A finish and some framing

I finished Hot Air Balloons. Maybe one day I'll sew some binding around the edge, but probably it will just go in the drawer with the other things.

I framed Irresistible Iridescents (and it looks much better in real life)

And Desert Diamonds

And Winter Scenery. This one looks a bit funny as the picture was taken with it flat on a chair, but I've rotated the photo so you can see how it's supposed to hang to make the 'lollipop'

Desert Diamonds and other progress

I finally finished this class. I actually finished it back on the 13th of December, but I didn't get around to posting it on the blog. So here it is now.

In the evening sun.

Trying to be clever and get the stitches to show up - not sure it worked, but I still like the photo.

Before it was finished, showing the difference between having the background and not having it.

I also had a new year start (or two). I chose Echoes of Elizabeth by Gay Ann Rogers as it's been sitting in my stash calling to me for a while. And since I was doing that I also pulled out Heart of Elizabeth as the two go together. I don't have and aren't interested in the Portrait of Elizabeth, so I think these two are all I'll do of the Elizabeth pieces.

Echoes of Elizabeth

Heart of Elizabeth

I'm thinking I might finish the border on Echoes and then finish up the heart before returning to Echoes.

There has also been more progress on Hot Air Balloons by Audlem Mill too. I'm hoping to have this finished before long, and then I'll work on the third old WIP I pulled out before choosing another group of three.

And I started on the next (and last) round robin which should probably be the first thing I concentrate on stitching.

Last of all, here's my finished by others, but not me yet, round robin :) I have a plan for the corners and borders, and then I guess I'll fill in any gaps that look obvious. But I could still change my mind on what I want to do.

New stash

Yesterday I went to the annual auction for my local ANG chapter. I managed to spend only $9 so I was really pleased with myself (although I did bid more on a piece I would love to have but I didn't win). My aim was to get a painted canvas that I could practice on before I think about spending lots of money on one as I haven't done a painted canvas before.

I came home with two painted canvases, a partly started class piece, and a handful of charts*. I'm not going to put the class piece in my WIP list until I actually start working on it - I've got another couple sitting around too that I got part started off someone else but am waiting till I work on them to add them to the list. It's long enough without putting other peoples work in. As soon as I saw the hot air balloons I knew that was the canvas for me.

Speaking of hot air balloons, here's a piece I started a while back using Angelina fibres - Hot Air Balloons by Audlem Mill. I brought the kit at the Alexandra Palace stitching show last year. The lady was trialling these kits and so wanted feedback on what people thought of them. I had even started it by the next time I saw her a month or so later at the Harrogate show. For some reason I just never got around to taking a photo of it. One day I might even finish it.

And lastly I'm just going to sneak in a new start that I did the other night - Scissor Pouch from Stitching Treasures. I've had this one waiting in my stitching bag since I got it for Christmas but I kept thinking I ought to do other things instead. This week I decided to ignore all those thoughts and start it anyway. Haven't got very far yet, but I think it should be a quick stitch.

* For the curious the list of things I got at the auction are Hot Air Balloons canvas with initials AHC in the corner, Quilt Top canvas with no identification, Sue Reed's Crossing the Spectrum class piece, 1992 Keepsake Calendar, Green Apple's Conch and Sand Dollar, Great Big Graphs Funtastic Borders for T's and Sweats, Leisure Arts Christmas Journey, Funk & Weber's The Neighbourhood, Leisure Arts The Legend of the Sand Dollar.