Happy Dance: Alhambra Garden

Here she is finished and in all her glory! No way I'm waiting to frame this baby. :)

A Tale of Two Chatelaines

I made a deal with myself that I could go ahead and start Convent's Herbal Garden on New Year's Day IF I stitched on only Alhambra Garden the week between Christmas and New Year's AND once I spent a few days on the new start, it was back to Alhambra Garden until it is finished.

Here is the progress on Alhambra Garden - definitely starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel - but it will still be a little stretch before I can really happy dance.



And here is what I managed to accomplish in 3 days of stitching on CHG. *sigh* it isn't nearly as much as I'd hoped, but the over-one and eyelets slowed me down a bit.



The fabric is 28ct Fairy Dust, which is a soft peach tone - very yummy. I'm going to have to figure out what to do about the yellow flowers along the outside edge of the design though cause I think they will disappear on this fabric if I stitch them in the recommended 094 Lemon Waterlilies. The yellow eyelets in the picture are that same floss color, but I think they are okay here since they are surrounded by other stitching so they still pop okay.

New Year's Mish Mash 2011

I finished the finishing for both of these pieces on 12/31/2010 so that my year end list of finishes might not be quite so awful. Angel of Summer I finished back in August, but just got around to framing, and the band sampler is a round robin piece that was finished a couple of years ago already but I never got around to making it into a bell pull until now. Tool all of an hour and a half - really should not have put it off for so long! I finally found a perfect frame for AoS; though I really should have hung her and took a picture against a lighter background so you could see the frame better. Don't worry she is going to my mom's house and isn't going to hang there permenantly - that is just where I had space for her at the moment. :)

2010 Review
In 2010 my goals were to try to finish at least 3 of the following designs that were in my rotation:

Inspiration - Rosewood Manor - nope
Mother's Tree - MLI - nope
Angel of Summer - MLI - yes
Heritage Sampler - Chatelaine - nope
Alhambra Garden - Chatelaine - getting close, but nope
Stitcher's Heirloom Sampler - Victoria Sampler - nope
Hardanger Table Runner - didn't even touch this one all year. *sigh*

I also wanted to finish these completed pieces into framed pieces or other items:
Just Nan RR from a few years back - into a stitching book - nope
Band Samler RR from a few years back - into a bellpull - yes, by the skin of my teeth - see above
Mirabilia Mermaid RR - into a framed piece - nope, but I got Jill Rensel's contact info and plan to put this to the top of the list for 2011. It WILL be done. :)

2011 Goals
I'm going to shoot for 3 bigger finishes from my rotation this year too. I know that is an attainable goal for me because for years I finished 4 or 5. I just had a slower for me stitching year than usual. I just didn't pick up a needle as much. I want to get back to stitching more, so I think 3 is still reasonable.

My current rotation list is similiar to last year's:

Inspiration - Rosewood Manor
Stone Roses - Mirabilia
Mother's Tree - MLI
Persian Floral - TW
Heritage Sampler - Chatelaine
Alhambra Garden - Chatelaine
Stitcher's Heirloom Sampler - Victoria Sampler
Hardanger Table Runner
Convent's Herbal Garden - Chatelaine

If I had to guess I'd say I could finish AG, Mother's Tree, and Stitcher's Heirloom Sampler by end of 2011. I'm pretty positive that Heritage Sampler, CHG (new start on new year's day 2011) and the Hardanger Table Runner will not be finished. Stone Roses is an unlikely 4th finish if I get that far.

I'd also like to frame/finish the following:
Mirabilia Mermaid RR piece
Mirabilia Children RR piece
Just Nan RR stitching book