When things go awry on a holiday ...

I guess I should be happy as we move into a new year… but I’m not.

I have been disillusioned in regards to my relatives. I usually try to give them the benefit of the doubt. People say I should be nicer. I should overlook their imperfections …and then when things go missing, I should go and buy new ones. I have too much anyway and I should share the wealth. 

I am done with that line of thinking. The people who tout the “Be nice. You have more than you need. You need to give to others.” mantra are usually the ones who sneak in when no one is looking and suck you dry of whatever is on their radar that day. 

But there comes a point where it is no longer giving. It becomes taking, and taking and taking again… without permission. In the real world we call that stealing. Kids should be made to realize that you don’t steal from people no matter if you think they have more than they need; and you need that thing they have so why not take it. No one is looking. No one will know. 

But we do know and we feel icky as we realize we are related to a thief and wonder if this person will walk the path of the good or the path of evil. Now is the time in their lives when it is when they decide if they will be a good person or a bad person.

I, for one, hope they pick the right path. Because what they may find down the other road may be more than they bargained for.

I guess I should pray for them. It is the right thing to do. And I will pray for me too that I have a grateful heart for all the blessings I do have. I thank God for that.

December WIPS (works in progress)

December WIPS

I have been in a really weird mood this December and have not stitched on anything very Christmas-like. I did pick up Star of Magi ornament from Tempting Tangles in an older Just Cross Stitch ornament magazine. All those specialty stitches are giving me fits.

Star of Magi by Tempting Tangles

I am a littler farther than this picture shows but I wanted to show you what the piece looked like.

The next piece is quite a different piece for a December WIP:

Plague Doctor by BuzzBeeDesigns on Etsy

There is a SAL group (stitch-along) on Facebook if you want to join in on stitching this design.

Here is the link to the group if you want to join in: https://www.facebook.com/groups/117127498953109/

The other WIP I have been working on is quite an inspiring one…

Power of Love by Stoney Creek

I worked on this most of November because I just needed something easy to do. But that box at the bottom was just too confetti heavy for me. There are three more of those little flowers at the top and I am not doing that. I will replace it with some more of these leaves and vines.

Coffee Quaker by Heartstring Samplry

I have enjoyed working on this. I think I only switched out because I needed something to work on. But this is a great pattern. Check it out if you want to do something on the easy side.

It is all about the finish..

I did have a finish in December.

Cobbblestone Crossing by Stone Street Stitchworks on Etsy

This was a fun and relaxing stitch. It was a good in-between project. The fabric is a bit darker than it is showing here.

Another finish was Honolulu by Awesome Pattern Studio on Etsy

That is all for me on the WIP front thus far. I hope to post a lot more in 2018 of my WIP progress.

Have a good one.

Toni Walker

Creative-You Cross Stitch & Crochet

Check me out on IG: tonispywriter

Year of WIPS 2018 - WIP-Apocalypse

Year of WIPS 2018 - WIP-Apocalypse

I am really in the head-space of getting my over 35 WIPs (works in progress) into the FO (finished objects) pile. I do have these bouts of wanting to start all the things. And that is quickly followed by the “I need to get all the things I have done first.”

Last year at the beginning of the year, I was all into wanting to make 2017 the year of the full coverage piece. Obviously, that didn’t pan out. I am not a confetti stitcher. In 2014 (back when I had only 3 WIPS) a small 100x100 full coverage piece called River Road Doorway by Ursula Michael had me all tied up into knots. So, I am not certain how I ever thought I would be a successful full coverage stitcher.

I do tend to gravitate to pieces that are about medium in size and that would fill a 15x18 piece of 14 count Aida. When I did the Pretty Little London city by Satsuma Street, that took me an entire month. If I go by that guide, I should probably only be stitching about 12 pieces a year. But in 2017 I had a record 29 finishes! I even finished a few long time projects like Daisy pixie by Nora Corbett and Daisy Just a Chart by Janlynn (a full coverage piece). 

I had a lot of cross stitch wins this last year. But this has also be a trying year for me too professionally. The last four months has been the most difficult. I am just all kinds of exhausted. I think I need a month off to recover.

I work at a daily newspaper, we own a number of newspapers in one corporation of which we are responsible for the production of most of the ads, special sections, tabs, booklets (our own and some storage unit booklets we subcontract for). The last four years have seen a lot of turnover in our department. Plus we upgraded our systems twice in that time. One was a transition from QuarkXpress to InDesign that made us delve into learning an entirely new system.

During this time I have practically abandoned my reading time and dove straight into my cross-stitching to relieve my stress and get my mind off of everything work related. I am just overwhelmed and weary.

So, yeah this year I will focus on my WIPs and try to complete them. I pulled out a list of my top 19 projects I want to try and complete in 2018. Wish me luck. See the list above for what I am working on. 

Hope you have a great 2018 stitching season.

Check me out on IG: tonispywriter

Toni Walker

Creative-You Cross-Stitch and Crochet

What I am all into

Do you ever look at your stash and suddenly want to stitch all the things? ME TOO!

I was looking, as I said, in my cross stitch pattern/magazine stash and came up with a few I just had to start. 

This is He Is Risen by Little House Needleworks. 

It is in the March/April 2010 Just Cross Stitch Magazine. 

This is Winter Quilts by Ursula Michael
in the January 2006 Stitcher's World Magazine.

Whoops! It is sideways.
Old World Santa by Carol Emmer. It is in the July 2005 Stitcher's World.

The last few days I have just been wanting to stitch so much "stuff" but in reality, I haven't had a ton of time to stitch due to overwhelming times at work. But I cherish the times I do have.

BB Glasses (Before the Bifocals)
Another thing I am all into is wearing by before the bifocals glasses. In 2012 I had to get bifocals. And it hasn't been an easy road. But I discovered it is much easier to read my patterns with my old glasses. I call them my BB glasses (before bifocal).

That is all for now. 

Thanks for checking out my blog

Toni Walker

Creative-You Cross Stitch & Crochet

Follow me in IG: Tonispywriter