The End of the Stitching Year, The Beginning of the New

It doesn't seem possible to me that 2016 ends tonight. Where did the time go?
Wherever, it is gone, and it is a reminder that 2017, so full of promise now as I look ahead, will vanish almost as quickly.

I ended this year working on a couple of holiday hearts; I will begin next year finishing a set of instructions and working on some small kits for my February Sale. But these tasks won't take too long and when I finish them, my time will belong to me.

My big event in 2017 will be the arrival of my portrait of Eleanor of Aquitaine on May 2, 2017.
The good news is that Eleanor is finished and proofed and the kits are almost finished. All I have to do is print the instructions and check the kits.

In addition I have a great start on E-Week 2017 which is still 10 months away.

All this means I will have time to stitch. I should have at least 3 months stitching time this spring.
So what do I plan to do?
Stitch two samplers, maybe even a third one.
And I plan to keep at my followers to stitch along with me.

To begin the New Year, I've written TWO sets of New Years Resolutions for Stitchers.
I will post them on my website near midnight tonight and we will start the year right, with our needles in our hands. Bright and early tomorrow morning.

Happy New Year! Here's hoping the New Year is indeed filled with time in the company of our needles.

Gay Ann
www.GayAnnRogers.com

Jolly Holiday: Making Time for Stitching!

I can't believe where the last months have gone.
I keep turning around to see if they are really behind me. Truth: they are!

For me this holiday season so far has been all about food! Sweet food, which I find impossible to resist. I have my English grandmother's terrible sweet tooth, and this year I have Marcia and Ferris to thank for a huge box of my favorite candy, Judy A to thank for a delicious tin of home-made Christmas cookies, Dave and Clyde to thank for wonderful Baklava, and too many other goodies that I have all too happily devoured. And it isn't even over yet.

I am still (yes STILL) waiting for the last of the things I owe people to arrive, namely scissors and needles. I keep calling the distributor and asking and they keep telling me it will only be a couple of days more. A couple of days has morphed into 2 months. Hopefully it will all end early in the New Year.

If they had come now, I would have had to abandon the season and pack packages, so I guess there is always a bit of silver lining, in that I can enjoy the season and also have some time for stitching.
I am stitching early in the mornings, and again in the late afternoons, nice way to begin what will be a busy day, and nice way to end it too, and yesterday I am happy to write that I just finished a jeweled sewing case, a pretty one if I do say so. It was so satisfying to take the last stitch. In this case the last stitch was sewing on a pretty little pearl.

The holidays are such a fun time to stitch and this afternoon I started a Christmas design. Even though I won't finish it in time for Christmas, it is such fun to work on something season-appropriate. So what am I working on? A heart that is a Christmas Dress, all in red and green. I wanted to make it plaid, but even the smallest plaid is too bold for the small scale. Then happily I came across a stitch that looks a bit like a plaid but is more delicate. I am anxious to see if it works.

I always write on my website at this time of year: I know everybody is so busy, but it is both helpful and healthy to take a few deep breaths and take a few stitches. Kick back and pick up your needle and relax and lose yourself in a handful pretty threads and colors. I am absolutely convinced that stitching is a form of meditation. Relaxation is necessary even in the busiest of times.

Gay Ann