I stuck to my plans to finish off the sled stitch before starting anything new and just put the final stitches into it. Not a great photo since it was finished after dark. Now I can finally go eat dinner – I didn’t want to put it down when I was so close to finished. Better photos will come when I get them all attached to their sleds. I may need to set aside a weekend to get them all cut out, which will take a while, but the attaching to the sleds is pretty quick and easy.
I had a chart pop up in my Etsy “things you might like” section and they were spot on. I couldn’t get this chart out of my mind once I looked at it. As I told friend Judy, I couldn’t get it out of my head and after looking at it a zillion times, the zillion and one time I looked at it I HAD to order it (and another chart/kit from Owl Forest Embroidery because no chart should travel alone). I had never seen Owl Forest charts before but they are so pretty. So of course I had to share the loveliness of this chart with Judy
She of course loved it too, promptly ordered it and a SAL (Stitch Along) was born because it’s always more fun to work on a project when you can share progress with a friend.
Isn’t that a gorgeous thing! The colors, all the little motifs – it’s going to be a fun stitch. Why it’s called a New Year Sampler when it’s all Christmassy designs looking to me is a mystery but we will be starting the New Year Sampler on Christmas Eve. And of course like any Stitch Along Judy and I do anyone is welcome to join in at any time. Our goal is to get this done by Christmas 2022 but our more important goal is to simply start it on Christmas Eve and have fun stitching it.
My plan is to pull from my Victorian Motto floss stash – there are 11 colors, mostly reds and greens – and I haven’t decided on fabric yet but I’m thinking something 18 or 20 count. According to the stitch count if I do it on 18 count Aida (36 count for you linen users) the stitched area would be 11-1/2″ x 15-3/8″ and on 20 count Aida (40 ct linen) it will be 10-3/8″ z 13-3/4″. And again I think with the letters of the alphabet that are scattered about, I will stitch the letters that make up my initials in a darker shade of blue or different color. It’s a great chart too (other than just pretty) because it’s printed on ledger size paper, in color so is very easy to read. So many of the motifs would also make great ornaments. Yes I am very excited about this project and a good thing that I have some other fun charts to distract me so I don’t start this one before Christmas Eve! But I’ll be pulling flosses and my favorite holiday project bag and getting it all kitted up and ready to go.
The kit I also ordered from Owl Forest is called Peahen Bird. It was only available as a kit (not just a chart) so I ordered the kit despite it including linen to stitch it on. I’ll just replace the linen with Aida and this is the one I might just start on later today. (Oh and a word o Owl Forest – I ordered my thru an Etsy shop in the states and it got here super quick but Owl Forest does have a website and are located in Russia. I haven’t ordered from the Russian source so don’t know anything about it other than you need to make sure if you order from there you get the English charts (not Russian) – for instance New Years Sampler Russian version has the Russian alphabet on it not English Alphabet so just a heads up).
Here’s how it arrived in its own little box with the chart image on the front. This was a must have for my redbird wall. The border was what made me decided I really needed to stitch this even tho I don’t particularly like stitching borders. The flowers and fines alternate with the cutest little red birds – which are hard to see in my photo but so adorable.
Here’s what was inside the kit – linen, all the floss needed tied to cute little bobbin like cards with owls (Owl Forest logo) on them. They are smaller than normal bobbins people use for floss but I think big enough that I an punch a whole in the bottom so I can use them as floss tags on a ring so I will be unwinding that floss later today and getting it all organized. And on the bottom is a little needle minder with a needle. The chart for this one is nice and big also and easy to read. On 18 count it will end up 10.5″ square and on 20 ct 9.5″ square.
The last chart that arrived this week I had pre-ordered a couple weeks ago . This may be my St. Nicholas Day start — doesn’t everyone start a new project for St. Nicholas Day?? 🙂
I didn’t get the sled I was stitching on completely finished last night but will be finishing that one off today and then need to pull them all out and start affixing the stitchery to the sled and make sure I have all of them done that I want. I found some pretty gift boxes that I think one large and several small ones will fit in perfectly for the two people that are getting a collection of the sleds.
I definitely seem to have start-itis and need to make a list of all the projects I plan to start on specific days (and looking at the list below I will have all of next year filled up with stitching projects to switch between when I get tired of stitching on any one of them and need a change up:
And of course, these die cuts I got to use for floss tags will be used for the Christmas Eve project start.
Okay if I want to spend time stitching I need to get some cleaning done around here first. Grocery order is to be delivered soon and I haven’t even had a cup of coffee yet!
Justquiltin with Denise Russart 