I started 2021 on a roll, stitching every day and making some progress on my pieces, and then things began to change fast!
My daughter had moved back home while she searched for a new job. In early May, she was offered a position, accepted it and by the end of the month she had packed up all her stuff, sent everything back East, found an apartment, and headed out on the drive cross country. She is now living in Manchester, New Hampshire (3000 miles from here) and enjoying her new job and her new apartment.
We are still in some sort of pandemic mode. We're all vaccinated and boosted, but still being careful. So far, we have been very fortunate that no-one has gotten sick.
My sister found out in early June that she had a blood cancer, and would need a bone arrow transplant. I probably would have been a good match, but I am too old (I didn't know there was an age limit!). She was very very fortunate that an almost perfect match was found for her, and she had her transplant in early September. She is doing really well, although she still has a long road of check-ups ahead of her. But we are all very grateful this year!
Time has seemed to fly by and now the holidays are here and I'm in no way ready! But at the same time it feels like life has also slowed sown, and my past life of being frantic at this time of year has passed. Every day is precious, and the most important thing is to be grateful for what we have and those around us, and there is nothing wrong with slowing down!
I feel like my stitching time has been hit or miss for most of this year. I have had periods where I felt like I was accomplishing quite a bit and other times when I felt like my stitches were few and far between. I have also spent lots of time reading, and its hard to do both at the same time...although I did listen to all of Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series while stitching this summer, and a couple of other audio books!
So let me share some of what I was able to finish over the past months since I blogged last...
My focus piece for Semi-Sane Stitchers was Quaker Christmas II by ByGone Stitches all year, and while I thought I might get it finished this month, now I kind of doubt it! But I have made some progress! Here is what it looks like now:
Grace Quaker Sampler from The Sampler Cove
