I just couldn’t help myself. I had to start a few more projects! They all came out of my “do in 2018” pile and I figured if I don’t go ahead and get them started in 2018, they don’t even have any hope of being done in 2018! I’ve also been working on more finishing so I have some FFOs to show you too. First, the new starts:

Lazy Alphabet by La D Da

I LOVE this design. It took me a while to decide on the threads. I’m using 3 limited edition Silk N Colors by Thread Gatherer, plus a Gloriana green and a NPI light blue which is the only color called for that I had in my stash.

I wanted it to look more like the photo than what is charted, so instead of a true black, I’m using TG’s Blue Lagoon which is a blue-black and is perfect for the effect.

Next is Angels from Country Cottage.

This is a cutie I’ve had awhile and it has been floating around just asking to be stitched. Well, I was sorting fabric and the pattern was laying on top of a stack and what do you know, it looked like a match made in heaven! And I happened to have my DMC binder there too, and I had all colors I needed!

Here is a start and a finish all in one! Sunflowers by Jeannette Douglas.

It is stitched on Twilight by Picture This Plus which honestly is what sold me, the colors are gorgeous. And it was super quick! I will frame it in a mini frame like the model, so sweet!

And now for the FFOs, all of which were finished ages ago and have only just made it out of the “finished” drawer and into the various small displays I have.

The oldest one is the Gingerbread Cookie Ornament from Little House Needleworks. I finished stitching it in April 2017 and made it up except for the ruched ribbon trim. This was my first time to ruche ribbon so that’s why I procrastinated the finish-I was learning a new technique so I had to get my head around that. Now it’s really all done!

Next oldest is Quaker Birds Pinwheel by Threadwork Primitives. I finished the stitching in October last year. I constructed the pinwheel in November. I had the perfect twill tape-cream with red stitching. But it was too short to make a bow like the model, and almost too short to use at all! I fiddled and fiddled. I got most of the twill tape on. I had just about 3 inches left of it and it was about 5 stitches from FFO as I tried to figure out what to do about ending it off.

Then, I had a baby-can I use that excuse? It went on the shelf with the needle poked into it and has sat there since November! After percolating for 8 months I arrived at a solution! I had a perfect red button so I finished off the (tiny) twill bow with that. It’s lovely!

Next is Homespun Elegance’s Bird N Blossoms Pin Cushion which I stitched in January/February this year.

It is finished with the backing fabric behind it there that I originally intended for Home Sweet Home (next up) before I got the velvet-see how it matches both? I used chenille trim from Lady Dot on it.

Finally, Home Sweet Home by Abby Rose is backed with Dames of the Needle velvet and trimmed with the silk ribbon the designer included with the chart pack.

This project is why I needed to learn ruched ribbon- I did the Gingerbread Cookie ornament in case there was a big learning curve (there wasn’t). I didn’t like the included backing fabric so I found this mauve one with the floral spots. It was fine and I’m glad I got it because it went well so well with Bird N Blossoms, but I still put off the finish.  Then I found this beautiful matching velvet and the plan changed again.

See? Perfect! I should mention also that I changed the floss color of the blues and grays used in this design to coordinate better with each other and the ribbon-my dye lots were totally different than the ones used for charting. It was all stitched with GAST but you know, sometimes those colors can vary a great deal. However you can see that it all worked out very well and all my various materials match up which makes me very happy!

I’m so glad I waited on this finish. It came out perfectly. It wouldn’t have been as nice had I just finished it off right away. So while it’s a good habit to just get things done, I think in this case letting them rest and “percolate” was just the best way to go!