Last day of 2023

2023 was a productive year for stitching! 

I stitched 16 different items in total this year. 

• 12 monthly flowers which I assembled into a wall hanging
• baby poem which I framed
• 3 Gingerbread mice - which still need to be assembled
• 2 snowman ornaments which I did assemble and gave as gifts for Christmas

Unfortunately I lost my stitching mojo sometime in August or September and still haven't really found it.

I did buy myself a new DMC colour chart with real thread. I'm hoping this will spark my stitching passion again in 2024.

December - FFG

 

Thank you Rachel at the Ten Hour Stitcher for hosting this SAL.

I stitched these 2 snowmen ornaments months ago. I fully finished them last month. The one on the left (pink & blue scarf) was mailed this week in a Christmas card to a video game friend in OHIO. I wanted an ornament that was flat to mail. The one on the right will go to my son Jordyn and daughter-in-law Sarah. I have given them an ornament every year since they met in 2014.

Lighthouse #1

 I started the first lighthouse on Saturday, August 25. It is called Home on the Point and was printed in the June 2001 issue of Just Cross Stitch. 

 

Here is my progress from the weekend.

Snowmen Christmas ornaments

 I was finally able to finish the Handprints - Woodland Animals project with baby info. Henry was born on August 17 (only 3 days late). Here is a photo to see how the fabric will look with it the wood frame.  I still need to frame it properly, this was just to check the colour. The love how the frame matches the colours of the raccoon.

In the meantime, I have stitched 2 snowman ornaments.  I have stitched this pattern in the past. I will mail one to a friend in OHIO (keep the 2nd one for a backup sometime), that is why I decided on this design because the ornament is flatter than most. You layer the 3 snowballs on top of each other. 

I’ll try and build them for next months FFG along with assembling 5 mice.

Here is the link to the last time I stitched this snowman.  https://colourfulcrossstitches.blogspot.com/2016/09/snowman-ornament-happy-dance.html

I have been going through some of my old cross stitch magazines looking for some new projects.  Here are 5 I have chosen. 2 lighthouses for our ensuite bathroom and 3 garden scenes will go somewhere else in our house.

Lighthouses - Just Cross Stitch June 2001. I will be using 28ct Jobelan Bablingbrook (leftover fabric from Snowman Wisdom shown below). 

Lighthouse - At Home on the Point (5x7)
Lighthouse - Rounding the Point (5x7)

In the Garden - Cross Stitch & Country Craft magazines (1988). I will use 28ct white evenweave for all 3 garden scenes.

Colonial Garden (7 1/2 x 5)

Victorian Garden (7 1/2 x 5)

Country Garden (7 1/2 x 5)

These should keep me busy for the rest of 2023 and early 2024.

Harry Potter - Stitch Your Own Adventure - Letters From Hogwarts

I just found out that the files for the Letters From Hogwarts will be removed from Cunning Cross Stitch on August 31, 2023. Incase anyone would like to still stitch this project.

Stewart will be releasing a new stitch your own adventure on September 1, 2023.  I'm excited to see what he has come up with this time.

Just Nan - 1 more mouse

 I finished stitching the gingerbread reindeer mouse this afternoon. 

I didn’t add whiskers to the reindeer mouse.  After showing my daughter-in-law Sarah, the Santa and Mrs. Santa mice, she noticed I used black instead of white floss for the whiskers. I always make black whiskers, I wasn’t thinking about Santa’s white beard would have white whiskers.

So, I removed the black whiskers for now. I will add white ones when I assemble the 3 of  them.

Just Nan - 2 more mice

 I thought 3 mice would be a fast stitch. I completed Gingerbread Santa Mouse last week, but too lazy to update my blog.

I just completed Gingerbread Mrs. Santa Mouse this afternoon.

Next I will start Gingerbread Reindeer Mouse.