Done!

I finished Harmony!  I was just looking at Facebook and saw that Marjan finished hers too.  The Tudor rose scissors fob looks fine.  I shouldn't have stressed about it.

 The back:

All three pieces together:

Like Marjan, I can't believe I made it.
I went back yesterday and looked through all my photos for the year to see how much I got done.  Then of course, there are those things that never got done.  There are a few things that are stitched but haven't been made into anything.  My trips really disrupted my stitching.  Only a few of the projects in the classes I took are finished now.
I've had a very memorable 2015.  The high point was the Casket trip to the UK.  I'm very lucky.  I look forward to a fun 2016.
Thank you to Amy Mitten, Janet Brandt, Fearless Leader, BFF, BFF#2 and DH for making this year just the best!
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Things are Looking Rosy

I have a pitiful 567 steps so far today.  I was waiting for a guy to come see about tiling our mud room.  So I haven't walked yet.  After posting, I'm off to the Y to walk.
This is my goal today:

Finishing off the Tudor Rose.  I guess the parts don't look too bad.  I was able to make enough finger looped braid for the fob.  Yeah!  I am in the process of covering a little felt ball with detached buttonhole stitch using way too springy thread.  Challenging.  Then I can put the petals around the ball.

 When this is done, I am completely done with Harmony.  Yeah! and it isn't even New Year's Eve - yet.
Wish me luck!
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Pretty Sad Looking

I made three petals for the Tudor rose scissors fob.

I thought I would get better at it as I went along.  Sadly, not.  These are pretty rough looking. The best one is that one of the left.  I am going to wait and see what all five look like when I put them together.

I started the finger loop braiding for the fob.  Sadly, it too did not go well.  First off, I cut all my threads in half so they wouldn't get so tangled up.  That meant that I didn't have threads long enough to do the finger loops.  I "borrowed" some threads from the Quaker Bag that I hadn't cut up.  But then I got a knot after doing this much.  Sometimes the universe works against you.

  Rats.  I'm going to try and untangle the loops and keep going.  Again, I'll wait and see if I have enough for the fob.  Some days things just don't go well.  I should have just done something else like read a book.

It was too slushy to walk outside today so I went to the Y.  The main streets aren't too bad to drive on.
I found a video and pattern on YouTube for a nice sailboat for the new baby's quilt.  I ordered some brown fabric for the boat part that matches the Guess How Much I Love You fabric.  I love the internet as you can find all kinds of things.  How did I ever do without it?
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Lute

The weather has taken a turn for the worse.  I'm staying home for the rest of the day and let my fingers do the shopping.  Luckily the walking is all done.  Now it is sleeting.  UGH.  The bathrooms aren't clean yet.  So I have to get busy.
I started putting the lute together yesterday.

I wanted to show you that the walnut lute is all done!.

  Yeah!
It holds a couple of tiny spools inside:

The bottom of the lute:

The head of the lute:

Only one more part is left to make on Harmony:  the scissors fob.  There are five petals to detach buttonhole to make a Tudor rose..  It seems to take forever.  I hope to have three of them all done today.  We'll see.
I happy to be warm and cozy and have electricity here at the Chateau.  Now, on to the bathrooms.
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Diligence

I worked diligently to get Harmony all put together.  I look at this piece and can't believe that I actually made it!

The back:

The inside:

The edge:

See all the raised work on the front:

Am I done-done with Harmony?  Nope.  There are two more pieces.  There is the walnut lute and the scissors fob.  I'm working on putting the walnut lute together today.

I can't believe that I might be able to finish this before the end of the year.  Fantastic!
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Nice Christmas

I had a very nice Christmas.  I got everything I wanted (that's because I ordered it!).  We got to see Claire open her presents.  What a joy!

My new music box.

It took a while and a couple of YouTube videos

to figure out how to turn it on and listen to a Brandenburg concerto.

I am drinking coffee out of my new cup.  It's from Amy Mitten.

I have been enjoying looking through my new book:

I even got time to stitch yesterday.  Here are the four cornflower petals that I made:

I attached them and went on to stitch the butterfly wings.  I changed the color of the wings but it's okay.

Then I had two leaves to do.
I am very proud of myself.  When I knew I had to do some more hedebos and picots around one of the leaves, I went back and reread the directions.  I couldn't seem to do them correctly on the lace collar or cuffs.  But rereading the directions really helped.  I had been assuming the hedebos were bars not individual stitches.  So it finally dawned on me how to stitch them.  I was finally able to understand the diagrams and sequence of stitches.

Now the front of Harmony is totally done.

 I cut it out and today I hope to stitch at least part of it together.
I'm back to walking today.  It sure doesn't feel like Saturday.  But like DH says, when you are retired, everyday is Saturday.
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Cornflower, Leaves and Butterfly Wings

Happy Christmas Eve!  I stitched this pillow many moons ago.

I am ready to start Harmony's Lesson 12.  It consists of more detached pieces: cornflower petals, leaves and butterfly wings.  If you look at the front of Harmony, you might think it is already done.

 And frankly, you could leave out these extra pieces.

 But I am going to follow the directions and make them.  When they are done, I can put the scissors case together.  Wow.  I've been working on this for a long time.

I tracked down most of the flosses I need for the baby sampler. I only need a two more.  I have a bit of cabin fever and may venture out to LNS for a change of scenery and to get the floss I need.

The sun is out today. That is wonderful after some rainy cloudy overcast days.
Here are a couple of my favorite ornaments:

Merry Christmas to you.  I'll be back after Christmas to show you what Santa brought.
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A Lute

I made good progress on Harmony.

 I may go back and give her another strand or two of hair.  I left off her snood.  I am very excited to have her lute attached.  Then I added her cuffs of lace.

 I couldn't do the picot that is supposed to be on the tip of each loop but it is fine.  I did my loops differently anyway.  Whatever, the cuffs are done.  I started the vines.

 Now I am almost done with Lesson 11.
DH is braving the grocery store today in search of food for Christmas and the weekend.  It will just be the two of us so we are having the regular stuff, nothing special.  There are too many goodies here already.

It was 49 degrees when I went walking this morning.  Wow.  It has been overcast but I am very lucky to be able to walk outside this time of year.  We are even expecting thunderstorms this afternoon.  That's okay, I'll be stitching.

Okay, I confess.  I did start that blackwork biscornu.  I just did a few stitches to see what it would look like.  I never knew that I liked blackwork so much.

There is a kid outside my window riding a bike and he has shorts on!  Unbelievable.
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Curly Hair

Harmony has some curly hair.

I'm a bit jealous as my hair is totally straight and I've spent too much time in my life trying to get it to curl.  I like the technique and thread Amy Mitten uses to get the curly effect.  I'm making progress on the hair.  It isn't done yet but it will be soon.  BFF#2 was here and we talked and talked.  It is so fun to share stitching with a person who can appreciate it.  I loved showing her all my ornaments.  She even took some photos.  After seeing some of my friend's works in progress, I am itching to do some actually cross stitch.  Maybe I'll have a chance to later today.

I bought a tiny matchbox size diorama when I was at the Benjamin Pollack Toy Shop in Covent Garden.  It has been just sitting around for a while and I decided to put it together.  This is how it looks all done.

It's the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
I glued a couple of the pieces in place so they would be more stable and stay where they are supposed to be.

I made some cookies that I saw on pinterest.  They are very good.
They are shortbread cookies with marachino cherries and a Hershey's kiss.

It was wonderfully warm to go walking this morning.  Love it.
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Monday

Today is the first day of Winter and I went walking in the rain.  It was 41 degrees.  Not bad for December.  My bathrooms are clean.  BFF#2 is stopping by today.  That will be fun.  She was on the Silver Needle cruise so I want to hear all about that.

I got Harmony's skirt done!  Yeah!  I even attached it. I included a photo with my thumb so you can see that in reality, Harmony is not that big.

 What comes next?  Her hair.  Everybody looks better with some nice curls.  I tried redoing one side of her lacy collar with not very good results.  I may just leave what I have done.  Soon I will get to add her lute.  Can I finish her up before the end of the year?  I hope so.  I'm finding that concentrating on one project helps it get done faster.  Next up is the Quaker Bag.
There are a few presents under my Christmas tree.  Fun!
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Looking for Good Things

I spent most of yesterday afternoon looking for Good Things by Birds of a Feather.  I went through five years of my photos.  I went through four shelves of charts.  Then finally I found it.

There is a baby boy on the way.  He won't be here until late April.  His room is going to be nautical style.  Claire is going to have a baby brother!  I could get a start on the birth announcement sampler and just leave a space for his name.  I'm so excited.  That fabric I bought in Minneapolis can be a baby quilt.

So cute!  I have to find a simple sailboat pattern and see what I can come up with.

My goal for today is to get Harmony's skirt done.  Whew.  I think I can do it.

I am knee deep in mess at the Chateau.

Stuff for the neighbors is being made.  Caramel corn is in the oven.  I've licked the remains of the fudge from the pan.
Happy Sunday!
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Goodies

I got some good stuff in the mail.

I saw the scissors fob on someone's blog and thought it was very sweet.  So I ordered it.  It is a complete kit.

I'm not crazy about the colors so I might change them a bit.  It is called Z-Sampler Fob by The Heart's Content.  Of course, I'm tempted to start it but I dare not!
I worked on Harmony's skirt.  It doesn't look like much.  This is what I can get done in a day.

I think I am at least half done.  Maybe it will go faster now.  Hey, a girl can dream.
The Christmas tree got put up!

The star on the top has seen it's last days.  It will have to be replaced.  I got it about 40 years ago.  Good grief, I must be old.  I had to walk at the Y today since there was snow and ice.  I plan to make some goodies later today.  Last load of fudge for the year.
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