End of year post.

It's that time of year when many crafting bloggers write an end of year post, showing their many finishes for the year and some works in progress. many plan for the new year and list projects they want to work on and even finish.

I've had a productive year and in the later months enjoyed getting back to my roots as it were and cross stitching. My plan for next year is to continue to cross stitch on the current project.

Snowy St Nick has seen quite a bit of progress since this picture was taken on 21st December.

In between work, family time and parties I have taken many opportunities to sit and stitch. I have to say I am very happy with my progress.

As for what I'll do when he is finished, I'm unsure. Maybe more cross stitch, maybe some stitchery. Either way, that's a long way off.

Another thing I plan to do in 2023 is to complete my Lucy Boston in Blue. The EPP is very close to being completed, I just need a couple more zoom sessions to get that over the line. Then I'll have to make a decision about what will fill in future zoom sessions.

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On Christmas day I found myself sitting at my sewing machine  for a short time and working a little more on the farm yard quilt, it would be nice to get that completed and quilted soon, I also have a quilt loaded on to the frame awaiting my attention and a pile of quilts in waiting.....

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Hopefully 2023 will be another creative year and I'll find many moments of time to sit and sew, or even stand and quilt. 

It's been fun to share 2022 with you, reading your comments and visiting your blogs. 

I wish you all the best and lots of sewing time in 2023.

Happy New Year everyone. 

I'm off to stitch on St Nick until bedtime. 

Important Twixmas stuff.

In case you are wondering, yes I finished the Spitfire and got it framed in time for the grand reveal on the big day. Tony loves it and was delighted that I had changed the original charted registration to a Kiwi Spitfire pilot, Alan Deere.

As you can see it is on the wall in his den. He boasts about it to anyone who will listen.

I think I did well. LOL

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Someone else who did a little boasting is Jorja. She asked months ago if I would make her some scrubs, of course I said yes. She gave me Christmas fabric on the night of 22nd December! Guess what I was doing all day before work on the 23rd?

Everyone who commented on her cute top when she wore it on Christmas Eve was told all about how Lou made it for her. I think she is very happy with it.

Matching Grinch tops.

There you go Jorja, another mention on my blog and a pic of your lovely smiley face too. LOL

Next time, please give me more than a day to get it made!

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Maria, the postie finally delivered this spicy wee fella yesterday.

He is so cute, I love him and as you can see, he has made himself at home on my tree. 

Thank you so much. 

Hopefully yours will be delivered very soon. 

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That's all my news for today.

I was up early this morning, all of my chores are done, so I think I'll go play until it is time for work. 

Yay!! A day off.

But only the one. 

Tony tells me I should relax and put my feet up today. I'll try, but there are one or two things I have to get sorted first, like the laundry!

Before any of that happens I wanted to show you my final few ornaments. 

One more pendibule, in blue for me, on my blue tree.

I'm not happy with the ribbon on this one and may take it off for a redo.

Another blue ornament, this one is from Debbie.

(Blogger wants it to be sideways, no matter what I do, this is what I get. Grr).

I was surprised when Debbie started asking questions about Cross stitch, she has tried in the past and given me her UFOs to complete. I love what she has made.

I have made and shown off a few of my own cross stitch ornaments this year, they were extras, but my regular swaps and gifts were all EPP.

I made myself two. One in red.

And one in blue.

Some of these have still not been delivered. I do hope they arrive soon. 

And finally for today a cute wee kitty cat that Janice stitched and sent with a card.

I am very lucky as Belle does not really bother with our trees, though she does like to sit on the quilted tree skirts. This is the only kitty in my Christmas tree.

Thank you Janice. I hope your card and ornament arrive soon. 

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While I am here, I'll do a quick gift highlights post too. 

My secret Santa at work was well advised this year.

A colleague let on that she had been asked for advice and suggested one of these.

Yes I have seam rippers, but another will not go amiss, especially a big one like this, those little ones often go missing.

I had asked Tony for some Frixion pens.

He is a very good Santa. (Blogger is messing with my photos again).

Santa also found a great book.

There are some lovely designs and best of all, all the paper pieces I need to make the designs and more are included in the book!

And would you look at this.

He bought me an EQ upgrade.

Isn't he a great Santa.

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I hope your Santa was  good to you and that you had a very merry Christmas.

Time to do some chores, then I'm going to sew.

Who remembers......?

My Blue Santa cross stitch project?
 
According to my photo records I started stitching him in October 2020. I didn't get far.

The last photo I have was taken on 25th October and looks like this. I must have done a little more stitching before putting him away, because when I pulled him out the other day, he looked a little different. I cannot for the life of me remember why he got put aside.

So anyway, I forgot to get an update photo, I just picked up a needle and stitched.

I also discovered a mistake, so set about ripping that out and correcting it. I've made plenty of progress since then.

I plan to make some more progress today after I do a little baking. 

I'm trying to maximise my me time at the moment as I will be working over the holidays.

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The majority of my ornaments have been delivered already which is good. It seems that mail to the UK moves much faster than mail to Australia, just a short hop away. 

So I'll share ornaments on another day.

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Just in case I don't find time to blog again....

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you have a healthy and happy time.

The trees are up at last.

I'm a little late getting my trees and decorations up this year. Ever since he was born I never put decorations up until after son Joe's birthday on 10th December. As Tony and I were both working that day we decided to wait until yesterday, when we both had a day off. It took us all day to set up and decorate our  four trees and something new.....

This year I have my blue tree in the corner of the dining room.

The tall tree in the sitting room has hand made ornaments only.

Some made by me and some made by you. It already has three new additions this year. I'll get photos of them soon.

My white tree is set up in the hall way and has a new theme. I've spent a few years slowly gathering together a rainbow of coloured balls and managed to find some rainbow tinsel the other day too so the rainbow theme finally got an outing. I scrounged about in my ribbon collection and found lots of pretty colours and made bows for the branch tips.

Rainbow lights might be on the shopping list for next year, but I love it with the white lights.

And I think I'd be tempted to try it without the tinsel next time. 

I also need to make it a better tree skirt in much stronger colours.

But on the whole I'm very happy with my new theme. 

Another new addition is a garland for around the front door. I had a beautiful garland back on the Isle of Man, but as it had real fir cones I didn't try to import it. Son Jonathan and family have that one.

Just after last Christmas I was able to get a bare garland in the sales and spent a lot of time yesterday crawling about on the floor adding decorations and three HUGE fir cones.  

I'm pleased with what I achieved, though I'm sure that in future years I will add more to it. Unlike our trees the theme of the garland will not change, I will just add to it over time. 

And

Last but not least, my mini tree is up in my sewing room.

It has tiny wooden blue angels flying from it's branches and looks much better in real life with lots of blue bows and white tinsel balls. 

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Finally our home looks like Christmas.

No rest day today we have mince pies to make.

And I need to clean up the mess I made putting all the new ribbon bows together for the rainbow tree and the garland. 

I might find time to do some cross stitch before yet another extra shift on Sunday.

For those who commented, my seven days without a break was ok. I think working only late shifts makes it easier as I can take my time, I get to do some chores then sit and relax before starting work at 3pm. If I was to try doing seven early shifts, starting work at 6.50 am that would be a different story.

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Now, I'm a little behind on blog reading, so I'll make a cuppa then do some catching up while I wait for Tony to surface. I think he's having a catch up sleep today. 

I'm over the hump!

Last night was shift four of seven. Half way has been and gone.  I am SO looking forward to Friday. 

I've spent most of my days sewing, well stitching. 

Two more pendibules. I think it is safe to say I enjoy these little projects.

These two will be gifted and I plan one more, which I will keep.

Speaking of gifts.

The spitfire has made great progress. As you can see only the frame left to cross stitch, then the task of back stitching will begin.

There is quite a lot of detail to be added with the back stitch, but I'm confidant I can have it completed in time for Christmas. I went out this morning to purchase a frame for it. 

Usually at this point in a cross stitch project I'm planning what to stitch next. And this time is no different, I'm swaying between completing the Santa I started over a year ago or a stitchery project that has been around even longer.....

I'll think about it while I back stitch.

Right now I'm off to do some meal prep, then I'm off to work.

Time to catch up.

It's all been about Christmas here recently. We still didn't put up a tree or begin to decorate yet, but I have been busy sewing for Christmas.

Progress has been made on the spitfire.

Forgive the hoop halo and all the creases, it was time to move the hoop, so time for a photo.

I've made two Christmas scrub tops for work. 

A Grinch. LOL

And yesterday the snow globes on the right here.

The butterflies on the left I made a while ago, but never got around to showing a picture. 

I've also found time to finish some more ornaments 

I'm enjoying the ruffled ribbon finish this year.

It does use rather a lot of ribbon, but it is very pretty.

The nativity was still a work in progress in my last post.

Another ruffled ribbon finish.

That's all my stitchy news for now.

I have three more ornaments I want to make and hope to get them done in the next week.

This afternoon/evening will be the first of seven in a row. I've picked up a few extra shifts over the next couple of weeks, so I'm hoping I still have time and energy to sew. 

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I'm off to stitch, until it's time to change for work. 

Have a great weekend everyone.  

 

Still Stitching...

I'm still cross stitching. And still enjoying it.

Making little gifts for people.

This one still needs to be fully finished.

And this little nativity scene won't take long and it will also need to be finished in to something pretty.

I plan a couple more wee ornaments while also working on the spitfire.

As you can see I have made a little progress on it.

I have actually stitched more since this picture was taken.

I'll get back to it very soon I hope but I plan on a couple more ornaments first. 

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On a very happy note.

My studies are completed.

The very last observational assessment is in for marking, which will hopefully be done very soon.

Yay!

More sewing time and a pay rise. 

I hope your weekend is going well. I have an extra shift this afternoon so I'm off to play for a few hours. 

This one is for Jorja.

 For the last year I have had a lovely young lady working with me as my mentee. She was studying to be a nurse and wanted to gain some practical experience in a care giving role. With guidance from myself and my colleagues as well as her own hard work and studies, she has become a very confidant and qualified Enrolled Nurse.

When she decided it was time to leave me behind and move on in her career I gifted this quilt to her.

It has purple in it, so I knew I was on to a winner.

Although she is moving on with her life, she has remained working within the same organisation, so I see her often. Last night during a very brief encounter in the carpark I gifted my latest make to her.

A pendibule.

Purple again of course. I used a variegated DMC thread.

It was surprisingly quick to stitch and make up.

Even with all of those tiny beads along the edge.

It was fun to make and I plan to make at least one more.

Although I can find dozens of pattern ideas for pendibules I can't seem to find a definition.

Using what I know of European languages I'm going to go with hanging ornament.

Here it is Jorja, your moment of fame on my wee blog and my opportunity to say that I have missed working with you and wish you every happiness in what I hope will be a long career. You are a very caring young lady and I'm sure you'll be a great nurse. 

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Now I'm off to do housework, before I sit n stitch on the Spitfire. 

Still Cross Stitching.

 The weather man said that we would be having some wet and wild weather, so while I was in the garden the other day I thought I might as well cut some flowers as the wind and rain would spoil them.

I cut several of my Peonies. Such beautiful flowers. I was right, the weather has spoiled those remaining outside, but there are still some tight buds that may survive. Meanwhile I'll enjoy having these beauties on my table.

I really enjoyed stitching the minions ornaments and decided to keep on stitching.

I made this lovely for one of the ladies at work. Just as a Random act of kindness.

She really liked it.

I've also been picking away at a larger cross stitch project. Hopefully I'll get this spitfire completed in time to do 'something' with it for Tony and wrap it up for Christmas.

It's actually a little further along than this. I must get another picture. 

That's all my stitchy news.

Working this weekend. Brooke the Registered Nurse did another observational assessment this evening. Only one observation left to do and my course is complete.

That feels so good.

Hope you're having a great weekend.

😀

Fully Finished Objects

I've had a busy couple of days since my last post. I've been busy in the garden all that rain followed by beautiful warm sunny days had meant great growing conditions.

For WEEDS!

I also made time to finish the last six questions for my course, only two observational assessments remain to be completed.

Yippie!

It feels so good to have it pretty much all behind me.

And of course I made time for some sewing. As promised I used the camouflage fabric to border my brothers regiment badge. 

I popped it in to the post today, hopefully it will reach him before Christmas.

Then I got on and finished cross stitching the second Minion.

Some other finishing treatments also took place.

It was a very bright sunny day today so their portraits are a little washed out, but don't they look good?

I am delighted with my efforts. I showed one to a work colleague yesterday and she assures me that the recipient will love hers.

Tony looks pretty happy with his too.

I'm having fun with cross stitching so pulled out a project I've had kitted for a while and made a start, more about that another time.

Hope your week is going well.

A whole day of stitching.

Yesterday New Zealand got a taste of the awful wet weather that NSW has been experiencing. It rained all night long and continued to rain all day long too. In 24 hours we had over two months worth of rain.  Like I said, just a taste of what Australia is experiencing. 

A good day to stay home and sew.

First I pulled out my brothers regiment badge it was last mentioned here on my blog back in February, on his birthday funnily enough. I had made progress since then and had only the back stitch detail to add to the lion, the right side of the laurel wreath and the black lettering at the bottom. 

Looking at it now I wish I had ditched the black provided in the kit and used a very dark brown for the letters, but never mind, it's done now. I started this one way back in January and should have had it done a long time ago.  I'll finish it into a wall hanger using the camouflage fabric you see in the image. Maybe a job for today. 

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Next I pulled out a wee cross stitch project that I kitted up a couple of days ago.

Hmm, someone kept trying to get on to Grandads foot stool.

She was eventually persuaded to curl up on the sofa. But only after Tony had arranged a blanket for her.

In no time at all she was sound asleep.

It didn't take me long to complete the cross stitching on this little project. 

It will be my Secret Santa gift at work.

Here he is just as I started the back stitching.

I stopped to take photos because this had happened.

She stood up, stretched, yawned, gave me a dirty look, turned around and settled down again.

Oh for the life of a cat!

Back to the stitching.

And after back stitching.

I'll finish him as an ornament and wrap him up with a chocolate bar.

When I showed Tony he was delighted by the lil' guy and asked me to make one for him too. So I started a second one.

I got this far by 9pm when I decided that I had done enough for one day.

I'll get him finished today.

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Tony has a job. 

He is still looking for something else, this one is just a job, it pays minimum wage and he is not enjoying it.  But it is a job and better than nothing.

So please keep those fingers and pins crossed just a little longer. 

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After studying all day Friday, I have completed all of my course work. Yay!

I need to have three observational assessments done. 

And bulk out my responses to the last 6 questions.

Hopefully it will all be marked before Christmas.

Then I'm done.

Yippie!

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And here comes the sunshine, it's going to be a hot and humid day.

Hope your weekend is going well.