Ringing in the New Year with some stitching.....

Wishing everyone an early HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  

As I posted earlier, Santa brought me a new sewing machine!   I decided on the quilt I want to make, and purchased the last of the necessary supplies yesterday.   I have a bunch of beautiful fabric given to me from my husband's family...when his mother passed.  She was a beautiful quilter and I was honored to have her stash given to me.  I've wanted to create something in her honor since receiving the stash, so I made some memory quilt hangings for all of the brothers and sisters...but now I'm going to make something bigger.
Here's a picture of my starting supplies:

 I'm excited to use my new machine!  Here's hoping it doesn't take me long to figure out all the bells and whistles!

I've been getting things prepared for January...so I started gridding out my HAED Freebie SAL - SK Blue Moon

She'll be worked on 18 count aida in the color "bisque"....it's sort of a light pink-taupe color.   Found the fabric on ebay for 2 bucks and the size fit perfectly!!  The SKs (story keeps) are meant to be book marks when done on the smaller count fabric, but since I'm working it on the larger 18 count, it's going to be very long and not very wide....so I had to find the right fabric to work it on.
The first page for this SAL (stitch a long) should arrive around January 6th, so I finished getting all my thread pre-cut and now I just need to finish gridding and I'm ready to go!!

Cathedral has begun!  :)  This is going to be my largest project ever and I finally starting some stitches.

The lighting is really bad....sorry about that.   This is the first half of the first page...out of 42 (Yes...FORTY TWO) pages!  

I'm so excited for 2012!  I have a ton of projects on the list in my head...that consist of cross stitching, sewing and crochet/knitting.   What projects do all of you have on your 2012 list to do?   I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone accomplishes in the new year!!   


-lesli

She's Done!

I completed Angel of Hope just before Christmas....though I've held off in giving her as a gift until I finish Coral, so I can give them at the same time.

Isn't she purty?  :)

Other than her finish, I haven't done any other stitching over the holidays.  I did spend a good chunk of time yesterday cleaning up my floss disaster (I had 2-3 pieces I finished but never put the floss away).  I like to stitch with my floss pre-cut and layed out for me, instead of pulling the floss from the floss cards.  This way I can travel or sit in different places without having to lug around those plastic bins with all my floss cards in them.  Here's a picture of my accomplished clean up:

I may have to buy a 4th bin, as it's starting to get tight in there!

Let's see...what else did I accomplish..... oh yes, I finally finished gridding up the first vertical section and first horizontal section of Cathedral.  I can't decide if I should finish gridding up the entire piece or just start doing some stitching!!   I also spent some time and got all the floss sorted and pre-cut, so everything is ready to go!

Sooooo...what did Santa bring everyone!?    Santa brought me a brand new sewing machine!!  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!  I already have some grand plans in my mind on what I want to create!!   How will I ever accomplish all my stitchy goals AND my new sewing goals in one year?   Here's a picture of my new baby:

Let's see....I also got some gift cards to Joann's (can never go wrong with gift cards!) and daddy helped Kella get me a new HAED chart that I'd been vying for:  A Princess is Born   She's definitely getting added to my 2012 WIPocalypse list, which I'll need to shorten due to adding some sewing projects into my goals.

I survived the main holiday without gaining too many pounds....I'm back on track on my diet and I'm excited to kick off the new year with my weight-loss goals.   What New Year resolutions is everyone making?  Besides the diet goals, I'm resolving to clean up my old craft projects and get them done (to make room for new ones!).  I have so much yarn that I definitely need to knit or crochet something!!   Cleaning up my crafty stashes will probably mean some giveaways....I have so much stuff!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and that Santa spoiled each and every one of you!!


-lesli

A quick update...before the Holiday is here!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Yes, I had some grand plans to complete 2 of my WIPs before Christmas.....alas, I'm not even close.  But, I'm not going to dwell on it...instead I'm going to change the course of my plans :)   Stressing about deadlines won't help me enjoy the holiday spirit, so I've extended my goals to ...whenever! 

All of that being said, I did make some progress on my Angel of Hope:

The white frilly section of her dress is on its way to being complete, then I'll have just a bit more of dark blue colors and I'm done. 

This past week I spent on business in Charlotte, NC...with plans to stitch in the hotel in the evenings.  Yeah right, Lesli!   Let's just say, the needle never saw the light of day.  I did have a wonderful time with friends from work that I rarely get to see in person.  Definitely worth giving up some stitch time for!

**Diet update**  I was so worried that the fun I had in NC would ruin the diet plan I'm on, but to my surprise, I came home and actually lost 3 pounds that week!!  I'm now down 22 pounds and LOVING it!! 

After returning home, I took my kiddos to do some pottery painting.  We have this cute little pottery store that allows you choose the item you want to paint and they supply all the paint, brushes and fun items for you to use.  When you're done painting, they fire it in their kiln in the next few days and you pick up your item in about a week or so.   Here's some pictures of my babies working hard on their pottery:


Ok, though not a baby anymore....this is my youngest, Kella



And this is my oldest baby, Sebastian

Sebastian painted a cute little Santa mug and Kella painted a little cup for her "choc milk", as she put it.


My weekend was spent making some blankets for Kella's daycare teachers.  I've done this the past 2 years for her teachers (she moves to a new class each year) and everyone has loved them, so this is starting to become a tradition!   Here's a picture of the finished products:

I used 2 yards of fleece fabric, one with a pattern and one as a solid color and I crochet the two pieces together and crochet a cute little border on them.  I think they turn out pretty nice and they make a great, home-made gift.

I've also spent a little time catching up on everyone's blogs, but I know I didn't get to everyone.  But, I have some vacation from working coming up in a few days, and I'm off the rest of the year, so I'll have plenty of time to catch up then!!

Most likely, I won't post again until after the Christmas Holiday so I'd like to take a quick moment to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas.  Hoping everyone has plans to spend with friends and family while relaxing and enjoying the Christmas spirit!! 


-lesli

Time is flying by!!

It's almost mid-month....I can't believe it!!   All my cross stitching plans for this month seem to be falling apart.

I intended to complete my Angel of Hope and Coral pieces as Christmas gifts.  At this point, I'll be terribly lucky to finish just one of them!  BUT....I'm not giving up hope just yet!!!  :)

Here's a quick update on what I've accomplished with my Angel:

I have most of the blue portion of her dress complete...so it's mainly just the white lacy part left to do!!

Coral hasn't budged since my last update :(    My plan is to focus on that piece all next week.  I have to go out of town for work, which hopefully means some downtime in my hotel room in the evenings.....perfect for stitching!

Lesson learned - Don't make grand stitching plans during the holidays!!

Speaking of stitching plans....I created a page dedicated to my 2012 WIPocalypse plans.   I'll probably end up adding/deleting what I have there.....mostly deleting!   There's so many pieces I didn't put on there that I want to finish too!!   Never enough time!!

With so little stitching done on my part...what in the world have I been doing!?   With  having to go out of town next week, I wanted to get all of my Christmas gifts wrapped and shipped off to out of state friends and family.  I even have all my non-shipping gifts wrapped and ready also!!

We also trimmed the Christmas tree.....here's a picture of some snowflakes I worked on with my son:

Star Wars snowflakes!  :)    Ok...my yoda snowflake looks a little off, but you get the idea, right?

 
I hope all my fellow stitchy bloggers are doing well and enjoying this last month of the year!! 


-lesli

Drumroll please!! ...... and the Winners are..........

Now before I go announcing the winners.......it looks like I hit 95 followers sometime yesterday!!    If I hit it after midnight, oh well...I'm counting it!    :)   
(sidenote:  something is up with my follower gadget, it only shows me 9 followers!!  but my google account tells me 95, so I'm going by that!  darn follower gadget!!)

So before I announce the winners, here's a full list of the prizes (including the additional item for hitting 95 followers):

Drawing #1

Lavender & Lace; Angelica pattern

1 of my favorite floss threaders, from Dovestitch.com

Wichelt-Permin 16 ct Aida

Anchor #8 Perle Cotton floss in Nutmeg and Spice colors

Lizzie Kate Flip-it: Caring

Weeks Dye Works hand over dyed floss in Peach and Lagoon

Betty Friess Baumer chart - Williamsburg Garden Dance

Cute holiday card, in time for the holiday!

3 skeins DMC cotton floss- winners choice of colors!

Lovely Santa chart from Stoney Creek

And the new item is:

Package of Mill Hill assorted glass seed beads

Drawing #2:

Lavender & Lace, Fairy Dreams

22 count fabric in rust - 12"x12"

Celestial Chart by Janlynn

DMC Cotton Perle floss - colors 3041 and 762 (a med purple and a silvery color)

And the new item is:

Package of Mill Hill assorted glass seed beads

Now for the winners!!

I had a total of 93 entries.....and I used Mr. Random Number Generator........

Winner for Drawing #1

24 Lesleyanne at http://lesleyanneslifeinstitches.blogspot.com/


And the Winner for Drawing #2 is:

86 Mel at http://epicstitching.blogspot.com/



I'm SO excited for all the new friends I've made through this giveaway!   I'm looking forward to putting another one together soon!.  But for now.....my time is going to some stitching!!


THANK YOU to everyone that participated!!


-lesli