New Year, New Hopes

Happy New Year Everyone! This is my first post of 2016 and I come into the new year with hopes of one better than 2015 and a new outlook.

It's no secret that 2015 was difficult. A lot has been untold in the blog because I was just too busy to take the time. 2015 saw a new job with a challenging learning curve, the death of my beloved dad, an engagement, a 40th (yikes!) birthday and dealing with an estrangement from my mother. There is nothing more hurtful than a parent saying the most terrible, hateful things and not being one bit happy for you especially when your biggest supporter and protector is no longer around. By the end of the year, I was a stressed out, anxious and incredibly sad shell of my former self who was trying hard to get back into the light.

So 2016 is about time...and relaxing. To let the little things go because too much time and energy goes into something that doesn't really matter in the first place. To rediscover those things that give me joy and stick with them. I don't have any resolutions but I have little goals.

Blog once a month.
Stitch at least one hour 3-4 times per week.
Reorganize my stash and sell off those things I no longer want or see myself stitching.
Declutter my apartment.

With the new year, came a new start. I've been wanting Chatelaine's Embroidered Elegance I for a while and when it finally went on sale I treated myself to the pattern and the kit for my birthday. I started it on January 12th and its a delight even though it's slow going.



I also had a few finishes this month. Mind you, most of the stitching was done last year.


My first finish was Lizzie Kate's A Little Grey Hare. This has sentimental value now. When my dad passed away, I had to pack in a matter of hours and grabbed the first kit I could find that just had everything in it. To keep my mind busy, I stitched on this during the nine days of morning and completed all the stitching. Since I had no beading needle, I had to keep those off and I forgot about it until a couple of weeks ago and I found a beading needle and the beads and finished it off in no time. I'm sending this off to a finisher to be made into a pinkeep like the model. Even though I have the want for stitching, I don't have the brain or energy for finishing work right now.

And I finished my Lizzie Kate Holly & Hearts Mystery Sampler which has been a WIP for a long time. I am glad this one is finished. In retrospect, I think it took me a long time because I prefer traditional christmas colors versus the pastel palate in this sampler. I think I would like it finished as a little quilted table mat in the future. For now, it will hang out with my larger finished projects in the closet.

I also finished a couple of other pieces but one is a surprise and the other I forgot to take a picture of.

I recently bought the new Jolly Happy Soul pattern by With Thy Needle and Thread. I just couldn't resist that cute snowman! The pattern calls for R&R Olde Towne Blend and I knew I had a piece with a project started on it so I could compare the color with fabrics in my stash for Jolly Happy Soul. So off I went looking for that project and unsurfaced my Anniversaries of the Heart. I set it aside due to the over 1 verse in Block 4 and just feeling overwhelmed about how I was even going to go about personalizing the blocks. Seeing it made me fall in love with it all over again so I decided to start Block 5 (Pink Hill Manor). Here is the progress on Block 5

and how it looks as a whole so far.

So this is my blog post for January! I made it! I am hoping to have more finishes in 2016 and will start a journal to keep track of my finishes as things got a little confusing last year.

I hope everyone has had a good start to the new year.

Until next time!
Valerie