2021 Year in Review

 Happy New Year!

2021 went by so incredibly fast. I hope yours went well! 

I do not believe any of my blogging goals were met, but it was a productive year. I made a tiny bit of progress on Fractal White Tiger.

Fractal White Tiger 12/31/2020

Fractal White Tiger 12/31/2021

A bit more progress on Twilight Duel. 

Twilight Duel 12/31/2020

Twilight Duel 12/31/2021

And I nearly finished the little Santa I have been working on with our 3-week stitch-along (SAL.) Note: this photo shows how it looked on December 26th when my husband insisted I take time to relax for a bit. 

Due to issues with my IT band, I had to give up my running goals. However, I discovered Let's Get Up! and the 21-Day Fix through Beachbody on Demand and my IT band feels sooo much better after completing both of these programs. I am hoping to work running back into my routine in 2022, but am not going to push it.

2022 Bullet Journal

In 2021, I also made the (tiny bit terrifying) decision to go back to school. This month I begin graduate school to earn an elementary education teaching degree. I am so fortunate to work with a great team of people that truly feel like family. However, I really miss helping students learn. So, I am both a bit sad to be leaving them and also excited about what the future holds.

2022 is going to be a year of change. So my goals this year are simple.

1.) Continue working out and making healthier food choices.

2.) Succeed at school.

3.) Spend more time with family and friends.

4.) Make visible progress on Twilight Duel and Fractal White Tiger.

5.) Complete one crazy quilt project.

If your goals for the year include learning hand embroidery or improving or expanding your hand embroidery skills, Sharon Boggon will be offering her Take a Stitch Tuesday Challenge again this year. You may learn more about it here. The first stitch has just been shared in this post.

For anyone curious, the 5 most viewed blog post in December were:

1.) 2013 Winter Challenge Results Posted at Evening Star Designs

2.) Christmas Project: SAL Update 4

3.) Christmas Project: SAL Update 3

4.) Polymer Clay Snowman Motif

5.) CQI Winter/Christmas DYB RR - Barbara's block is done!

Thanks for stopping by! I wish you and yours an amazing year and good health.

-Renee

Christmas Project: SAL Update 4

 

Is it just me, or does 3 weeks seem to pass in the blink of an eye? I cannot believe this is our last Stitch Along (SAL) update of the year already!

I have made a bit of progress on Santa. There are a couple of photos with a quarter to really demonstrate the size of this jolly fellow. He is stitched 2-over-1 on 28-count evenweave.

The photo above shows how he looked in our last update.

I do hope you will stop by to see what everyone else is working on. We are in different time zones, so if a post is not up, please check back a bit later.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Constanze,

Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy,

Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan,

Deborah, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy,

Anne, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen

As this is our last update of the year, I thought I would also share photos of Twilight Duel at the end of 2020 and from my last update in 2021. 

Twilight Duel December 31, 2020

Twilight Duel July 24, 2021

For those of you that share my beliefs, I wish you a very merry Christmas. And if your beliefs differ, I wish you a wonderful holiday season.

Warm wishes to you all!

Renee

Christmas Project: SAL Update 3

 

In the future, I need to remember to only stitch 2-over-2 on 32-count evenweave. My idea of working on this during my lunch hour did not work out because the stitches are soooo tiny that I can only work on it under my Ottlite with the magnifying glass. It is so much fun to watch Santa emerge, though!  (I took a photo with my needle to give an idea of just how small this piece is.)

The photo below shows my progress in our last SAL update. Please note the colors in the photo above are more accurate. It was dark out, so I had poor lighting for the photo below.

Please stop by to see the wonderful projects everyone else in our SAL is working on.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Constanze,

Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy,

Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan,

Deborah, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy,

Anne, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Thank you for stopping by!

Renee

Christmas Project: SAL Update 2

 

I actually managed to work a bit of stitching into my schedule! 

The nearest craft store no longer carries waste canvas, so I ordered some online. As of yesterday, it had not arrived. Determined to get started on this project, I searched through the cross-stitch fabrics I have here at home and found a perfectly-sized piece of 28-Count Evenweave. I chose to use that instead of the holly fabric shared in our last update.

This project is #32 in the Santa Designs section of the book 501 Cross Stitch Designs by Sam Hawkins. 

I do hope you will stop in and see the lovely projects everyone else is working on! 

Avis, Claire, Gun, Constanze,

Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy,

Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan,

Deborah, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy,

Anne, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Thank you for stopping by!
Renee

Christmas Project: SAL Update 1

I will be taking a brief break from Twilight Duel. However, there is a Christmas project I will be working on as soon as I am able to pick up more waste canvas. It is hard to see in this photo, but the white fabric is a holly print. The project is small enough to travel with and to work on during my lunch break.

Please stop by to see what everyone else has been working on. 

Avis, Claire, Gun, Constanze,

Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy,

Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan,

Deborah, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy,

Anne, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Thank you for stopping by!

Renee