My first finished objects of the new year

Time flies! I know I wrote on the winter solstice, and said I was going to start writing again.  Then I dropped off the face of the planet. "What's up with that?" I bet you are thinking. 

Well, I've been putzing. I've been going through my fabric and yarns and organizing and clearing through what I no longer need.  I forgot about some of the things I have. I've also been thinking about the projects I want to make in the new year, and what works in progress I'm carrying over.  I'll probably get into more details about those things later on.  I was thinking about doing a list of things I wanted to do.  Just the thought of doing so felt overwhelming.  So that idea has been nixed. For now. 

See this? This is just the cross stitch projects I've kitted up. I have at least two more patterns I want to work on.  Maybe three. 

Then throw in the knitting, the spinning, weaving needle punch, embroidery, sewing and quilting I want to do. It would be a LONG list. I'm thinking I'll break it up and put each thing in it's own entry. 

Maybe.

In the meantime, I'm organizing, pondering, setting things up, making things I've been wanting to do for a while.  You know how it is. 

I'm on vacation this week. It's been a week where I can put a lot of focus on a some things I've been wanting to do, and not have to work on them in small chunks of time. 

I've been going through the fabric collection and found a few fabrics to make grime guards for my cross stitching hoops and q-snaps.  Grime guards are these wonderful things that go around and can keep your hands from dirtying up the project you are working on, along with being able to tuck the extra fabric into. 

I made three sizes. One is for my 11 x 11 q-snap. The second is for my 8 x 8 q-snap. The third is for my 7-inch hoops.  I have to chuckle a bit when I look at the one on my 7-inch Morgan hoop.  It looks a little bit like a toilet seat.  These are the sizes I use most often.  Though I do have a preference for smaller hoops. I tend to hold cross stitch close to my body and I like being able to not have to reach real far to the back of the project. 

The middle grime guard in action: 

The pattern is "Sparkle" by Forbidden Fiber Co. I started this on Tuesday. Haven't got as far as I'd like. Black Aida is hard to stitch on in the evening. I'm substituting a few things and I can't wait to see if they work out.