My first Smalls Report for 2018

How did this happen - one month of 2018 almost finished.  I 'm not happy with the speed at which the days are racing by.  In just 4 days I will be heading for hospital for a knee replacement operation. I'm getting very nervous as the day approaches.

I have been stitching Christmas ornaments this month. Thirteen stitched and finished up, all destined to be gifts for Christmas 2018.

This one is for a favourite aunt.
It grew as I stitched, so no designer to credit for this one.

This tree also just grew as I stitched. It is for a very special teenager with special needs.

This group of ornaments are for the four-legged members if our extended family. The stocking design is adapted from LA's Christmas Caboodle #4 leaflet, and the Santa hat initials are adapted from Alma Lynne's Christmas Alphabets and Borders  booklet.

More little stocking ornaments - these are for our 2017 babies, who will be celebrating their second Christmasses. The tiny teddy is adapted from a Graphworks design (Mini Motif Designs for Christmas #8)

This pair of Santas is for a greatniece and greatnephew, first cousins. Santa is a Barbara Mock design, from Dimensions #4 Christmas Quickies booklet.

And finally, two angels. The pink one
 is for another greatniece. It is heavily adapted from TIAG's 1986 Amish Angel. The purple angel is for a friend with a passion for both purple and quirky angels. This one was adapted from the angel in Folk Art Nativity published in an early issue of US Christmas Cross Stitcher.

I will be popping in to all the Smalls Reports to see all the lovely Smalls stitched in January.

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Gifted Gorgeousness Report for January

It's been a busy start to the New Year for me, with lots of  physiotherapy, doctor visits and tests. I head off to hospital at the end of January for a knee replacement, with the second one to follow as soon as I recover. This is my first post for 2018, but I have been stitching whenever I can.

Once more, all my planned stitching for this year will qualify for the Gifted Gorgeousness report run by Jo at Serendepitous Stitching. Everything on my stitching list is destined to be gifted - mostly as Christmas gifts. The only exception is my HAED WIP Christmas Dreams, which is definitely being stitched just for me.  It qualifies for the GG Report on the basis that the chart, fabric, and most of the floss was purchased with birthday and Christmas gift cards or cash. I do hope to stitch on it at some stage this year. This will be my third year on this WIP, and I have finished just 19 of the 66 chart pages.

So far this year I have stitched, but not yet finished up, 12 Christmas ornaments. My plan is to finish these designs into Christmas ornaments in the next 2 weeks, but this is what they look like now.

These four are for the 4-legged members of my extended family.  I used Alma Lynne's Santa Hat alphabet (A-Z Christmas Alphabets & Borders) for three of the designs, and for the other one my old favourite the (heavily adapted) Christmas stocking from LA's Christmas Caboodle #4 booklet.

Santa is a Barbara Mock design from Dimensions #175 Christmas Quickies. I did change most of the floss colours, using what I had in my work-basket. These two ornaments are for 3 yr old great niece and nephew (first cousins).

This one is for an angel-loving friend. It is heavily adapted from the angel design in the Folk Art Nativity feature in the US Christmas Cross Stitcher magazine, 2003.

This set is adapted from LA's Christmas Stocking design in LA's Christmas Caboodle leaflet. The little teddy is adapted from the Teddy Merry Christmas design in Graphworks Mini Motif Designs Christmas Vol 8. These ornaments are for our babies who will celebrate their second Christmases in 2018 (all first cousins).

This angel is very heavily adapted from TIAG's 1986 Amish Angel on-line freebie, and is for a 7 yr old great-niece.

No designer to credit for this one - it's one of my beaded trees. This is for a young girl I expect to be a Christmas visitor this year. This is the first ornament I have made for Molly.

That brings me to the end of my GG report. I am pleased to be part of this group again this year. I may not be able to report every month, but I will be hopping in and out to check everyone's progress reports.