A rambling post

I will start this by saying that my mom has had three hospitalizations since January 25, all three of which involved many hours in the ER before admission (two of them starting in the evening, with one going until 2:30 and the other until 3:30am). She is currently getting her strength back in a rehab facility so that she can go home, so things are better, but I am well and truly frazzled from weeks of stress with very few days where I was able to just be home and retreat to my craft room for any appreciable amount of stitch therapy. I'm almost to the point where I couldn't make myself start this post because it seems like too much work to even try to remember what I've been working on sporadically for these past weeks, but I decided it wasn't going to get any better for a while so I might as well bite the bullet and try to get myself back on track. Bear with me if I start to ramble...

I finally received approval for the last of three Nora Corbett models before things blew up, so they were safely back in the hands of the folks at Wichelt and thankfully I didn't have to worry about them anymore. Then I stitched my first Tiny Town model for Heart in Hand, which will be released at Nashville Market next month; it is called Frosty Tiny Town:

There are some embellishments that Cecilia added when she got it back, and it is finished as the drum shown on the chart cover:

There is also a Frosty Frill that goes with this design, so when I stitch it for myself I'll be adding this cute little guy to the town:

I ended up with a PayPal balance after Cecilia paid me for the model and I had won a $50 GC from The Thread Gatherer a few months ago so I decided to try a little retail therapy to soothe some stress. I was able to get all of these gorgeous silks from their Silk'n Colors line for what felt like $30:

I then had some fun working on some color paths that I might use for conversions in future projects:

There were a few nights when I would wake up at midnight or 1am and not be able to get back to sleep. At that time of the morning I didn't feel up to working on anything too complicated, so luckily I had this Mill Hill kit that I had started back in October on a layover on my trip home from a retreat; it was perfect for those mornings. I actually finished this at 3:30 one morning; it's called Spooky and Friend:

It had a LOT of beads; this is what it looked like once the stitching was done but before any beads were added:

I have also made a start on another Mill Hill kit, which I worked on while sitting in the hospital room last week:

I really like these Mill Hill kits for "stitching on the go"; the perforated paper is easy to work with without a hoop/frame and the holes are easy to see, they usually don't have a lot of different floss colors and they aren't so intricate that you can't keep track of your place even when you get distracted periodically while working on them.

After I had finished the Frosty Tiny Town I pulled fabric and floss for Harvest Tiny Town, which I've had for a while now but didn't want to start until the Wichelt models were finished. I started it on a piece of PTP 40ct linen from PTP called Chalice, and this is where I left off a while back:

The three flowers between the houses are the corresponding Harvest Frill that goes along with this design, which of course I had to incorporate. I was trying to get this one done so I could send it along with three other towns to my finisher, but then I got distracted by some new Nora Corbett designs that were released last month. They are from a new series called The Dark Forest and I just think they are as cute as can be:

One of the days that I was really stressed I spent some time going through my fabric stash and decided on the pieces in the photo, and I pulled all of the floss needed for all three designs. I really meant to finish Harvest Tiny Town before I started one of these, but I just couldn't resist seeing how Miss Pink Mushroom was going to look on the fabric I chose for her. I wasn't sure how much I liked it with the first few colors stitched, but now that I'm further along I am liking it much better:

I am really enjoying working with these colors on this fabric right now, and the sassy little mushroom girl is just such a mood lifter; I'm hoping to continue on with this one for a while at least, in between chores, errands and appointments.

I think that is about it for now, though it would be pretty surprising to me if I haven't forgotten something. At least I feel better for having gotten this all in some kind of order; I really like having this blog to look back on and keep track of projects, so it's good to feel like I made some positive progress today.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!