Round and Round We Go

I did a lot of Jessica stitches this week - all those pink ones in the middle. I also added some Algerian eyes to the outer area. It's coming along and I'm almost done with part one of three. Of course, the group ends at the end of the month. Think I'll catch up?

Beginning to Fill the Egg

You have to look at the enlarged picture to see most of this week's stitching, since it's mainly half stitches. They're quicker to do than full stitches, and take up less floss, so I get more progress. Four of these eggs, all the way around, and stripes with cross and specialty stitches tying them together. This one is definitely going with me to Kosovo, so I'll still make progress there. When I stitch.

Another Big Flower

This week, I got a big part of the band done - one of the two large side flowers. I even managed to start a second. All that's left of this band after these flowers is the trellis sides and bottom and then the straight line across the bottom upside down from the top one.

See Some Stars Yet?

I completed part two of See the Star, and now have new colors on it. I think my color choices are coming together pretty well. The next part doesn't come out until the beginning of the month.

My First February Finish

About time, after nine finishes last month. I finished Rita's round robin block and sent it on earlier this week. This top picture is the naked block as she sent it to me. Her theme was summer.

Here it is after I worked on it. What is summer without the sun? That's why I added the sun at the top in goldwork. Couching down all that metal took several hours. I kind of ran out of steam after that.

Here's a close up of the sun.

And here is one of the two seams I did, along with the other motif. It's a little rock garden.

And my last seam, inspired by Joe T. Garcia's in Fort Worth. The place is a wonderful summer place, and its outdoor patio is always covered in lights of many colors. To me, the place -is- summer.

Squaring the Circle

I'm working on the next to last round of stitching now. As you can see, it's going to become a square. At least the red doesn't look like measles now. My goal is to finish this before I go on my trip in less than four weeks.

Belated Christmas Present

Strange things sometimes happen when mailing via APO. Truly, my Christmas present from my best friend was mailed before the tenth of December. I picked it up from the post office today - it had been sitting somewhere forgotten for months! Isn't this great?

These are little watchmakers' storage cylinders and their own metal box! The box got slightly dented in the looooong transit, but isn't it neat? He separated out all kinds of small stone beads and watch parts so I can use it immediately to embellish things. I love it! I've never seen anything like it, either.