Good-bye 2011.......

Yes I'm ready to say good-bye to 2011....it was a year of hardship or sadness for many of my friends and family it seems and I'm not too sad to say "so long".  Here's hoping 2012 brings good things to everyone!

I hope you all got some crafty goodness for Christmas.   I put some items on a wish list at 123 Stitch and DH went and bought ALL of it!  I got "Joyeux Noel" from Blackbird Designs which has been on my list for a long time, and lots of those Mill Hill kits.  I now have more than a dozen of these from the village and winter series.  I don't plan on stitching them on the perforated paper, I will use linen instead but need to get a plan together.  I would like to do a Christmas "neighborhood" with some of them at least. 

Christmas Stash

I was too lazy to find all of my photos to do a year in review of all my finished projects, but I'm happy with what I accomplished.  I have worked hard over the past 2-3 years to get my quilting projects under control.  At one time I had over 25 projects going (!)  and I'm happy to say I'm down to just 2 now which are quite old.  I'm not starting any new ones until those are done!    I got a fair amount of stitching done this year too although not as much as I'd like of course.  Since I've had some vacation time over the holidays I squeezed in 3 more finishes for this year.

I got Tanya's "Jingle" pillow stitched and finished the week before Christmas - this was fun to do. Since I used a red thread instead of the rusty shade called for I painted my bell to match.  I'm glad I got it done to display for Christmas!

"Jingle All the Way" by The Scarlett House

stitched on WDW Scuppernong linen

Next up is a little Just Nan kit has been lying around a few years and I finally got it done to sit in my sewing room.   It took longer than I thought it would to stitch because it's sort of 'confetti' stitching with lots of different colors.    I have no idea what I'll do with this but I'm enjoying having it done just the same!

Just Nan "Sizzle" tin

stitched on Morning Mist Cashel linen with DMC

I had so many expectations of getting a lot of ornaments done this year but sadly it didn't happen.  As part of my plan to do better in 2012 I got this one done in the last 2 days.  It was a freebie pattern from Midsummer Night Designs a couple of years ago.  I still struggle with sewing on cording to pillow-style ornaments - maybe I'll get better if I do more ornies this year!

What's up for 2012........

I've joined Measi's 2012 WIPocolypse and will be keeping track of my progress on a separate blog tab I've set up for that.  I have 6 or 7 big WIPs I'd like to make some progress on and maybe get one or two finishes!  I'm not making any special list of projects to stitch this year...I'm going to do whatever I feel like doing and try not to stress about how much others are getting done!  (I tend to do that to myself).  I have enough stress with my job and other aspects of my life and don't need to make goals I realistically can't keep for myself.

I do have 3 or 4 samplers I kitted up last year I'll probably start at some point - Jenny Bean Humble Servant Sampler, Jenny Bean Halloween Sampler, The Garden Glade by Carriage House Samplings, and Halloween Rules by Lizzie-Kate.    I did some organizing in one of my stash cabinets a bit this past week.    Most of my patterns I keep in hanging folders in a file cabinet but I have a couple plastic bins filled with kits and other "miscellany".  I really want to focus on getting some of these done!  Some things have been waiting years and years to get stitched - pincushion kits, tins (LOTS of tins!), hornbooks, fob kits,  etc.    It's so overwhelming!

I also am going to try to limit my stash buying this year and focus on working from what I have plus forging ahead with more framing.  I am down to about 6 or 7 pieces still waiting to be framed.   I don't know about the rest of you but I have a big pile of stitched & framed pieces in one of my closets - things that aren't on display all the time such as Christmas or Easter pieces. I want to make some padded bags to store them in - I figure it will be a good way to use up some of the fabric in my quilting stash!

Like so many others, both the husband and I have been ill this week. We had to cancel out on a birthday party Friday and cancel New Year's Eve plans tonite with friends.   Luckily our doctor's office had urgent care hours this morning so we both went and are now armed with antibiotics and assorted other prescriptions.  Our dogs alternate between visiting me in our bedroom and the husband who's camped out in the guest room.    Hoping the meds kick in soon as we both need to be ready to go back to work next week.  This is the second time for me this month and I am sick of being sick!

I wish all of you a great 2012 with good health, good fortune, and time to work on lots of great projects!