December Wrap Up

2018 is almost over and I am sad to see it go, but I am super excited for 2019! I've got a lot of life changes coming up next year: my mother is getting married; she has to sell her house and buy a new one (hopefully in a senior community with free maintenance); and I am also moving this summer, hopefully somewhere nice that's close to work. Hopefully all that will distract me from making any new starts so I can start finishing what I've got. But we'll see! :)

December is one of those months where I mostly stitch on whatever I want without any plans, but I have made dedicated progress on a few projects, so I'll share those. First, I finished another two columns on Luna, so her new row is off to a good start:

I couldn't resist keeping her face in the picture. And all my messy threads. (Don't judge me!)

Starting on Christmas day, I picked up Jim Shore's 12 Days of Christmas, which I'll be stitching on for 12 days. (That sounds really repetitive.) Thursday, I finished off the stitching in the second block, and it looks really cute:

I've already started on the third block (which looks more like a rooster than a hen) but I've only finished the frame so far, so I'll show that next week.

I've also managed to finish the top row on my Moira Blackburn reproduction sampler, Elizabeth Oliver:

Stretching her out, I had one of the moments of "Oh my gosh, is she really that big?!" She's just under 23 inches wide, so yeah, she really is that big. I was surprised at how different the coloring in the second basket of apples is from the first. Overall, they're a lot darker, and not really apple-y. One is a dusky purple and one is dark blue, which is true to the original sampler. I wonder if Elizabeth was trying to use up leftover bits of thread when she did that, or if she just thought it would be fun:

Also, here's a close up of the Long Arm Cross Stitch used in the border. I really like the woven effect it gives even though it's so simple. I did have to put some thought into how I turned the corner with this stitch, but I think it turned out fine.

I think that's all for now. I'm almost done with my Temperature charts, so I'll share those soon. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's plans for next year. Until then, happy stitching!