An Early Happy New Year and Reflecting on the Past Year

I know that it's been almost two months since I've posted (where has the time gone???) and I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and will have a Happy, Stitchy New Year.

I figured now was a good time to climb out of my hole and reflect on what I've accomplished in the past year and get on the blogging bandwagon again.  I know that I've missed tons and hope to catch up in the next weeks.  I've missed all of you and all the projects that you've been working on.  I think that I went through some kind of slump in the crafty arena, (well, I don't think - I know), but it's time to brush off those needles (whether they be stitching or knitting needles) and get the show on the road.

Many things have gone on the past couple of months - mostly for the good.  I took my annual trip to New York (I just love that place) and finally managed to get into the Tinsel Trading Company (note here:  if you plan on going to NYC, call the shop, don't rely on the website - the hours are wrong!!!).  What a fantastic store.  Truly overwhelming with all the buttons, trims and miscellaneous things.  I could have spent hours there!  I picked up the cutest angel (among other things) while I was there:

Isn't she the sweetest?  The weather was fantastic (almost mid-70's by the time I left) and I had a wonderful time with my sister!  It's always fun to spend time with her.

In reflecting on the year in stitching - this hasn't been a stellar year.  I seem to be a "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" as they say (read "Crafters ADD).  So here's what I accomplished in the last year.  It's always fun to see what the past twelve months have produced:

Row 1: Turning Twenty Quilt, Yellow Brick Road Quilt, Ann Medd (five years in the making)

Row 2: Elizabeth Clayton Sampler, Sarah Esh Sampler, Blackbird Designs Pincushion

Row 3: Tumbler Quilt, Farmer's Wife Blocks (all 111 even of them), Sun and Moon Sampler

Row 4: Mirabilia Deepest Love, Schibbles Recess Quilt, Guersney Shawl

As you can see, I got my hands into a little bit of everything!  And no, the Farmer's Wife Quilt is not completely put together, but I figured that finishing 111 blocks was a feat unto itself, and counted as a finish!!  And there's not a lot of stitching here.  Now, that's not to say that I haven't done more stitching than you see, it's just that they're not finished - because as we all know I'm a habitual starter (remember I was one of those crazed people that started those 15 projects last January, of which I don't think that I finished one).  Well, I've pulled a couple of those out and plan on finishing them up in 2012.  Not all 15 mind you, but a few.

Knitting has seemed to have taken me over by storm.  The Guernsey shawl was so much fun to work on (thanks Di for pointing me in this direction).  I should note that the shawl is a darker grey then shows up here, but I overexposed it somewhat so that you can see the pattern.  Once it's blocked, I'll have my daughter model it.  That has kind of set the stage for more knitting, but I'll save those for the next post.

One piece that I've done a little bit of stitching on is this:

I finally got Adam and Eve into Ann Hall!  Now that I see this picture, I think that I need to put the knitting down and put a little bit more into this sampler.  I still have tons of room on the sampler wall.

Other than that - not too much else is going on!  I did some antiquing on Long Island with my sister and we found some great shops, but the sweetest thing I've picked up recently was another machine for the ever growing small sewing machine collection.

I think that I'm up to 12 machines now.  One day I'll have to take a picture of all of them.  My husband lifts an eyebrow every time he walks into the craft room (which is seldom) and asks, "Is that new"?  And I answer him no, it's been there - it's old.  Because, in fact, it really is old - so that doesn't count as a lie, does it?  LOL

So that's just about been it for me the past two months.  Like I mentioned, I went through a slump of gigantic magnitudes, but I think that I'm back now.

I want to thank those that sent me notes of kind words while I was kind of off the blogging path.  They've meant a lot to me - knowing that you were wondering what I was up to.  I've made some wonderful friendships through blogging and I cherish each and every one - so hearing from you really made me smile and kind of got me back on the path again.  I do have to admit that I've been lurking in the background here and there, but haven't really had time to make comments. But I know that comments are what drives us to do what we do and I plan to get back to that.  Call it a New Year's Resolution!  I dare not make those for my stitching progress, however.  I've learned my lesson with making stitching resolutions! We know that I always break those!! 

I wish all of you a very Happy, Prosperous and Stitchy New Year!!!