The Saturday Before Christmas

I've been trying to get back in the stitching groove with this cross stitch project I've been working on for years. I thought it would work with my current vision but the aida cloth is 14 count and that is really too small for me. I've been using a hand held magnifying glass but I really need one on a stand. The light gold and white on the white aida is killing me.  If you have any suggestions, I'd love to know which one to buy.

This is a picture from the last time I showed my progress on it. I did work on it in the meantime and had finished the gate and the lower half of the border.

This is what the finished piece will look like, so I've got a lot to do yet.  The last time I worked on it, I didn't take off the hoop because I thought I would be working on it again right away.  That was at least a year ago and the hoop wrinkle is pretty noticeable.  I hope it comes out after I wash it.

A few days ago, our Christmas plans were to stay home alone and eat whatever we felt like cooking, and spending some quality time in our hobby room.  That will probably change now because my mom fell and may have had a stroke.  She is in the hospital now and no one is allowed in.  We are waiting for news that she has been released and then Hubby will take me to her house so I can help her.  He has to work a couple of days next week, so we don't know if we will be able to spend Christmas together or if we will be apart for the first time in 45 years.  This is such an odd time we are living in right now.

I'm joining Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.

Week 8 Sewing Reports of 2019

I haven't been doing a lot of stitching lately. Between sitting with my mother-in-law and working on the house, and trying to keep up with cooking and cleaning, my days are pretty full.

I've been using one of my Amazon "oops" purchases though. It was sold as a computer light, because the cord plugs into a USB port. I thought this would be a reading light that I could mount beside the bed in the trailer. But it has a clamp instead of a base and won't mount to the shelf the way I wanted. Instead, I clamped it to the cabinet beside my chair and forgot about it. But when I started working on my cross stitch project again, I found it is just perfect.

It's arm bends in any direction so I can adjust it to direct the light just where I need it. When I'm not using it for stitching or reading, I bend the arm over my chairside cabinet. It has several light settings and I can use it as a night light when we're out of the trailer or bright light. And to think, I was so disappointed with it at first that I thought of returning it. Now it's my favorite light.  In the pictures below, the trailer ceiling lights remained the same.  The only difference is the light from the reading light.

Here is the progress I've made so far on my stitching.

Now for the stitching reports. I'm afraid I fell below my 70% success stitching goal and I haven't made any progress on stash reduction. We may have workers here this week, and if so, I'll find a place to sew rather than work on the house and risk being in their way.

Linking to:
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

Last Sunday Stitching Reports of 2018

I meant to make a Christmas Day post wishing everyone a happy holiday. But we spent Christmas Eve frantically packing and tying up loose ends so we could leave early Christmas morning for a twelve hour drive to our youngest daughter's house. Our son-in-law was working and our eldest daughter wanted to spend Christmas day at home with her boys. It didn't bother us to postpone our celebration a few days. We rediscovered that driving on Christmas day is the same as Thanksgiving day. The only places open were convenience stores, and only a handful of those had an adjoining restaurant that was open. Luckily, we had tossed in a package of bread and vienna sausage (which I have said I would never eat again, but hunger does funny things to people.)

I thought about taking my EPP (English paper piecing) kit, but I grabbed an unfinished cross stitch project instead. I can't even remember when I started this; it's been years. I stayed up late the night before, so I spent the drive up there reading and napping, and looking at the beautiful Arkansas scenery. Once there, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to find any time to stitch. Brownie's boys are a couple of whirling dervishes, and having a needle and thread near them would be a disaster. But they had long naps and went to bed early, so there was time to get quite a bit of work done.

With that project, I maintained my 100% success rate for December and raised my year's rate to 45%. Two more days of December and I should end December with 100%. First. Time. Ever. My yearly goal for 2019 is 70%, but if it doesn't happen, I'm not going to be too disappointed. This year has taught me that goals should be flexible.

Since I spent the majority of this week cross-stitching, my stash has remained static. Nothing in and nothing out. Next year, I want to make headway reducing my existing stash, not just using what I bring in. I am going to have to spend some time making sure I have unpacked all my fabric before the start of 2019.

I forgot to put my weekly goals in this post, and since that really seems to help me, I'm adding this late:
1. Join Depression Blocks into 2 rows.
2. Lovers Knot Blocks, make 1 red
3. Pond Lily, make 1 red
4. Snowball Blossom, make 1 red

Join me as I link to these linky parties for Sunday stitching:
15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts