Silence is almost always a good thing around here. It means I have taken the time away from the computer to stitch.  I’ve been working hard the last few weeks to get things done. since we chatted last I have finished the Spiderman and sent him on his way to Canada. He will be turned into a pillow for a very special young man.

I also finished a piece for another group. This is an anniversary stitch along, and each stitcher gets to put their own spin on the design by picking out the colors. These are usually fun stitches. Mine also got to take a trip to Stockholm as my husband and I took a lovely overnight cruise. I never ever go anywhere without my stitching! It’s like my pacifier. Even if I don’t stitch I still have it with me. If we are stuck waiting someplace, I can just take it out of my bag and stitch. Very comforting at times.

Also finished this week were my Christmas ornaments that go to that same group. Every year in July they post this event and collect a pretty good number of ornaments. These are turned into Christmas ornaments and then auctioned off to raise funds for no-kill animal shelters. These ornaments are always fun to do, and nice quick projects.

Even the more complex Precious Moments ones took a maximum of 2 days. I know these will help the shelters a lot. The auction usually happens on Facebook, and I will post a link to it once it starts, usually in late October.

One thing that has helped is a Facebook group that has grown like crazy the last 6 months. They are always holding events to help us get our stitching done. Somehow, when everyone is stitching like crazy, the combined energy seem to find its way to our individual needles and we all get more done.

In between all of this excitement, I managed to stitch 2 squares for Canada Stitches. The first one is the same flower heart I used for my mother-in-law’s 70th birthday, but with a yellow rose for healing. This one wasn’t bad. Stitched on Aida, it took me less than 2 weeks, and includes backstitching every leaf and petal.

This second one was done as an stand-by square. Hearts are always in need, and designs like this can be used for so many of the request quilts. This was another very fast stitch done using a free chart found out there on the ‘net. I used the Azalea blend of DMC’s Color Variations, but did the butterfly itself in a matching purple. It will be interesting to see where it ends up.

And there you have it. All caught up on the finishes. For the new beginnings, I really can’t show you much yet because it is a gift for my mother and secondly, I haven’t taken a stitch yet. New beginnings also includes an upcoming restart on the website for Canada Stitches and a couple of others. I think with some care and planning I can do my charity stitching *AND* my personal stitching. I just need balance. I can do my websites and stitch – I just have to pace myself. My stitching queue is again full, with 4 more pieces holding, several in the thinking about doing phase. I am taking a few days to catch things up for the shops and get some personal stitching done. I’m going back to dividing my time – 4 days for me and my shops and 3 days for charity. That is still almost almost half of my time devoted to them. It should also help me keep my promise to my husband of no more than 2 charity squares per month. Let’s see how long this lasts…

Until next time, Happy Stitching!