Almost 2014.

Well the New Year is almost upon us so that means that Stitch From Stash 2014 is almost here too. I have been good for a week now. My last chart purchase was iStitch Designs Sew Advent and Sew a Brown Bunny. I didn't sign up for Sew Advent when Carol announced the SAL as I knew I had too much on to keep up with it so when she released it once the SAL was over and I had also seen the lovely progress I decided to have that one last treat. I am rather ashamed of what I have bought lately but it's not all charts as I have bought fabric as I received a GC from Kerri ( no blog)  for Colour Cascade Fabrics a couple of weeks ago which I added pennies to so I could buy a Gold/ Silver Duet which arrived on Saturday. That was amazing as it was posted on Christmas Eve and winged its way from Australia in record time! I do have some fabric on order from The Crafty Kitten along with a couple of finishing forms which I have paid for today :) The next chart in the CCN Frosty Forest series arrived so that has gone away ready for when I start it sometime early 2014!

So even though there are still a couple of days left in 2013 I'm not going to succumb to anymore ordering! I will start as I mean to go on. No more charts until December except for buying one probably in November for the SAL Chris and I will be doing in December and fabric and thread when I need them.

Speaking of the SAL Chris and I will be doing next December I have set up a poll  on my side bar and ask if you would help us decide which one to stitch please! We have 3 and can't decide which one to do! Here are photos of the 3.

Barbara Ann Designs O Christmas Tree

 New York Dreamer Frosty Night

 UB Designs Beerenherz im Winter

So I guess I'd better show what I've been stitching and the gifts I received for Christmas. As I said in one of my last posts I finished both February's Primrose and Mary's Sampler but didn't show them. I'm not sure how I'm going to finish Mary's Sampler yet.

I can now show the challenge piece I stitched from the Jura Point De Croix blog. I loved stitching this. It was a must stitch for me!

I've been desperately trying to get plenty done on Little House Needleworks Song of the Seasons so have been stitching mostly on that. I finished part 2 and am getting on well with part 3. It won't get finished before the end of the year but hopefully it will be an early finish in 2014.

A little progress on Friendship with Barb :)

The only other thing I can show is my progress on Country Cottage Needleworks Silent Night which is my December SAL with Chris. I settled down yesterday with it and got quite a bit done.

I stitched an ornament as a little gift for Michelle which she loves.

These are the lovely gifts that I received for Christmas in no particular order. This is what I received from Michelle.  Isn't that ornament so me!

This is my beautiful glass robin from Barb which was made by her DH Martin.

This lovely ornament came from Shirlee.

This lovely needle threader is from Lisa.

This is Rory the Reindeer which is from Lainey.

This lovely notebook is from Karan. I am going to use it as a stitching diary for 2014 and beyond :)

My DH bought me these fabrics and chart ( they were on my Christmas list! ).

Thank you all for my wonderful gifts. Hugs to you all :)

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. We had a quiet one full of happy memories, a few tears and lots of laughs. We ate far too much, drunk a little, watched a little TV and just generally chilled. I asked Father Christmas to bring us a Wii U console, which he did, and it's great fun. I downloaded the new Wii U Fit for free. It's a 31 day trial but if you buy a Wii Fit Meter and sync it to your console you get to keep the full version of the game which is a great deal. My meter arrived today so will see if I can get it synced! Hope so as it's no use without the game lol! It's been lovely just chilling and spending precious time together as, believe me, you never know what is going to happen. 

Anyway I have had a very successful stitching year finishing a grand total of 44 projects. Not as many as previous years but I've just been enjoying it and having great fun with it. There have been highlights and low points through the year. The highlight has to be my 50th birthday earlier this month as my family and friends made it so special for me. I will never, ever forget it as long as I live. The low point was January 14th when my dear Dad passed away. I still have guilt and I don't feel as though I have anyone I can talk about it to. Hopefully I'll be able to deal with it better in 2014. 

This is my last post for 2013 so I shall see you all, hopefully, in 2014 with some new starts, WIPs, SAL's and finishes. Thank you all for reading and commenting on my blog. It means the world to me. Happy New Year to you all!

With much love

Sally xxx