Saturday, January 01, 2011

First Post in the New Year!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2011!

My DH and I had an enjoyable evening last night enjoying hors du oeuvres and watching movies, and I found time for some stitching! We have always spent New Year's Eve at home; it's our holiday for rest and relaxation.

I had hoped to have a final finish for 2010, but was unable to make the deadline; however, I am very, very close. Sampler Game Board from The Drawn Thread was my New Year's Day start back in 2006. It has languished in the WIP (or perhaps UFO would be more accurate) pile for five years. A few weeks ago, I decided it was finally time to finish it and I have been working on it a little bit here and there since November. Unfortunately, I still have 16 squares to go, so as I finished stitching the border last night, I added the year 2011! It will get finished this year.



As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I joined the Crazy January Challenge. It is a crazy challenge, but I have had a lot of fun going through my stash in preparation for this challenge. If you are not familiar with the plan, let me summarize for you. Pick 15 projects, start one of them on each of the first 15 days in January, then try to finish them in 2011.

Okay, so stitching is supposed to be fun, right? That's why many of us who have accepted this challenge have tailored it to meet our needs. I am going to work some of my current WIPs into the list, and some of my selections will be smaller projects. Maybe I'll finish the 15 projects, maybe I won't - but as I already stated, it sure has been fun planning it out!

So, with that said, and in no particular order - here are my first 14 projects. Yep, I still have to figure out what the 15th one is going to be!

1. CHS Alphabet Blocks (WIP - 4 blocks completed, 4 blocks partially completed)

2. SP Jenny Bean Halloween Sampler (WIP)

3. Heartstring Samplery Poppy Maye Russell

4. BBD Flowers for Sarah (WIP - but it only has about 10 stitches in it!)

5. CSS Quaker Medallion Sampler (thanks Diana!)

6. BRD Blessed Beyond Measure

7. BOAF Happy Hearts Sampler

8. BBD Peacock Pinkeep

9. Chessie & Me Scarlet's Christmas Sampler

10. BBD Joyeux Noel

11. SP Jenny Bean Christmas Sampler

12. WMN Blue House Needleminder

13. HS Folk Art Hornbook

14. CSS I Sigh Not For Beauty

15. TBD

I know, it's quite an ambitious list. Without a doubt there will be other projects throughout the year that I will want to stitch.

So now, it's time to hit the stitchy chair and start my first piece for 2011. Which one do you think it will be? I'll give you a clue, it won't be any of the WIPs on the list...

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful and warm New Year's Day filled with family and friends and time for stitching!

18 comments:

Julianne said...

Cathy,

Happy New Year!

I wish you many hours of happiness in your stitching chair over the next 12 months. I am looking forward to seeing your many projects.

Have fun.

pj said...

Cathy, that is quite the list for 2011~ Good luck and I know you will work hard on completing many! I have looked over your blog today to actually start a list of my own and am working on the 1st one now. We should see lots of pictures with all the bloggers involved in such a challenge. Busy needles!!!! pam

Anonymous said...

Great to see another pal join in on the challenge - I look forward to watching your progress. I agree with you, I had so much fun pulling charts from my stash!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful 2011 :D

BrendaS said...

Your Sampler Game Board looks so pretty! I am not doing the 15 challenge but I am going to cheer on everyone who does -- GOOD LUCK to you.

Happy New Year!

Margaret said...

Fantastic! Love your game board. And your 15 list is great! It's going to be fun seeing all your projects!

Katrina said...

Cathy, fun, fun, fun projects! I love your list :-). Your sampler gameboard is gorgeous too.

Meadows08 said...

Good luck with your challenge!

Lynn said...

Just watching this challenge is going to be fun!! I look forward to seeing all your stitches.

~JoAnn~ said...

Hi I too joined in for the crazy challenge and am so glad to see that you are including wip's I have tons as I seem to never finish anything I start!! A direct quote from my husband :). Will keep popping in to see your progress, I am already behind as usual :) :)
blessings,Joann

Gabi said...

Happy New Year Cathy.
It's a gorgeous list. And doesn't matter if you finish all or not...you sure will have fun with these projects :)

Giovanna said...

Happy New Year! The gameboard is looking great - not much left to do!

Hazel said...

Happy new year! I wish you all the best at getting your wips finished. Look forward to your progress. xx

Sue said...

I love your Game Board, looks lovely. You DO have an ambitious list but as I look at what people accomplish in a year I'm so amazed. Hopefully you'll amaze yourself and get all 15 finished.

Julie said...

Your Game Board looks great! You have a lot of fun projects on your list - I can't wait to see your progress pictures!

Bekca said...

Happy New Year! I look forward to watching you progress through all these projects, it is certainly ambitious! Happy stitching.

Kathy A. said...

I remember your sampler gameboard Cathy. It is wonderful. You so inspired me I bought the chart myself. It is buried somewhere in my stash with the fabric. Hmmm - I wonder where?

Andrea said...

Good luck with the challenge. Looking forward to some of those hittting the finish pile.

WendyJo said...

Happy New Year to you Cathy!

You have a wonderful selection of projects lined up for this year. I will look forward to seeing your progress throughtout the year!!