A couple small finishes.........

Well so far I got 2 of  my January goals done.   Where is the month going so fast?  I still need to finish up Lizzie-Kate's "Dog Lessons" before the end of the month.  Maybe I should go back to pulling "all-nighters" like I was famous for back in college LOL.

This is my Quaker Hornbook which I purchased about 4 years ago with a group on the Legacy bulletin board.  This pattern is only available when you have a group order of 10 or more so that's why we did it that way and we purchased the wooden hornbooks as well.   I have no excuse for why it sat in my stash this long but finally here it is!   I'm going to get some of my smalls done this year no matter what, somehow, someway.

"Quaker Hornbook" by With My Needle Designs

stitched 1-over-1 on 32-ct linen with silk threads

 

I also finished my first ornament of the year this week as part of my goal to stitch one per month at least.  There are so many ornaments I want to stitch!  I did a few Prairie Schoolers and some from magazines back in the late 80's/early 90's but then I wasn't too interested in them for a long time.  Over the past couple years I've fallen in love with so many of your wonderful ornaments posted on your blogs that I now have a long list to do!  I joined the LHN ornament blog and will try to slip in one of those maybe every other ornament. 

This is "Winter Joy" from Little by Little Designs. It was in the 2006 JCS ornament issue.   I'm going back through my issues and pulling favorites out.

Not too much else going on here in Willowtree Land.....I signed up for a quilting retreat the end of February and am already looking forward to it. I plan to spend half of my time quilting and the other half stitching.   We can work on whatever we want at the retreats  - there are no classes or planned projects - so it will be a good mix.     Yesterday hubby and I  booked a trip to Hawaii in April  - it's been a long time since we took a 'big' vacation - it sure will be wonderful to get away and see the ocean (you get a little water-crazed here in the desert).   Does anyone else get frustrated trying to read through those reviews on TripAdvisor??  You don't know what to think  - one person writes a glowing review then the next person trashes the place.   I'm having information overload!

Thanks to all the kind readers for their comments on my projects and especially the American Sampler.  I am going to give it my undivided attention for a bit the beginning of February and see I can make some more progress.   I am continually amazed at how some of you crank out huge projects so quickly!  Do you have the Keebler Elves helping you while you're sleeping?

January WIPocolypse progress

Well I brushed off the cobwebs from my American Sampler and worked on it this week a bit.  Sadly, it hasn't been out of its project bag in a few years! It's overwhelming me a bit to see how much there is to do but I will keep plugging away at it.   I got most of the lavender flower on the right border done and started the tree in the middle.  Those border flowers take forever - this one is not even done yet but it has well over 100 queen stitches in it so far - I worked on the tree in the center of the sampler just to get a break from queen stitching - they get a little tiresome especially when stitching at night.  

I only picked 6 of my projects to be part of the WIPocolypse project - old UFO's that have been years in the works.  Only worked on the one this month so far but hope to maybe get another out later in January.   Other projects I worked on this month below are recent starts but I made some progress on them too.   Hoping to get most of them done this month so I can do some more new starts in February!

This is Blackbird Designs' Home of the Brave.  I'm not enjoying this one very much....like the pattern but having a tough time for some reason with the 40-ct stitching even though it's over-2 threads.  I'll be glad to put this one behind me but I'm only about halfway.

I bought the supplies for a lovely hornbook years ago and finally got working on it this month - this is Quaker Hornbook by With My Needle. It's a shame I let this sit in my stash so long!  I have a row of numbers to do under the alphabet and then can work on the little Quaker motifs which will be more fun.  This is being stitched over-1 on 32-ct linen and it's giving me less trouble than Home of the Brave for some reason  - go figure!

Lastly I'm still working on Lizzie Kate's Dog Rules for People that I started the end of December. This is a gift for our nephew so I'd like to get it to the framer by February.  It's a quick stitch for the most part, just juggling it while I work on all the other projects. 

I joined up to the 2012 Year of Smalls blog that Laura is running and looking forward to starting the February project as soon as they announce it and I get it ordered.    I picked out an ornament to get started on too as I want to do one per month this year. 

Being back at work after the holidays is such a drag!  All I want to do is sit home and stitch!   I'm loving seeing all the new starts and what everyone is working on.  I did some January organizing in my sewing room this past weekend, I always seem to be needing more room so was shifting things around and sorting out a few things for a craft yard sale later this year.