The year that was and the year that will be (hopefully)!

I'm a good few days late with this, but I didn't feel like blogging much lately and, to be honest, I couldn't persuade myself to do a lot of stitching either after my stitch-and-blog fest in November!  Boom and bust, perhaps?  Well, one thing that I decided to do in future is to spread my posts out a bit when I'm on a stitching roll so that I can keep the blog going more when I'm going through a dry phase.=)

So, what did I achieve embroidery-wise during 2011?  Well, most importantly, I did a great deal better than the previous year when I had a record low of only 3 finishes!  This year witnessed 13 or 14 completions, a vast improvement!

Carried over from 2010, I finished off:
*The fish and waterviolets design from a Helen M Stevens book and made it into a scatter cushion.
*The goldwork viola, which is still waiting to have something final done with it; and
*The narrowboat cross stitch, which I hope to get framed at some point and hang in our living room.

Carried over from childhood (so UFOs for nearing 30 years!), I finished:
*Needlepoint giraffe, now waiting to be finished up into a cushion; and
*2 needlepoint birds, one which needed half the background completing whilst the other needed some repairs.

Started new and completed in 2011 were a number of smalls:
*2 cross stitched cards - one for DH's anniversary card and the other for a wedding;
*A cross stitched bookmark, which was finished up and given to Charlie;
*Hardanger card for a Chinese couple whose wedding I was a witness at;
*Ribbon embroidered gate and flower piece, mounted in a card
*A keyring for DH for said anniversary; and
*Silver and violet heart, mounted in a card for a 25th wedding.

Started, but not quite completed as of 31 December 2011:
*A dogrose needle painting, to be finished up into a manicure set holder; and
*A small stumpwork poppy and beetle from a deleted DMC kit.

And what of the year to come?  What's planned for 2012?

Well, first of all is, of course, to finish what's already been started, so:
*Dogrose needle painting and finish up
*Stumpwork poppy and beetle
*Make up giraffe cushion

Other than that, the big project of the year is to do as much of TAST 2012 as I can.  I made a good start with the week one stitch(es) and hope I can keep up both the getting it done the same week and being able to produce something pictorial with it.  The fact that there are others doing the challenge and trying to do roughly the same means that I have a 'group' to work with and lots of others' ideas to enjoy.

Something else that I have in mind (and which may even be done by the time this post goes live, as are 2 of the above listed projects!  Patience, patience....!!), is to do some stumpwork bugs which were requested for the 'Crazy Quilt Gatherings' magazine.  More on that soon...

I also want to work a few more pieces of stumpwork and some more needle paintings.  I got the 'Fresh Ideas For Beginners' book for our copper anniversary (12½ years - yes, really!), so I want to have a go at one or two of those projects, although the smaller pieces don't sit quite right with me.  It's hard to get a good design balance with just one bloom and I often feel that Trish's singles are a bit lop-sided, but I can soon change the layout.  I do need the practice with shading though.  I've also got a copy of Hazel Everett's goldwork book on the way....

So, it should be a productive year!  Let's see now....

© Elizabeth Braun 2012