Happy New Year

First off, Happy New Year! 

A big tradition of the new year is to create a resolution or two.  I'd rather like to think of these resolutions as goals.  Something to work towards, regardless of the ups and downs.  This year, I have more than my share of goals.  The first is to complete half of my WIPs (work in progress).  Here is what I have going at the moment.

Melissa Shirley Christmas Stocking / Stitch Guide by Terry Christopher

My biggest must do is to finish my daughter's stocking.  I've made a little more progress since this photo was taken, and now I need to focus on getting this canvas done.

Kelly Clark's Joseph / Stitch Guide by Amy Bunger

Next on my list of must finishes is Joseph.  Once he is done, I'll have the Holy Family completed and then can start on the wise men (in other words create more WIPs).

Melissa Shirley Bunny / Stitch Guide by Terry Christopher

Remember this canvas?  When I became stuck on the ribbon flowers, I set it aside.  I think it's about time that I finish this, and get it to the finisher before the Easter deadline.

Kelly Clark Mini Sock

This Kelly Clark mini sock has been my waiting room canvas.  It's small enough to tuck into a bag and get a few stitches in while waiting for an appointment.  I think it has all of an hour of stitching left.

Melissa Shirley's Blue Bird Cage / Stitch Guide by Laura Taylor

I love this Melissa Shirley canvas.  It is so pretty and has been a joy to stitch.  I still have tons of work, but it's high on my list for a 2015 finish.

Melissa Shirley's Noel / Stitch Guide by Beverly Churchfield

I debated as to whether or not I should commit to finishing this Noel canvas this year, but I think I can do it.  It's on 13 mesh, so it should stitch up fast.

Anniversary X-Stitch Pattern by Stoney Creek

This is the last of my must finishes for 2015.  I started making this in September of 2013.  Then with the move to Los Angeles and other unforeseen problems, I had to set it aside.  I've already shown it to my parents, and they have set aside a place in their home to hang it.  I should have this completed by the end of January.

The following canvases are other WIPs that I hope to work on, but know that there is a slim to none chance of finishing by this time next year.

Ashley Dillon's Christmas Parade / Stitch Guide by Terry Christopher

Melissa Shirley's Circus Horse / Partial Stitch Guide by Beverly Churchfield

Brenda Stofft Nativity / Stitch Guide by Colleen Church

Genny Morrow's Falling Leaves

Melissa Shirley's Fall Acorn / Stitch guide by Paula Fehleison

Besides completing lots of stitching, my other goal for 2015 is to work on my blogging.  I know I've been a miserable blogger this year.  The reason is quite simple: I haven't been stitching.   Nothing stitched means nothing posted. 

The reason for my lack of stitching has been my back.  Now I know there are millions of people with back pain who function just fine.  They take an Aleve if their back acts up, and they get on with their day. That's how I was for over 20 years.  Then about four years ago, I went from occasional pain to not being able to walk in a week's time.  It took me two years to get back to a functional level.  Although I couldn't work any longer, I still was able to spend time with my family and of course stitch.

Then we had the move to Los Angeles.  Although I was extra careful, my back problems grew worse.  I couldn't sit for more than 30 minutes without being in a considerable amount of pain.  Of course there are medications to help with this, but they have their side effects.  For me, they made me really loopy.  It was difficult to concentrate, read, and I couldn't drive.  So I finally decided to have one last surgery (hopefully) to fuse some of my vertebrae together in the hope that I could return to a somewhat normal life.

I'm now six weeks post surgery and optimistic that my health will improve.  It's still difficult to sit, but I'm making progress.  I've been trying to stitch, even if it means just putting in one thread.  Hopefully my life will return back to normal and I'll have lots of stitching to share with you.  In the mean time, please be patient with me and know that I haven't given up on this blog.

So enough with all this personal sappy stuff.

I wish you all a 2015 filled with joy and hopefully lots of stitching!

My Crazy Life

I can't believe it's been seven months since my last post.  I wish I could write that I've been too busy stitching to keep up with this blog.  But the truth is, I've barely picked up a needle this entire time.  When I last left you, I was in the middle of an entire home remodel.  We're talking down to the studs remodeling.  Now, I know that remodeling projects are supposed to be crazy and that they say it can test the best of marriages, but I certainly wasn't expecting what was heading my way.  About a week after my last post, my husband came home and said, "I've got great news, I got a promotion!  Oh, and we have to move to Los Angeles."  Ughhhhh! 

So for the last seven months I've remodeled a house, shopped and purchased a new house, found renters for my old house, bought a car for my son who had his car totaled in a car accident by an uninsured motorist, (It wasn't his fault, and yes, he is okay), nursed my 19 year old daughter back to health after back surgery (She is doing fine.)  Then my back decided to flare up, so I had a couple of epidurals.  Feeling left out my right shoulder decided to go out too.  Two cortisone shots and surgery two weeks after moving, I am now on the mend.  In case you are wondering, I'm right handed so I couldn't even stitch while I was recuperating. And there is more, but I think you get the idea.

So now that things have begun to settle down, I'm starting to needlepoint.  I haven't been able to devote lots of time to stitching, but I'm back to trying to get in an hour a day.  Here is what I've been working on...

  

Kelly Clark Nativity
Amy Bunger Stitch Guide

I know it's not much, but it's a start.  Soon I will have more to share with you.

Happy Stitching!

Remodeling and Needlepoint Don't Mix

On New Year's Eve, I made a resolution that I would stitch a minimum of one hour per day.  For the most part, I've stuck to it.  That is until mid August.  That's when we started to remodel our house.  Since then, my needlepoint has fallen to the wayside.

Our home has been graced with the architecture of the 1980's.  In my opinion, the 80"s were a scary decade: fashion, hairstyles and yes architecture.  For instance, the bathtub in the master bath is situated right in the middle of the room.  This was done to accommodate a planter!  Yep, you read that correctly, a planter so one could do some gardening as they relaxed in the tub. Hmmmm...makes me wonder who thought that one up....

Hopefully the bathroom will be completed soon and life will return back to normal.  In the mean time, I decided to work a canvas from the Kelly Clark nativity series.  This was part of a club that I signed up for through Amy's Golden Strand in Memphis, Tennessee.  Each canvas comes with a fabulous stitch guide written by Amy Bunger.  Amy's stitch guides are thoughtfully written and challenging.  I always learn something new when using them.

Here is my progress on Joseph after working on him off and on this past week.

The bottom border and background are the same on all the canvases.  Since I've already competed Jesus and Mary, this stitching has been easy.  I took the time to count out the trellis design to make sure that Joseph is centered in the design.  To help with the counting, I used a blue pen to continue the design on the canvas selvage.  This is a quilter's pen which will disappear when you brush with cold water.  I haven't had any problems with these pens, but I've heard from other stitchers that the blue lines can come back.  To be safe, I only use these pens on the canvas salvage.

You might also notice, that Joseph's facial features have been painted out.  Amy provides a detailed chart in each stitch guide that maps out the face.  Sometimes the chart doesn't match up what has been painted on the canvas.  At first, I thought I could stitch over the painted image, but the dark colors were showing through and creating weird shadows.  For me, it was just easier to paint out the face with good quality acrylic paint.

Here is a closeup of the border. I just love the way it turned out.

Happy Stitching!