At long last ...

I return from posting never land! I have actually still been stitching pretty regularly despite having a three month old and a 1 1/2 year old! Here's my main accomplishments from the past several months:

For my son:


For my niece (to hang the same way as Emily's!):


For baby Vick:


I am so proud of these, and I can't believe I've made eleven Christmas stockings!!!

Christmas Stockings

I love the way our family Christmas stockings look ...

A few finished projects

I finished up a few projects just in time for Christmas ...

Meara's stocking (finished in record time!!!)

Sus's Christmas sampler (she did most of the work, I just finished a bit of the stitching and framed it)

A poem for Dad for his two doggies (China and Mea) that passed this year

And I didn't get photos of the poinsettia towels I stitched for Sus or the Woodland Walk sampler I did for Mom. I always forget something!

And because they didn't make an earlier post .. here are the two stockings I made as gifts last year:

It was cool to see four of my handmade stockings hanging in a row this year!

Grant's Stocking

I have been working on lots of stitching projects lately, and don't have many finished to show off ...

But I did finish Grant's Christmas stocking just in time for the holidays. It is one of the hardest projects I've undertaken. Tons of blended thread, tons of different colors, specialty stitches, beads, and a very small thread count. I think it turned out beautifully, but I won't be doing this pattern again!

Works in Progress

I have two works in progress that I have been diligently plugging away at since January.

The first is truly my "keep from going crazy while sitting around a lot and hugely pregnant" project. I will finish it someday!!! It is a cross stitch version of a Beth Russell needlepoint project. It is a William Morris textile called "The Woodpecker". When it is done, it will be almost two feet tall!

Here's the needlepoint project:

Here's where I am:

The second is Grant's Christmas stocking. I refused to start it until after he was born, so I have a lot of work to do in the next several months! I think it will be so fun when I'm finished ...

Here is what it will look like someday:

Here is where I am today:

The Christmas Ornament Obsession

So my first obsession is with styrofoam balls (courtesy of Plasteel), ribbon, pins and sequins. These are totally throwback to the '60s and '70s, and I love them! They are a bit tedious and do call for extensive use of a thimble, but I think the effort is worthwhile. I have many more in my head just waiting to take shape!

I found some really cute Prairie Schooler ornament patterns and tried this trio ...

And my major obsession -- Mill Hill Beaded Ornament Kits. Here's the ones I did this year (with a few more in the works). I got a lot of the work done on airplanes and in hotels while on business trips - good way to pass the time! I really like the ones with animals in them.

More From the Factory ...

So I went a little crazy over the past couple months and started cranking out projects ...

I finally finished my amazing miniature Van Gogh Fourteen Sunflowers -- I just love it! It is so tiny (less than 2" tall)! It is now my second favorite thing I've made after the tiny pillows. Thank you artecy!

Here's a close up of the stitching:
And I finished Matt's stocking -- it was an adventure in cross stitch and machine stitching to complete it!

I made another "Nutcrack" stocking for Melissa Heselmeyer's baby, Evan.
And then I discovered a new obsession ... Mill Hill Bead Ornament Kits!!!! These are the four that are totally finished. I gave one to Aunt Linda and one to Julie Stober for Christmas this year.


I have so many more of them to do! It might be "Mill Hill Christmas" next year ...

Gift for Jen and Rob

I finished Jen and Rob's sampler and promptly forgot to take a picture of it! It looks just like this one (a bit different gold frame), but it says "jen and rob november 10" in the section where the alphabet is shown.

A Baby Gift

I finally finished my first Christmas stocking - a gift for Isaac Ciravolo (Tara's little one). I really like the way it turned out, and hopefully it becomes a treasure for the Ciravolos for years to come!

Post script: Tara sent out Christmas cards with Zac and the stocking! He is such a cutie!!!
I love his little bare feet in the second photo (Christmas in Houston!)

Here is the front (Dimensions kit):

Here is the back (navy blue corduroy with white stars embroidered):