November 2021 - More travel and stitching

 November was another busy month (I feel a bit like a broken record these days - maybe I should just come to accept that all my months are busy these days!). Life was mostly normal - work, teaching the teenage daughter to drive, attending school activities, but I did have a chance to go on a great girls trip to celebrate my friend Beth's birthday. Four of us met in Asheville, NC and had a wonderful weekend with hiking, wonderful food, shopping, and day at the Biltmore Estate. It was such a fun trip and Beth and I were able to get in a little stitching too! 

Beautiful day at the Biltmore Estate

Beth, the lovely birthday girl! 

The month ended with a nice Thanksgiving with our family, lots of good food and time together. My mom and I also had the chance to work at Persnickety Stitchers, our local needlework shop. The owner went away for the weekend and we had a great time running the store for the weekend. It turned out to be a great weekend for sales too, which was a nice bonus for the owner. While it isn't in the short-term future, it would be fun to own a shop at some point. But first, I will get the kids through school!

On to the crafting, which is really all stitching this month. I did a little sewing, but nothing with much progress to show. I had two great finishes this month, one of which is also FFO'ed and now living in Wales! Liz from Elizabeth Ann Can Stitch (on Instagram and YouTube) hosted a smalls exchange and it was so fun to participate. I stitched for Michelle of MommaLovesYouGB and selected the Peace ornament from the 2015 Just Cross Stitch Ornaments issue. It is by Lindsay Lane Designs. I changed the colors to a darker linen and thread, stitching it on 32 count Vintage Country Mocha with Splendor silk. I finished it into a flat ornament with a ribbon and elastic around the edges (strange, but it worked!). 

Peace by Lindsay Lane Designs, stitched for Michelle

Michelle also had me for the exchange and she stitched me this lovely Foxwood Crossings sled. It is such a cute design and it will look great on my tree! 

Foxwood Crossings sled for me from Michelle

My second finish for the month is a big one - I started this piece back in June as part of a stitch-a-long and worked on it on and off since then. When I got close to the end, I decided to power through and am so happy with the finish. This one is stitched on 25 count Antique White Lugana with the called for DMC colors, except one substitution to 743 instead of 729. I am really pleased with the switch and I think this one will wind up getting framed. 

Flea Market Flowers - finished!

I also took some time last weekend to do a little finishing of ornaments stitched earlier this year and in years past. Here are the three new ornaments to go on the tree this year. The first and third are from Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issues and the middle one is a free pattern from a stitching store. It was my first time making a tag ornament and I really enjoyed that process - I see more of those in my future. 

I still have quite a few ornaments to FFO and hope I will get to several of them before Christmas this year. I also have several other stitch pieces in progress that I hope will get to the finished stage in December. With time off work planned, I hope to also get some additional time sewing. It will be time for the year-end wrap up before we know it! 
Wishing you all a nice holiday season with lots of time for all the things that bring you joy!