out with the old, in with the new

I've decided to try and go on a stash diet this year...nothing new, except for the things I have on automatic...Santa's Village, the Sheep Virtues, the little designer  SAL,  and some fabric of the month clubs. I took advantage of the DMC sale at JoAnns and stocked up today ...hopefully I now have all the colors I need. I have lots of overdyed threads too, and I will just try to use what I have, substituting when I have to.

So, of course, just like any good dieter, I binged before the real dieting begins...so I will be getting some goodies in the mail over the next few weeks I think.

But that's it...nothing more. And truth be told, I didn't really need what I just bought either, but it's that feeling of dread...nothing new to drool over.

So, hopefully, some of my WIPs and UFOs will finally get finished and I will get to start some of the wonderful designs that I loved so much I just had to have them (sometimes, more than once...I see some giveaways in my future!)

And there's always a wishlist....

Thank you all so much for taking the time to visit and leave comments here. I so enjoy hearing from all of you. And I send my very best wishes to you all for a happy, healthy, peaceful 2013 filled with everything you wish for.

Last WIPocalypse for 2012

I must say that I don't think I really embraced. The true spirit of the WIPocalypse this past year. I did start out with a list of WIPs to stitch on, but didn't make much progress on those. I managed to stitch lots of ornaments, several exchanges, stitched on lots
of round robins and did finish a few other pieces...but not as much as I wanted to.
So for this year I am going to start with a list of ten WIPs, work on all of them throughout the year and hopefully get some of them finished.
I'm counting on all of you to keep after me and keep me on track...please????
Thanks for taking the time to visit!

exchanges and a giveaway

I am finally finding a minute to post this last exchange done with Stitched with Love Exchanges. It was a holiday theme, and this is what I received from my partner, Shannon. She stitched two really cute pieces for me...an ornament and a stacked cube finish. Both were displayed on the mantle this year. Shannon also sent lots of other goodies, including a cute LHN ornament design, a little crocheted angel pin, buttons, floss...well, you can see in the photo.!

And here is what I sent to my partner Jessica. I was glad to hear that she liked everything in her package as well.

So thanks again Shannon and Jessica...for a wonderful exchange!

Missy is having a giveaway at her brand new blog, so please go over and say hi...especially if you are a scissors lover!

Thanks for taking the time to visit!

TUSAL post

It's the last New Moon of the year, and that means the last TUSAL post as well! I haven't filled my jar, but I'm getting close! This has been fun...and I hope we get to do it again next year!

Thanks for visiting!

the perfect start

Last night we had the perfect start to our holiday season. A friend suggested we see A Gospel Christmas. This is an annual event combining the Oregon Symphony Orchestra with a local choir. Her son was a soloist this year. Anyway, we always like to do some special Christmas-y  thing each year, so we got our tickets and went downtown. What a wonderful experience! The voices were extraordinary, the music was magical...everyone was on their feet...getting into the whole performance. It was a truly wonderful way to start our holiday celebrations.

We also got to walk over and see the City's tree...it was raining, so the photo is kind of blurry, but it really is very pretty!

And now I am off to do some more exchange stitching...

Thanks for taking the time to visit!

way late wipocalypse!

I thought I should probably post this wipocalypse update before the next one comes along! Better late than never, I guess! Most of my stitching this past month was for exchanges, which I can't show yet...but I did manage to finally finish some ornaments...

These first two are designs by Twisted Oaks...two of three Christmas Quaker Ornaments.

This one is Lady Scarlett's Christmas from Just Nan.

This is Winter Joy from Little by Little Designs.

This is Second Day from Plum Street Samplers.

This is Sweet Christmas from Lizzie Kate.

And lastly, A Christmas Blessing from Full Circle Designs. I changed this one a bit, adding our names. 

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit!

It's Day 4!!!!

 It's the fourth day of Jo's 2012 Advent Calendar Blog Hop...and I'm so happy to be participating for the first time!

I've chosen to share a piece I stitched several years ago...the patterns are from Lizzie Kate...the Christmas Blessings Flip-Its. Sorry, but I can't remember what year they are from! I decided to stitch them all on one piece of fabric...it's hard to tell from the picture, but the fabric is a very pale peachy beige color with lots of gold flecks. I used the called for sampler threads from GAST and Weeks.  I chose this design because I think it looks really festive and covers all the things we love most about the holiday.

The theme question this year is "Stockings, Sack or Something Else?".

We do stockings...ours have not be unpacked yet this year, so I can't show a photo, but I can tell you how our stockings evolved. When our oldest daughter celebrated her first Christmas, she was just shy of three months old, and I had sewn her a beautiful red satin quilted stocking with lace and bells and her name cross-stitched on the cuff. It's about a yard long...much bigger than she was for sure! And, of course, when her sister came along 3 1/2 years later, she got a stocking just as big.

We still hang those stockings every year, and I can tell you that both girls look forward to seeing them even now (they are 34 and 30 years old!) There are also stockings for the rest of us (hubby and I, and now our grandson), as well as the dogs and cats, and usually one or two assorted "partners". I can't tell you how many stockings I have made over the years! (and actually, saying they are hung on the mantle is a bit of a fib...they usually weigh so much that they end up stacked against the walls and chairs!)

Please go here to see everyone else who is participating in the blog hop this year!

And thanks so much for taking the time to visit!