star quilt from now on.....I have to remember that. There are an awful lot of blocks to stitch. There are 11 completed and 10 in progress right now.

It would be nice if I could sandwich my mother's Overall Sam and do the big stitch quilting similar to what she did on her Sunbonnet Sue quilt.

 This will not be at the front of the line, but something I do want to pick up and work on every once in a while. I still have to use my seam ripper so I can line up the bottom right block a little better. 

I have a sweater that I started a few years ago that I want to finish....I think. I have to do some math as my vertical gauge is off and it will affect the armholes. I am hoping that I can figure it out on my own. I haven't worked on it since October 2019. Wow, that seems like a lifetime ago. I was really enjoying the knitting until I realized I had to make adjustments. I do not claim to be an accomplished knitter. 

I also want to start a Christmas stocking for my future daughter-in-law. I have the pattern picked out and the fabric and flosses all purchased. Again, this is not a must for this year, but it certainly would be nice. I will have to figure out how to add her name to the top, but that should not be a problem.

Oh there are so many, many other crafts that I really want to do also: 

Christmas table runners for me and my kids and someday a new tree skirt.

Finish quilting a pink baby blanket that my mother pieced.

A cross-stitch Santa kit my son bought for me.

A cross-stitch snow-globe piece for my daughter.

Knit a sweater for my daughter

A fractal quilt that my son gave me the pattern for a couple of years ago.

Uh oh, my mind is spinning. Okay, I will stop now. It looks like I am going to have a very busy 2022! I am so looking forward to all that crafting.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I will be working on the Santa Stocking.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Wishing all of my readers a Happy and Healthy New Year!  

Crafts completed in 2021

 I didn't think that I completed all that many crafts this past year, but I do have several to show you. 

The first was the Breeze Infinity scarf finished in January!

I didn't have another finish until May. This time it was the crocheted Bobble Baby Blanket.

Next I completed the finishing touches on a July 4th decoration that I had stitched in 2020.

In August I put the finishing touches on a Christmas decoration.

I also finished another baby blanket. This one was knitted.

In September I went back to in-person work full-time and my crafting definitely slowed down.

I was able to do some crafting at work during periods when no students needed help. I made plarn and crocheted this pumpkin.

Although not completely finished, I did manage to assemble my mother's Overall Sam quilt top.

I quickly stitched up a wedding sampler for one of my daughter's childhood friends. This was my gift to her for her bridal shower. As you can see, the wedding is today. My daughter is one of her bridesmaids. 

I also worked on these Christmas ornaments in brief spurts at work. The finishing was completed at home. One was given to my son,  one to my daughter and her husband and the last to her in-laws. 

I finished this ornament for Hubby, my own personal Scott(ie).

Finally, another ornament that I haven't yet shared as I wanted to surprise the recipient. 

I sent this one to Kathi at Designoriginalsbykc. She has been a great blogging friend for several years. I am glad she sent me a picture of it on her tree as I forgot to take one myself. 

Of course there was one more major finish this year, but I still can't share it. You will see the secret stitching soon, I hope.

So 14 finishes in total is not too bad if I do say so myself. I hope you enjoyed the retrospective on my crafts of 2021. 

On Sunday I will share what I will be working on in 2022. 

Thanks for stopping by!

The last Slow Sunday Stitching of 2021

It is the day after Christmas and the last Slow Sunday Stitching of 2021. This year seems to have gone by very quickly while taking forever at the same time. There wasn't enough time to get all of my crafting completed, but the pandemic certainly made the year drag on. 

Our son came to visit starting on Tuesday. He brought with him Chocolate Crinkle and Christmas Butter Cookie batters. All we had to do was roll, decorate and bake.

The Chocolate Crinkles are stored in an holiday Dunkin Donut munchkin holder that I got many years ago.

Matthew halved the recipe so we got two sheet pans full of cookies. 

Don't they look pretty and yummy. You can find the recipe here.

We had a very nice, but small, Christmas celebration yesterday. Just my son, hubby and me.

Today my daughter, her husband and her pup are coming for a few days. We will have another Christmas celebration tomorrow.  

Look at the goodies that my son gifted me. 

I have some great ideas for these pretty fabrics!

He also gave Hubby and me this great game. 

We have played The Crew - Quest for Planet Nine previously. This is an alternate version. I can't wait to try it. 

I made a cute Scottie cross-stitch for my husband, Scott.

I have had the booklet with a whole bunch of Scottie patterns for years. I finally made one of the cute patterns. Thankfully I had the hoop and the cording in my stash. 

I am still working on the Santa stocking. It won't get any use until next year, but that is fine. I am working on the furry cuff right now.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and a cookine an pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching.

I will add a few more stitches to Santa's cuff this morning before I have to store it away while my son-in-law is visiting. I will take out the apron to work on while everyone is here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas!

I am wishing all of my readers the merriest of Christmases. 

Be happy and stay healthy!