Year end thoughts

December is almost over and the whole 2012 is almost over. Let's see how I did with my December challenges:

• Work on Willpower  checked!
• Finish my lovely pirate Santa   checked! It's all done.
• Keep working on 'Songs of the Season'  checked! And still waay to go!
• Buy floss for my new bell pull    checked!
• Start on Scarlet Letter kits right after they arrive. I'm not sure which one but I think I will start with the pincushion   checked! I've started both of them :)
• Read one book a week. Looks like I'm a slow reader... but I'm reading every day a few pages
• File back taxes. Nope, not yet... It has to go on my January list.  

It looks like the 'little steps' were working for me in December and I think I will keep setting my goals for every month in 2013.


The last few days I totally dedicated to M. Quertier 1799

and I'm very happy with the progress. The more I stitch this piece, the more I like it.

Tomorrow I'm starting another SAL, this time with Tama of Stitching Daze. We will be stitching 'Snowing' together.

The kitty looks like he is enjoying himself in the fluffy snow - it will be a fun stitch. I'm all ready and set to go!

May the 2013 be the best year ever! 

Happy New Year everyone!!!

 So long my friends,
Evalina

A little stitching

I hope all of you are enjoying holidays. Days are still pretty cold here and this week is the darkest week of the year. The sun rises at 10:12 in the morning and sets at 3:50 afternoon. I noticed that today is 1 minute longer than yesterday. That's a good sign! Soon days will get much longer (in a speed of 6 minutes per day)and in no time it will be daylight 24/7. It is so much easier to stitch with a day light! Regardless the darkness and company coming over for Christmas dinner I manage to stitch a little:

 M. Quertier 1799

c. 1800 Gift Pincushion

I wasn't 'in love' with M. Quertier at first but more I stitch of it, more I like it. With the pincushion is a whole different story - a love from the first stitch! Both pieces are stitched with silk floss on linen. M. Quertier sampler is stitched with 1 thread of black silk over 2 threads of fabric and the pincushion 1 over 1.

In my previous post I wrote about my disappointment with the shortage of the floss in the kit. My problem is solved! I've contacted the Scarlet Letter and remaining floss is on the way. Marsha, the owner of The Scarlet Letter is  a very nice person, it was a pleasure to deal with her.

So long my friends,

Evalina

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

May all your dreams come true!

See you in 2013,

Evalina

The night before a Canadian Christmas

Merry Christmas and a good night!

A finish and a few new starts...

It looks like we all have survived another end of the world, just as expected by many. The mercury is still down - I'm not in the mood for shopping or even going outside. But I'm always in the mood for stitching. You will not believe it - I finished my Pirate Santa!

Really, he is all done and hanging. I started to stitch him a long time ago, he was a WIP and, for some unknown to me reason, became an UFO. It was on my December challenge list to have him done and now I can put a check mark beside his name.

And since we have enter a new season I wanted to start something new. I looked and looked through my stash and couldn't decide... then I spotted Paddy's Luck, all kitted up and ready to go.

Yeah, that's the one I want to stitch. Let's bring some rainbows and sunshine and let's forget the cold, dark winter!

I'm stitching Paddy on the 22ct antique tan hardanger with two threads over one. What you see there are about 360 stitches of 54,015 and some. Long way to go!

Yesterday I checked my mail and to my surprise I found there couple kits from Scarlet Letter. (Well, I shouldn't be so surprised, I ordered them a month ago.) Nicola of Stitching By A Cornish Sea Shore is celebrating her 50 birthday by dedicating a whole 2013 to charts from Scarlet Letter (she must really love them, eh?) She has created a blog Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year and many of us joined her to celebrate her birthday by stitching her favorite charts. I not only never stitched them before, I never even heard of them! Anyway, for the start I bought two kits (time is an issue so I couldn't be bother with buying charts and try to kit them up). To make Nicola happy I started both of them:

A lovely c. 1800 Gift Pincushion is stitched over one on 26 ct linen with 1 strand of silk. The silk is lovely to work with and my previous practice with HAED makes this an easy stitch. I am a little disappointed with the kit as not everything what suppose to  be included was included. The most worry I have is about floss. For example the package says that there should be 6 strands of dark navy silk but included was only 5... I've contacted The Scarlett Letter and we'll see what will happen.

And the second was a lovely quaker

stitched also with silk. (Ignore that tiny blue mark on the top. It is from my water erasable marker, it will disappear with a little water). The instructions are saying that I should use only 1 strand of silk over 2 threads of fabric (it's 36ct linen). The coverage isn't the greatest but when I looked at it from 5 feet away, it looks perfect.

So there, one little finish followed by three big starts - not bad eh? Now I have to work on some other WIPs so they don't become UFOs (unfinished objects).

So long my friends,
Evalina

Winter solstice

I had an urge to start something new (I guess it's the Winter Solstice to blame for it) and here it is:

It was a quick stitch, I love these Rhodes Hearts! Now I have to finish it. Any suggestions how? The stitched area is about 6" by 6".

So, tonight is the night of the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and the longest night and tomorrow is a first day of winter. Hmm... not here - the winter already started in October! Just before yesterday we had the coldest day (so far) of this season. And I'm sure mercury will drop down some more...

Way to cold to go outside so I took a few pics from my windows

 a lovely sunrise at 10:08 in the morning

snow on the picnic table (accumulated since October)

 Icicles that decorate outside my windows

 

 And the view from my kitchen window.

The visitor on the tree that's a magpie - I absolutely adore them.

If you like to celebrate Winter Solstice with me, just take a moment to reflect on the massive amount of energy that is generated by the planets and the sun and the potential that energy has to affect us all at the moment of alignment.

Take a moment to reflect that the ancient cultures of the World recognized and held sacred astrological alignments such as the solstice and equinox as a gateway for self enlightenment.
The message I am attempting to convey is simple; don’t worry about the calamities of the 21st! Instead, focus on your inner practices, keep your intentions, meditations and prayers positive, chant mantras if you know how and envision a better World for all.

So long my friends,
Evalina

Once in a hundred years

Did you know that there will not be another 12/12/12 for a hundred of years? Today's date is considered auspicious by some, doomed by others, and just plain easy to remember by many. The number certainly holds significance in human existence through the millennia, a fact of which there is indisputable evidence:

• 12 hours of day and night
• 12 months in the year in the Roman calendar
• 12 signs of the Zodiac
• 12 Apostles
• 12 days of Christmas
• 12 tribes of Israel
• 12 gods of Olympus
• 12 old testament prophets... you get the idea.

Some say the day symbolizes love, others completeness or fulfillment, and Doomsdayers think that today heralds the end of the world (just because of their interpretation of the Mayan calendar).

And Melissa of St. John's Stitcher celebrates with a whole year of RAKs (random act of kindness). Check her blog for more info.

So long my friends,
Evalina

Weekend update

I had tons of work to do and no time for stitching... well things sometimes do not work the way we have plan... The weather plays tricks and is messing up with my internal barometer. Yep, I do have one. We had some very cold days lately and a very high pressure. I felt fine. Last night front from the south brought a very low pressure, south wind and a lot of snow. The mercury went up but can you guess what the low pressure t did to me? GAVE ME A MIGRAINE! I set at my desk quarter to six this morning, turned on computer and was ready to start working. Just I wasn't feeling so good. After a third cup of coffee I wasn't feeling any better. So I checked email and some blogs and decided to stitch just a little. Well, with my fogged up brain I also lost my eyesight. After a few stitches I went back to bed to take a nap. After a nap I stitched some more - no work done, not even a little. On the bright site - I have a stitchy update! I added another motif to Songs of the Season

Sorry, I'm just too lazy to take it off from q-snaps but you can see the progress. And I was working a little on the Pirate Santa. (To see 'before' pictures, scroll down to previous posts). The tree looks fuller and my pirate can see! He has only one eye, but after all he is the pirate.

So long my friends,
Evalina

Songs of the Season

I've got over my big booboo and now Songs of the Season are coming very nicely. Just to make sure I have everything in the right order (specially the fabric) and I'm not running too short on margins, I stitched all the way across the bottom:

It's a short post as I have tons of work and it looks like there will not be any stitching this weekend.

So long my friends,
Evalina