More ornaments done

I'm almost done with my ornaments.  Here's just "a few" I've finished recently.  Some have the names on them already because I made them specifically for that person.  The others don't have the names because I either a) didn't know who they're for, or b) forgot to stitch the name before I took them out of the hoop. 

More Ornaments

Here are several more ornaments that I've finished.  I've done 13 so only 9 more to do.  And I've started painting the frames again for the Zodiac pieces.  Unfortunately I'm starting to get that "holy crap I've still got a lot to do and I'me not going to get everything done in time" feeling . . . and it's only October.

Year of the Rooster redo

Here's the redo for the Year of the Rooster.  14ct light blue Aida, 2x1, full.  Now I'm done stitching them . . . . again.  Hopefully I won't run into any problems when I try to frame them that would cause me to restitch one again. 

Year of the Snake - redo

So here is the first of the ones I've had to redo because the gridlines wouldn't wash out of the dark green fabric.  It's the Year of the Snake.  The other one I have to do is Year of the Rooster.  Everything is the same as last time except the fabric is a pale blue (so I could use my blue grid pen which I KNOW will wash out).

More ornaments done

So I've got 3 more ornaments done for my Christmas project.  That makes 7 so far.  Only 15 more to go.  At least to stitch anyway.  I've still got to stitch the names and year on the backside, sew together and stuff.  Hopefully I'll get them all done in time.  This whole Christmas present project has taken up a lot of my time that I'm getting tired of it.  And I'm having to restitch 2 of the Zodiacs because the grid lines wouldn't wash out.  I've got one of them done but I still have one more to do.

Chinese Zodiac - ALL FINISHED!!!!!

I can't believe it.  I'm all done stitching the Chinese Zodiac characters for my family.  All I've got to do now is paint the frames, frame them and stitch and assemble the xmas ornaments I'm making.  I might actually be done months before xmas gets here.  And the best part is I'm not having to scramble around finding the money to buy gifts.  They'd already be done.

Here's the last one.  It's for me.  Year of the Dog.  14ct lavender Aida, 2x1, full.

Year of the Pig

My next to last finish.  Yeah!  It's the Year of the Pig on 14ct Mulberry Aida, 2x1, full.  I thought it would look absolutely wonderful on this fabric but it didn't turn out as well as I would have liked.  I think a lighter fabric would have been much better.  I don't know how I'm going to do the frame for this one.  It's for my niece and her room is all in red.  I'll figure something out eventually.  I only have one left to do and it's mine so I can take all the time in the world . . . but I'm not.

You know the feeling you get when you get so close to finishing a project.  Suddenly, a project that you once dragged your feet through gets faster and easier to do.  You become hyper-focused on the project and excited to finally see it finished . . . and the chance to start something new.  That's how I feel about this one.  I'm almost done with the next one after only working on it for 2 days.  I could finish it tonight.  Then I've got a bunch of small ornaments to do (although they have a lot of backstitching on them which I hate) and then I'm done with the stitching part of this xmas gifts.  I can't wait to dive into the painting again.  For some reason I don't feel like painting while it's super hot here.

Year of the Sheep (4) FINISHED!

This is my last Year of the Sheep and it's finished.  AND I changed the colors.  I think it turned out better than the rat that I changed colors but I should have picked a darker brown for the color and inside the ears so the transition stands out more.  I also should have used a darker brown for the backstitching.  I'm still happy with it and I'm not going to nitpick about it.  Now I only have 2 left to stitch.

14ct red Aida, 2x1, full

Ornaments Xmas 2012

So I've been thinking.  Dangerous I know.  What I've been thinking about is the Chinese Zodiac projects I've been stitching up.  I'm pretty sure that some of the guys (okay probably all of them) will not be that enthusiastic about getting 'em for Xmas presents.  I thought about what would make this better so I was thinking about things I got for xmas.

One of those things was each year I had a Grandmother who would buy an ornament and tape it to the outside of our gifts.  When we opened the gift we could put our new ornament on the tree.  She always tried to find something that we were interested in.  One brother got a lot of drum ornaments because he played.  I got a lot of dance stuff.  Another brother got a lot of music stuff.  Nothing really exciting but when we looked at the tree it was nice to know some of those ornaments were yours.

One year, as we were taking down the ornaments my mom started sorting them in different boxes.  We were to get all our own ornaments to hang on our own tree.  We were all moved out of the house so we could have our own tree.  It was nice to get a shoebox full of ornaments that I could shift through.  I don't remember what gifts I got with each ornament but sometimes I could remember what ornaments my siblings got just by looking at mine.  And every ornament was a memory of my grandmother.

So . . . I decided to stitch up ornaments for everybody and stitch their name and year on the back.  They might not like those any better than the Chinese Zodiac, but maybe many years down the line when they have a shoebox full of ornaments (if my parents or my siblings decide to take up the tradition) they might have a memory of me to hang on their tree each year.  "Oh this one!  My Aunt Gwenn made it for me."

I got this idea right at the end of June and thought for sure that someone would have a "Christmas in July" sale.  Sure enough 123stitch.com did.  I moved a bunch of ornament books to my cart but ended up getting some of them at the local store (full price for everything I got was still cheaper than the sale with shipping).  I didn't get all the books but maybe I'll pick up more later.  I did have 12 xmas patterns that someone in college had given me.  These first 4 designs are from that collection.

So while I only have 3 more Chinese Zodiacs to stitch I now have 18 more ornaments to do.  And, yes, I'll be doing one for myself as well.  I want something to remind me of this crazy year.  I got waste canvas to stitch their names on felt for the backing and it will be my first time using that but I'm looking forward to it.

Here's what I've done so far:

Year of the Snake (3) FINISHED!

Here's the last of the Year of the Snake.  Still 14ct Aida, 2x1 full.  I thought it would look better on the green than it does.  Maybe when I wash the white lines off it will look better.  I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to paint the frame for this one.  I have time to experiment.  I only have 3 left and that includes the one I'm doing for myself.  I'm actually getting really excited to finish these and start to get them frame.  I still have a lot of the frames I need to paint but I can't wait until I'm finished with the whole project.