Last Finish for 2010

My Christmas Blessing is finished. The words are over one on 40 count material, and I make complete crosses. I tried the half cross suggested by the designer, but felt it just didn't look right.

Now I have to decide whether it is to be framed, or made into a pillow.

Happy New Year.

The 15 Projects for January

I have finally decided on the 15 projects.
1. Red Bird by Pam Darney  started Day 1
2. America by Hinzeit - to be adapted for a birth sampler   started Day 3
3. A Hardanger Ornament  started day 10
4. First Day of Christmas – Sweetheart Tree  started day 11
5. Second Day of Christmas - Sweetheart Tree  started day 7
6. Third Day of Christmas - Sweetheart Tree  started day 8
7. Fourth Day of Christmas – Sweetheart Tree   started Day 2
8. Fifth Day of Christmas = Sweetheart Tree  started Day 15
9. Sixth Day of Christmas – Sweetheart Tree  started day 9
10.   Seventh Day of Christmas – Sweetheart Tree  started day 13
11.   Eighth Day of Christmas – Sweetheart Tree  started day 12
12   Ninth Day of Christmas – Sweetheart Tree  started day 5
13.   Tenth Day of Christmas – Sweetheart Tree started day started day 14
14.   Eleventh Day of Christmas – Sweetheart Tree started day 14
15.  Tweveth  Day of Christmas – Sweetheart Tree  started day 4

Because 12 of them are smallish, I will also try to finish my Mermaid Etui and smalls from Victoria Samper, and start the Virgo Quaker from Wiehenburg. I will start a mystery sampler at the Oatlands meeting in January, and also plan to have that finished by the end of the year.

The ones I am least sure about finishing are the Mermaid - I have already run out of one thread and can't find it. That will be my January Quest!

The other dubious finish is the Virgo Quaker. I love Martina's designs, but always seem to get bogged down in them because some motif or another isn't quite right (usually the border ones ... after I have stitched too much to go back and rip out.). I just re-read this ... it isn't Martina's chart that is the problem, but my stitching. Tho't I should clarify.

Happy New Year - May 2011 bring you much happiness, good health, and lots to stitch.

Almost to the New Year

We spent Christmas Eve and a good part of Christmas Day with our daughter and her family. We all went to church Christmas Eve. The service was beautiful ... and crowded. We ended up in a couple of places in the church. Bill and I sat behind one of the large pillars. Vicki, Rick and Bryce had folding chairs at the back. After the service, we headed to a local restaurant for dinner. Very nice. The portions were pretty big. I ordered the crab cake .. there were two huge ones on the plate. Vicki will have crab and a poached egg on a muffin one day.

It snowed Christmas morning. Not a lot, but enough to make us a little nervous about the drive home, so we left a little before we had planned to. We got home in good time. I put the salad together and we headed for my sister-in-law's for Christmas Dinner. Vicki and family were also there. In total there were 17 of us - extended family in one form or another. Sue had turkey, ham, dressing, peas, corn, rolls, gravy, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Erica brought home-made cookies, there also were brownies and cake, and I brought an egg nog cake. I wish I could say the cake was a success, but I can't. I forget that my niece can't eat walnuts (I thought it was pecans), so she didn't get to try it. Personally, I think it was too sweet.

I have been working on a Christmas Blessing. It is on a deep sand colored fabric and is the reproduction of an antique Christmas Card. Very Pretty! I hope to finish it up tonight. If I do, I will post a picture tomorrow.

We took the Long Island Christmas presents to the shop on Saturday. They didn't get them to FedEx until yesterday. Today, we FINALLY got the email notice of the tracking number. They are usually a LOT better than that. Hopefully, the gifts will arrive before Christmas, and go to the right house this year.

You can probably tell, we have had some problems in the past.

I probably won't get back to this until after Christmas, so everyone --- have a very Merry Christmas!

Counting Down To Christmas

Just a few more days to Christmas. Our son won't be able to make it down this year. His wife works retail and is scheduled for Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. We are planning to head to Annapolis for Christmas with our daughter and her family, then back to Fairfax for Christmas dinner with my sister-in-law.

I've decided on the birth sampler. Since Julie and her husband are both very active in the political arena, I will stitch the Hinzeit chart America and add the baby's name and birth date. Now, all that is left is actually stitching it.

I noticed that my Pam Darney Red Bird didn't show up in the picture of the 15 projects. It will probably be the first one I start.

We are heading for the UPS store to ship the Christmas stuff to Long Island.

My 15

OK ... here is a very bad shot of the 15 ... and if you count, you will see there are actually 17 with one to go. I still haven't decided on the birth sampler.

I guess I should tell a little about my family. I have two children, a daughter and a son. My daughter [Vicki], her husband [Rick]and son [Bryce] live in Edgewater, Maryland. Rick was diagnosed this summer with kidney cancer. He has undergone surgery to remove the affected kidney and adrenal gland. Some other tumors were left because of their position. He had radiation treatment to shrink the size of the remaining tumors. And has just finished two rounds of InterLeukin-2. The IL-2 activates and stimulates the growth of immune cells, most importantly T-Cells, but also Natural Killer Cells (NK Cells), both of which are capable of destroying cancer cells directly. Bryce plays little league baseball, and basketball. He is also on a swim team. His baseball team came this close to winning the league championship this year, but lost the final game.The family seems to be coping well with Rick's illness.

My son [Jon], his wife [Barbara] and children [Rebecca, Alexander, and Emelia] live on Long Island, NY. They are in the process of renovating a beach cottage. They have added on, and redone a lot of the house. They are currently finishing off the attic to be a bedroom with bath.

Bill and I live in Centreville, VA. Bill is active in the National Associaton of Retired (and current) Federal Employees [NARFE]. He will be president of his chapter come January. I am in three embroidery guilds - Washington DC Chapter, EGA; Oatlands Chapter, EGA, and Loudoun Sampler Guild. Nof offices for me this year. We will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary this year. I'd like to keep it low key.

'Nuff said.

15 Projects in January

I thought I had my 15 projects picked out. Ha~ .. We had dinner with friends on Saturday night. One of our young friends announced she was pregnant and due in July. Well, I HAVE to stitch a baby piece for her, so that changes everything.

Today was our gift exchange in our Counted Thread Group. All of the gifts were super. We drew namesfor next year. I'm not sure what to get for the person I drew ... at least not yet. Something will come to me as the year progresses. I felt that way when I drew Roni's name for this Christmas. I finally decided on a Pashimina scarf. A wonderful little boutique shop in Clifton had them at a very special price this summer. I got one for her, one for me, one for my daughter, and one for my daughter-in-law.

I got a basket with two enormous jars of La Madeleine's Tomato Basil Soup. This is actually funny because over the weekend, I mentioned to my husband that I always enjoyed the soup at La Madeleine. I know he didn't call  Sheryl ... but it looks like it.

I'm off to reconsider my options for the January challenge. But, I know a baby sampler will be among the 15.

December 11, 2010

I've just returned from a very nice potluck luncheon with the Loudoun Sampler Guild. Our table of ladies decided to take the 15 projects 'challenge.' We will each start a project each day for the first 15 days of January. We will then take the rest of the year to finish the projects. Hopefully, we will each have 15 completed projects for the 'show and tell' table next December.

We always have an ornament exchange and a Stitching related gift exchange. I brought a cute little snowman for my ornament ... I received an exquisite ornament featuring a beaded tree with a little bunny button. For the stitching related gift, I brought a ... I don't know what it was called, but, it was a little gadget that you pin onto your shirt or jacket. It has a long string that coils up inside and you can pull it out. Scissors are attached to the string, making it a handy way to keep your scissors close at hand.

I'll list my projects for the challenge later.