How can it be 2020???

Another year has passed, and once again I am left wondering how it passed so quickly!
All in all, it was a pretty good year, with mostly good things happening and only a few really low points.

My older daughter moved back here to Portland and it has been really nice having her close by again. So now all the chicks are back and we are able to have more family time together.

Jeff and I were able to take a wonderful week in northern Idaho, where we stayed in a cottage on the river and were able to visit Glacier National Park as well

On the sad side, we had to send our beloved dog Eros over the Rainbow Bridge. He was 16 years old and live with us that whole time, so it was a very difficult time for everyone. But, it was his time, and even though we didn't want to say goodbye, we had to think of what was best for him and let him go.

I've been having some problems with my hands which makes stitching for long periods difficult at times, but somehow I still managed to get 19 pieces finished this year. The last two were done last minute for Christmas gifts for my girls.

 This is "I Do", an older design from Bent Creek that I stitched as a belated wedding sampler.

This is called "Take Time to Heal". My daughter and I saw it at a craft fair and she really liked it, so I went home and found the pattern on line and stitched it up for her. The flowers were supposed to be french knots, but since I don't do those well, I used some rainbow gallery thread instead and it turned out really cool and sparkly.

For the coming year, my plan is to work on my WIPs (of which there are many!) No more "start too many projects in January" and then never finish most of them for me. I am keeping myself to no more than 3 new starts at most each month...still probably more than I should, but there are so many projects calling to me from my stash that I can't help myself! I've joined a sort of support group for WIP stitchers, and we have vowed to keep each other motivated!

For January, I am going to try to finally finish my two oldest WIPs. Since they are 20 years old, it seems like the right time!

The first one is called "Alice" and it by Lynne Niccoletti.

This second one is the January quilt from Paula Vaughn's book "Quilts for All Seasons". It is my oldest WIP.

And my January 1st start is Quaker Street by Marjorie Massey. I made a small start on it today, while watching the Oregon Ducks win the Rose Bowl...quite a fun game to watch!

I've made a few resolutions, but I'll talk about them next time. Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful 2020 to look forward to.

Please remember to always be kind to yourself and others.

Happy stitching!
lynda