What has been finished in January

So pleased to have completed so many projects this month. For me January is a time of catch up and being out of my usual routine because of the summer break (and if the weather is hot) I really enjoy this extra home time. It is very satisfying to look back over the last few weeks I see what has been achieved apart from the tidy and cleaning out of cupboards!! As we will be moving to a townhouse in the future I am now being very strict when asking myself the question 'do I really need this'. So many times I have kept items because of the memories attached to them. I now take photos of the item and find that way I can let things go. For my Smalls SAL 2015 I can say that I completed three new items. Sophie's Pin cushion was turned into a project bag as the design just went so well with some fabric I had. I did change the zig zag border as I felt the black was too heavy. The next item was a canvaswork scissor keeper designed by Sue Hawkins. Love all her designs and these are the colours I really love. The third item was another scissor keeper worked in cream and a Needle Necessities Overdyed Pearl Thread. My own design - very simple stitches so no designing skill involved.

The second photo is showing other items completed this year. I always have a small 'carry with me' project in my bag - something small, easy on the eyes to stitch, not a lot of changes of thread - it is my emergency kit if I am waiting somewhere with time to spare. The problem is these small items get stitched and then put aside to do the finishing off later but later never seems to come. I got a bit of a shock to find so many of these so decided they had to take some priority on my 'to do list'. Happy to say this resulted in the following being completed - 9 canvaswork strawberries, 2 silk strawberries, 10 canvaswork reindeers and a one cross stitch tiny bonbon. Have I set myself a pace for the rest of the year ??? - not sure but really hope to complete quite a few more UFO's in the cupboard and will be trying hard to use up from the stash and not buy more

I got quite a shock to see that people have still been viewing my blog when it is so long ago that I write on it. I always enjoyed reading other peoples blogs so felt it was time I got back into recording some of the things I enjoy. I guess a new year a new start. It is always good to look forward to a new year with high hopes of what can be achieved but also good to look back. So 2014 highlights - yes I achieved something that I had always wanted to do - I attended the Beating Around the Bush festival of embroidery in Adelaide with two friends. The classes with Betsy Morgan and Christine Bishop were superb and the projects though large will certainly get finished. The Japanese beading class with Margaret Lee was also interesting and again a project that will take some time before it is finished. I also really took a big step outside my comfort zone and have been involved in a volunteer position as a role player at the Police Academy. This is something I would never have dreamed I would be doing but the more I am involved the more I enjoy it. The recruits are in the 19th week of their 33 week course and the role I play can be so varied from being a drug dealer, a petty thief etc or a role in family violence. Stitching really seemed to be a bit hit and miss with no huge projects completed but I guess a lot of knitting took its place plus I did catch up on a lot of reading - a total of over 50 books for the year. So my promise to myself is to try to be a better blogger and take photos of interest and post them to my blog.