Okay, now I know what day it is on Slow Stitching Sunday...

Hello all... have the last two weeks got you  mixed up as to what day of the week it is? It has done that to me... thank goodness my phone tells me the correct day... Wednesday seemed like Monday. so when Friday rolled around it didn't seem like it could be Friday yet... but it was... but today, today I know it is SUNDAY... back on track!!

We've had some beautiful weather ... 50 and sunny... for January in Ohio???   I believe Mother Nature is more mixed up than I am ... she's not sure what time of the year it is...but I am soooo okay with that. I've sat out in the sunroom several days... and each time I took my stitching out there on the porch and each time I just ended up napping... not complaining ... it was lovely... but I haven't accomplished as much as I wanted to... but then that is true of every week ... nothing new there...

I did put the last stitches into February for Hands On Design A Year of Celebration...

these are so much fun to stitch... can't wait to start March... I do think I'll be able to get each month done before the month starts and I can use them as my monthly intro post on IG.... cross your fingers that I can keep it up.

Stitching on My Christmas List was very lackluster... I usually work on this one as I wait for an hour for my son's therapy appointment...but it got cancelled... so I just did a little on it last Sunday... and there isn't a noticeable difference so we will wait on an update pic.

And then this shiny squirrel snowman caught my attention... All Bundled Up by With Thy Needle & Thread...

I painted some 32 ct linen with Apple Green Rit Dye... and when it was dry I decided I liked the back side better than the side I had painted... it was a bit lighter and more mottled... here's my progress so far...

Started this Jan 1... have the hat done (had to stitch it twice as I miscounted and was off by 6 stitches...you can't fudge 6 stitches)... outlined his BIG noggin... stitched his large scarf and have almost all the leaves outlined... still need to get the cardinal in and the flowers and his face and then there will be a lot of mindless fill in stitching... I'm good with that.

I changed all of the flosses on this one. I pulled the overdyeds and just wasn't impressed with the  depth of color on the skeins I had. I went with DMC for all of the colors except for the white of the snowman... for him I'm using Pineapple Sherbet by Gentle Arts... a snowman made of ice cream... how can that be wrong???  I do wish I had substituted Anchor for the hat... I seem to get better coverage with the darker Anchors on 32 ct but like I said I've already stitched the hat twice ...not gonna happen again.


I got all my Christmas decor inside and out, taken down and put away....YEAH!!!  And the BIGGEST accomplishment of my week is this...

what is it you ask?  It is my entirely decorated Christmas tree, wrapped in an old tablecloth sitting in my basement storage room. My younger son carried it down for me and this will save me so many many hours of decorating time now and in the future. My sainted Grandma use to do the same thing... for years she would wrap up her tree in a white sheet  (it may have been a bit smaller than this 4.5 ft one) and take it up to her attic after the holidays were over...then the next year she'd bring it back down and take off the sheet... plug it in and she was good to go... this may make me official OLD but I don't care... I think it is one of the best time savers I've ever done!!

So now I'm working on getting out the snowmen... I only have bits and pieces done as my display shelves are presenting a problem for my cross stitch pieces... this new unit that I got last March is wider and has an additional shelf...more room for decorating... but the shelves aren't as tall as the older unit and 2 of my 3 major winter pieces are too tall for the shelves...ugh.... I'm redo-ing the one I put together last year... but the one that was professionally framed will have to find a new home. I keep telling myself that I need to stitch more small pieces as they are easier to find spots for... but I don't listen to me which is evidenced by the fact that I'm stitching All Bundled Up ... it will finish almost 8" x 12"...NOT small.

I did FFO this Prairie Schooler Winter piece...by the time I finished stitching this last year winter was pretty much over. The fabric is a 16 ct Aida I painted with Rit dyes... I tried to get a darker greenish cast to the path area... not as successful as I had hoped but done it done...and done is GOOD!!

I've been looking at the pieces Priscilla whips out and realize that she does mostly smaller charts... which doesn't fully account for her lightening stitching speed but it may have a bearing on the matter. I'm going to take some time and go through my stash and pick out some smaller pieces. I have a couple of Prairie Schooler snowman charts and there may be some Lizzie Kate...my new mantra should be "think small"... LOL... doesn't sound motivating, does it?  OMG... I just checked this wrap up post of Priscilla's ... you can read it here... she FINISHED 82 pieces of cross stitch and 2 punch needle pieces last year... she amazes me and depresses me all the same time... LOL

Did you see that I actually posted on Monday last week?  I'm having fun and making a huge mess in my sewing room with the Moda String A Long ... I've got two more blocks together and will show them tomorrow... but I should be working on a baby quilt for my soon to arrive grandchild. There is a baby shower for my daughter in law beginning of February. I found the fabrics I purchased years ago for a special little someone but I have had a devil of a time making my mind up as to what pattern I want to sew... I've changed my mind at least 6 times and that is so NOT like me...usually I decide very quickly what pattern I want to do ... this dithering is driving me nuts... and I have no one but me to blame it on... I want the quilt to be "special" ... and interesting... but not too labor intensive ...and I want it to show off the prints  and not be gender specific... the fabrics are primary colors so I think I'm okay in that category. I need to cut the fabrics ... that will seal the deal and get this ball rolling. I want to send it off to be quilted so I need to get my butt in gear.


I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... it is a quiet Sunday... not doing dinner tonight with the kids...now we do dinner on the first and third Mondays as it works well with my son's jobs. I think I'll go out to lunch with my younger son and return some of the plastic bins I purchased to Target... didn't need as many as I thought...

Hope you have a great week ahead... the Dude and I are going to enjoy the lovely weather while it lasts...which probably won't be much longer... I know this Mother Nature will also figure out what day/season it is and give us the "proper" temperatures for January.

happy stitching-
carol fun