Gift Parade

 Well, no Christmas is complete with out a new kit or two. Everything I got for Christmas was influenced by what I saw on the web. I watch Flosstube videos from a lady in Australia. She is a phenomenal stitcher.She stitched a Luca-S kit still life of fruit and it was lovely. So onto Amazon I go to find the kit for me. I wanted one that wasn't too huge. I ended up ordering this kit of cherries.

The threads were all sorted and labeled! How great is that?

The kit fabric was 18 count Aida. Not for me! I am a linen snob and therefore got out a piece of white linen from my stash.

This will be a fun stitch. 

The mat I showed yesterday was very useful for finishing my macaron. It was easy to lay the beaded piece face down and iron on the interfacing. (Go for it Stasi!) These days I don't have to iron 100% cotton dress shirts so finishing is what I use my iron for. 

I'll see you again on Monday - next year!

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Gift Parade

 My gift parade continues with this ironing mat. My friend Stasi asked about this wool mat on Facebook, whether it was useful.

 I had seen the mat from Love Sew and was also thinking about it. It is especially useful for quilters for ironing seamed pieces for a quilt. So I ordered it. It has proved useful for me in finishing. It also reminds me I should replace my worn out ironing board cover. Here I am ironing on some interfacing for my beaded macaron.

I have an infusion this afternoon. So I can only do simple stitching for the rest of the day.

It's snowy outside so no walking this morning. Not to mention it is only 28 degrees.

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What did Santa Bring?

 I must explain that I order all my Christmas gifts so I always get what I want. DH is happy with this arrangement and wraps what comes in the mail. I got myself some clothes as I've worn the same three pairs of pants forever. Also J Jill said they were going to shut down my card unless I use it. So I used it.

Of course a I wanted stitchy stuff. I am very influenced by what I see on the web. I saw Nicola's new Cohana scissors. I found a shop in the US that carried the scissors as and ordered them.

They are so sharp! I'm very happy with them.

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Beading

 Does this mean Christmas is over?`````````````````````````````````````````

I've been working on this Inspiration's kit.

I wasn't sure I could make this. I'm not really a beader. So I was pleasantly surprized that this project went so well. I'm ready to do the finishing but I haven't read the directions yet. The best part of this project is that I now think I can tackle two other project kits that I have. I so want to make this little purse but was afraid. Now I think I can do it.

I started this one but felt I didn't know what I was doing. 

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Sweet Pillow

 I saw this kit all finished on Facebook and really wanted to make it.

It is Floral Heart Kit by Kimberly Nugent of Samplers Not Forgotten.

This is how it turned out. I love it! It was a great kit with colors I like and linen that was easy to stitch on. I like the trim and backing fabric as well. I have another chart of a sampler from her that I should dig out. She has taught at our guild and I stitched that too. 

We had thunderstorms last night. It is very unusual to have a thunderstorm in winter. It woke us up several times.

We had a good Christmas. The highlight was watching the grandkids open their presents. They liked them very much. It is great that FaceTime makes it possible to see and talk to them. 

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A Mouse House

 I started one side of Just Nan Mouse House. It is finished except for the beads. I'm going to do them after all the stitching is done.

This was an easy stitch. A person could get burned out on a stitch like this so I'm not pushing myself.

I went walking this morning as it was warmer and I only needed a sweatshirt. It was foggy and the streets were pretty deserted. 

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and I plan to be back on Monday.

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A Find and a Finish

 I was looking for something the other day and found this in a drawer. All those red strawberries are done in queen stitch. ARGH. I think this goes with something else but I don't remember what. I think it might have been a Barbara Jackson design. 

I finish-finished the Just Nan Strawberry. I really like how she turned out. 

I walked this morning. It is supposed to be near 50 degrees tomorrow. Not very Christmasy weather but I love it. 

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Miss Mousey

 I finished stitching the Just Nan mouse.

I cut her out and am stitching her into shape. 

I have a pattern for a little house that I thought went with her. I now realize that a different mouse goes with the house. Duh!

I'm going to start on the house. I really like it.  One has to be aware when stitching a Just Nan design that there will be many thread changes.

It's snowing and cold. I'm staying cozy right here in my sewing room. 

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Small Kit

 This is a small kit from The French Needle.

The French Needle has several sweet little heart kits. I chose the most colorful one. I like that the design is printed on the felt. Transferring patterns is a pain. So glad I don't have to with this kit. It will be fun to play with this.

It's cold this morning, 24 degrees. So I'm waiting to walk until after DH gets back from the grocery store. I'm hoping he can find a Sunday Roaster chicken. That's what we want  to make for Christmas. I'm hoping to finish stitching the Just Nan mouse today.

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Needlecase

 Here is the finished needlecase from Erica Michaels.

After stitching the front I lost the thread card. So frustrating! So I had to find the threads called for in my stash. Luckily I had most of the threads but I couldn't find any WDW Collard greens so I had to substitute. Then I decided to withdraw 2 threads for the hem stitching. My corners aren't perfect but whatever.

This project is all done. I'm feeling like Christmas so I grabbed a Just Nan mouse chart. I saw that a YouTuber hung her Just Nan mice  and mouse houses on her Christmas tree. Hey, I could do that. 

I walked this morning after being lazy for the last two days. DH is going to soccer so I need to wrap something I ordered for him while he's gone. 

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Snowman

 I finished the snowman so I could hang him on our tree.

Cute!

Right now I'm finishing the needlecase that matches the strawberry I just made. I'll show you next week.

It's sleeting and snowing outside. I'm not going to walk in that. Especially because there could be icy spots which are not good for an old lady with neuropathy. I joined the Orange County Sampler Guild. They offer some nice classes that I can Zoom. Next Saturday is Christmas, yikes!

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Distracted

 One of my pet peeves is not being able to find something. That's what got me distracted from posting yesterday. I knew I had the book "Willing Hands 2", a book of Betsy Morgan designs. It was somewhere in this mess of a sewing room. It wasn't where I thought it would be and I spent a while looking and looking for it. I wanted it because a shop cancelled my order of Gloriana Threads for projects in the Willing Hands 2 book. Why did they cancel my order? I asked that the shop send me what they had of my order. It's been four months that I've been waiting. But no, the shop didn't send me anything and when I checked the status yesterday it said "order cancelled per customer's request". No, not true. I didn't cancel my order. Rats. So I wanted to order from a different shop. I ended up ordering from Needle in a Haystack because they have an online catalog. We'll see what happens. 

I got a book in the mail that I have been waiting on for a long time. It is the Inspirations book, Pin Cushions. I was so happy to get this. 

This is one awesome book. First of all , it is oversized - big. The photos in this book are huge, up close and detailed. Wow. This is a fantastic book. The designs are quite diverse. Many designs by many designers.

In the back of the book is a sheet of patterns for the pin cushions. I didn't realize that the strawberry pin cushion is actually very small and on 40 count.

I already have a kit for one of the pincushions in the book. Since I've finished several things lately, I'm looking forward to starting this one. So cute!

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Miscellaneous

 Here is a better photo of Come to my Garden, I ironed it as best as I could without getting it wet. You have to be really careful as the Crescent Colors threads can run. I've had the silk ones run but I don't know if the cotton ones do. I don't want to take any chances.

This is the top of the strawberry, it is all done now. I'm working on the needlecase.

A close up of a few ornaments on my tree.

This round ornament is a favorite. I made it many years ago.

DH got the extension cord that I needed. The lights aren't distributed very well but it is too much hassle to fix them.

The house around the corner from us is all decorated for Christmas.

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DONE

 I finished up the last page on Come to my Garden. I can't believe that I got it all done!

I need to iron this and figure out the framing. Lovely day outside. DH took me along to the grocery store and Macy's so I'm a happy camper. 

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Christmas Tree

 I finished putting decorations on my Christmas tree. I have many more ornaments but no more energy!

Most of these are made by me. There are lights on the tree but DH needs to get me an extension cord to plug them in. 

We went to the local holiday market on Saturday and just about got blown away by strong winds. I was able to get some of my favorite cinnamon rolls. It's nearly 50 degrees. I had an infusion this morning so I'm skipping the walking today. 

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Making a Strawberry

 I am almost done with finishing the strawberry.

I used some crushed walnut shells to stuff most of it. I like that it gives the strawberry some weight. I just have to sew the top pieces of felt in place.

There was a Holiday Market today at the senior center and I talked DH into taking me. I was delighted to get one (well, actually four) huge cinnamon rolls. I froze three of them. It is warm here but it sure doesn't feel like it. The wind is so strong it could knock me over. 

My goals today are to finish decorating the Christmas tree and work on that last page of Come to the Garden. 

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Needlecase

 It is turning out to be a very nice day, 46 degrees. I may do some walking this afternoon. And the sun is shining. Around here December is known for having very little sunshine. So one has to really appreciate any sun sightings.

I got half of the needlecase that goes with yesterday's strawberry stitched. 

I had a busy morning. The echocardiogram took about 5 minutes. Then I got to go to the grocery store.

The Christmas tree is coming along. I kind of like to overload the tree. No Charlie Brown tree for me!

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Unloaded

 I found a kit on Stash Unload that I liked. It is one of the Silver Needle Circle of Friends kits. I bought it and have been stitching it. 

The stitching for the strawberry is complete. I just have to cut it out and make the strawberry.

All the felt for the top of the strawberry is included.

This is an infusion day. Not much will get done. I might as well just relax and not sweat it. Just don't let me buy anything on the internet!

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