A new year with new goals

I am starting off the new year with the "normal" goals to lose weight and be healthier and budget better, but I have also set some stitching and blogging goals - which are mainly to stitch and blog more about my stitching.

I signed up to do a 15-day challenge where you begin a new project the first 15 days of the year. I modified slightly as I am also including a few WIP.

My first three days are shown in order. First is the Double Flip It's by Lizzie Kate which will be a gift for a dear friend. The second is a Lizzie Kate Promise Me and the third is Mary Norwood by Sheepish Antiques.

Minerva Ayliffe 1886 - WIP

I spent the day working on Minerva Ayliffe 1886 which is one of four in a set called Minerva & Friends done by Needlework Press. I spent a lot more time stitching than I had originally planned.  I settled in to watch the Columbus Blue Jackets Hockey Game which was a matinee,  and other than a few loads of laundry,  I stitched most of the day. My stitching will slow down during the week as I work a full time job and commute about 2 hours and 20 minutes round trip. I am a paralegal for a large women's and girls' clothing company.

I have attached a picture and as you can tell I use a hoop to stitch. I did not take time to iron before posting picture...maybe next time.

Introduction

This is my first blog post. I started this blog to share my cross stitch as I go. Over time,  I will also share the beautiful cross stitch work that my mom does. Everything hanging on my walls right now was done by my mom because I struggled staying engaged with cross stitch for quite some time,  but I have put away all of my other craft ideas and am back to cross stitching.

My main interest is samplers,  but I have a few other projects in the works,  one for a friend for a Christmas present and another for my 21-month old granddaughter.

My works in progress were limited to three and they were a primitive Easter design,  an Ohio sampler,  and a wedding sampler for my son and daughter-in-law...even though they were married almost three years ago. It's not a design that I really like so I am struggling to get it done,  however they are looking at buying a new home, so I guess I need to devote some time to it.

Last week on Saturday, my mom and I along with four others took a day trip to Findlay,  Ohio to a cross stitch shop and it was wonderful.  The owner was so gracious with her hospitality. We all spent a lot of money.

I went from having 3 WIP to starting 3 more projects. I really need to think about some type of rotation.

A little about me...I am a single mom with two sons,  my youngest is still at home and is a sophomore in high school.

I am a huge sports fan and my current obsession is Columbus Blue Jackets Hockey,  but I am also a Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati Bengals, and Ohio State Buckeyes fan. As I am writing his,  I am watching UD Flyers and Syracuse in March Madness.

I love to cook and am trying to move toward a more healthy lifestyle.

I tell you all of this about me because I plan to keep this a cross stitch blog, my opinion on my sports teams,  recipes,  trying to lose weight will probably also make it into this blog.

Thanks for reading. I hope you continue to follow along and happy stitching!