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My Needle's Song – Neulani laulu

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December??? Already???

My Needle's Song - Neulani laulu

Yeah, time really flies, I know. It has been a very very busy year here, but it is winding down nicely. Time is always my enemy. I think part of that is due to the nature of cross stitching. No matter how fast you stitch, most pieces end up taking 20 to 40 stitching hours (for the quilt squares I do so many of). Little FlakesEven a Christmas ornament can take 4 to 8 hours to stitch, back stitch, and finish.

Speaking of Christmas ornaments, one of the groups published pictures of the completed ornaments I sent them. Every year, they put out the call for ornaments to be stitched to benefit no-kill animal shelters. One of the members finishes them all into some of the cutest pillow-style ornaments around. These are then auctioned off and the funds donated. 2016 OrnamentsThis year, I went with Carolyn Manning’s Lil Flakes and Precious Moments Minis. I wanted something that would sell at a good price to do as much good as possible. The pictures to the left are my stitched fronts and the backs are shown on the right side. Kinda neat, eh? There were 62 of these very unique ornaments created this year.

As I was working on these, one of the sweetest, kindest, most giving icons of the Cross Stitch world put out a cry for help. In September, Louisiana was hit by severe flooding. One elementary school had everything destroyed by the waters on just their second day of school. Children are always hit so hard by these losses. Pat Carson knows she can’t fix everything, but picked out this one group to help. She has done several auctions on her Facebook group. Then she thought about doing Christmas ornaments to help replace what these families lost. It doesn’t seem like much, but she has collected over 400 already, and sent them on to the school.

2016 Winter Scene

I packed up all of the ornaments I had here and sent them on. I will start fresh on new ones for the shop and the pet shelter project in January.

I did get time to do some personal stitching too. This 6×6 piece has already been presented to my mother-in-law. It’s not really a Christmas piece, but part of a series of winter scenes. I have two more to do for my husband’s aunts, and then I get to do some for us. This is actually the design for 2007, but I changed the year to reflect the year I gave it to them.

Personal ornament

I also took the time to make an ornament just for us. Every year, I say I am going to do this one just for us and then I get too busy to ever get around to it. This time, I did it first. I love the way the little lady stands on her tiptoes. I did get others done for the family as well. But, like all stitchers, I never ever get enough done it seems. I did update the various galleries with the most recent finishes.

For me, it isn’t too early to begin thinking about next year. I got a bit lax on my charity stitching schedule and pitched in to help finish the squares for 2 quilts at the last moment. I always say it will be different next year, and it will be this time. I am going to be firm on the 3 days a week for my main charity. My husband and I will also be house hunting and hopefully moving late next summer.

So, now you know why there have been no new goodies for the shops! You should start seeing new items pretty quick as my queue is again reasonable AND I have days set aside to stitch again!!

Until the next time… from our house here in chilly Finland to yours wherever you are, may you have a warm and happy holiday season!

Posted in Shop News | Tagged Canada Stitches, Christmas ornaments

Finishes and New Beginnings

My Needle's Song - Neulani laulu

Silence is almost always a good thing around here. It means I have taken the time away from the computer to stitch.  SpidermanI’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. neavahdoneThis 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.

 

Christmas Ornaments 2016

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.

Christmas Ornaments 2016

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.

Flower Heart

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.

Butterfly Heart

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!

 

Posted in Charities, Orts | Tagged Canada Stitches, Christmas ornaments

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