January...????

January, January, where did you go??? I can't believe it is the last day of the month already! I have spent way too much time shopping (stash enhancing), blog reading (not blog writing), ebaying (buying only - though not winning as many as bid on), planning new projects..... Hmm, I must concentrate on finishing the things I start instead of constantly taking on a new challenge that soon falls by the wayside.... Actually, I'm quite good at starting things - I love that part - it's the following through that leaves something to be desired. I think I will try harder to make February more productive by christening it as Finishing February!

New Pay it Forward Round

I'm told that if you put goals in writing you are much more likely to accomplish them. I hope that is true because I'm more of an impulse person, doing things on a whim rather than in an organized manner. I'm hoping to get more done this year so I have signed up for three SALs, one exchange group and now a Pay It Forward Round from Carol's blog. I am new to this, but as I understand it, this is how it works: The first five of you that leave a comment here on this post requesting to participate will receive a handmade item from me. I will send it to you sometime this year. In return, you will have to post in your blog that you are taking five names and you will send a handmade item to each of them in return. I think it will be fun and will help keep me focused on completing projects throughout the year.

I should have some new charts up in a day or two. Between the devastating ice storm here in Oklahoma (my home phone is till not working!) followed by my son's winter break from school (which always means a trip to visit my parents out of state) things have been off schedule for several weeks. We go back to work and school starting Monday so things should settle back out and I will get back to posting charts a little more often.

Scissors Crosspatch Finish

I received an email today from Loris with a picture of her stitched version of the Scissors Crosspatch Chart and she kindly said I could post it here. I just love seeing the stitched pieces and seeing the choices for fabrics and flosses! You can see this and her other beautiful stitching in her Webshots albums - http://community.webshots.com/user/loris42 . Thanks again, Loris, for taking the time to stitch my chart and for sharing your picture!

Smaller Octagon Snowflake Fob Finish

Fabienne has kindly sent me a picture of the small snowflake fob she stitched and finished! She has more pictures on her blog - please check them out and take a look around her blog while you are there. It can be found here or http://faby.over-blog.fr/. I think it turned out wonderfully - I love her thread choices, the sparkle really brings it to life! Thanks so much, Fabienne, for sharing your finish!

Needlework Set - Part 4 - Needlecase

Still no Internet at home so another quick post from work. I have no idea how long it will take to get my phone, cable and Internet back but I know it takes a backseat to restoring electricity to 600,000 homes and businesses statewide, not to mention digging out from under all the broken tree limbs and whole trees that are down. It really does look like a war zone right now but they are working on it. Now they are predicting snow for the weekend (only 3 or 4 inches, so they say) but at least that's better than all the ice and freezing rain.

Needlework Set - Part 3 - Biscornu

Stork Scissors Biscornu Side 1 pdf


Stork Scissors Biscornu Side 2 pdf

My apologies for the quality of the chart - seems my printer is running out of ink - I may have to rescan and post if anyone has trouble with it. Let me know!

***Edited*** Pdf files have been uploaded for the charts.

Needlework Set - Part 2 - Stork Scissors Fob

We are in the midst of a bad ice storm here in Oklahoma and my Internet at home is down for who knows how long, so I am staying after work to post this - so it will be short!

Gingerbread Man Finish

Lee sent me a photo of the ornie she made from the Gingerbread Man Scissors Fob chart. She did a beautiful job on it! Thanks, Lee! You can get the details of the threads she used on her blog here.

Free Charts You Don't Want to Miss

If you've been here before, you may have noticed I have a new header on my blog now. Isn't it wonderful!?! I just love it and it was such a nice surprise from Barbara Ana! If you have visited the CyberStitchers free charts website you probably know Barbara's name already because she has lots of cute free charts there. I just love her charts because they are fresh designs with lots of bright colors, just begging to be stitched! Along with the charts she offers there, she has begun to sell some charts as well. I hope everyone will take the time to check her website here and see what she has. I think she is one of the most talented designers to come along and I think she will be a big success. I love free charts, but I know that lots of designers need the income from sales to be able to continue to design new projects for us, and I am a firm believer in supporting them. I have often bought charts I like, knowing full well, I will never have the time to stitch them all, but I do it to help keep designers designing. Do I just have money to burn? Absolutely not! But I think it's important to support the needlework designing industry - there is room for all - professionals and hobbyists (like me) alike. The worst thing about Barbara Ana Designs? Deciding which one to stitch first! Check it out!

Needlework Set - Part 1 - Scissors Case

Today's chart is for a scissors case. I think 16ct or 32ct over two threads will probably work best. There will be matching scissors fob and needlecase charts (maybe a biscornu as well?) over the next few days. The small dotted line is not stitched it is just to show the fold line for the flap and the larger dashed line is just to show the point that the flap will overlap to on the front.