January GG ~ Please Present Your Shoehorns

Hello, world! 

First of all, blogger is up to some shenanigans again.  Comments are acting up on blogs with embedded comment forms (such as mine).  They take a long time to publish (sometimes requiring more than one click) and it doesn't matter if comments are moderated or not.  Keep this in mind when leaving comments!  Some people may close the window or tab before the comment actually posts.  Add this to the no-reply/Yahoo nonsense going on!

One fix is to switch to the pop-up version of comment forms.  I don't particularly like the pop-up version for my own blog because I cannot leave replies directly on comments.  If that doesn't bother you, the option is in your dashboard under Settings --> Posts, comments and sharing.

Now enough about Google being silly, it's time for some Gifted Gorgeousness!  I already had to dig out the shoehorns for this one... sort of.  

click for more info

First we have a new start (gasp) for 2018.  I wanted to dive into my pile of thrifted and gifted kits this year and make a dent in that collection but discovered 95% of them are Christmas!  How did this even happen?!  I don't think I could stitch on Christmas all year so I chose one of the 5%, a nice spring-ish pattern that can be finished into a card.  I picked it up in a thrift store back in 2015.  It isn't a very large piece (could count for the Smalls SAL oooo) so it's working up rather quickly and the colors are so bright and cheery, perfect for this string of gloomy days we've been having.

not a cupcake

I'm not entirely sure who will get it when it's finished but it isn't for us or our house so it totally counts as a gift!  I've been toying with the idea of making a "Gift Drawer" full of small items such as this that can easily be drawn from in a pinch, stuff like pretty stitched cards or bookmarks or little ornaments.  Do any of y'all have anything like that?  Or is that the Box of Shame haha.

Next is Actual, Factual progress on FFIII.  This is turning into a gift for me because I want it DONE so I will use Shoehorn Power to make it fit in.  :b  Plus, it's stitched on a "gifted" stand (someone provided it to a church rummage sale), on "gifted" fabric (someone donated it to a thrift store), the pattern was made on "gifted" software (freebie pattern maker), and the needle sits on a gift (from Justine)!

before

after

I did the backstitching on another couple of letters as well as filling in more of the missing leg of stitches in his cape.  And a few backstitching details in his cape and hair.

Lastly is my New-To-Me craft storage, that was in fact gifted, and I did do some work on it.  I've been using an plastic storage caddy from my mom's classroom to store all my stitchy fabric and kits.  That little caddy has seen better days so I was on the lookout for something a bit more elegant.

store everything

This was my great-great grandmother's chest of drawers.  My mother had it for a long time but gave it to me a couple of months ago.  It was not kept in a climate controlled location so it had a few issues with mildew.  I scrubbed it down with vinegar, and then again with Murphy's Oil Soap.  It is as smooth as silk now!  It has been refinished at some point, probably by my grandmother.  Mom said she didn't do this one but it does have a coat of polyurethane on it so it had to have happened at some point.  I'm not sure if the handles are original; I know the top two aren't as they were missing from the piece when my grandma gave it to my mom.  The round dovetails (pin and cove) date the piece to the late 1800s and the mirror is still the original (though it has a lot of discoloration).  The doily/scarf was crocheted by my great-aunt.  My husband jokes that this is now the nicest piece of furniture we own (and it is haha).

Okay, that's all from me~  I don't even have any crochet or knitting to share as nothing is going on there.  My hands have entered the dry, cracked stage of winter so apart from being a bit tender, I keep snagging on floss, fabric, and yarn.  If it gets any worse, I shall have to get out the old remedy of socks and Vaseline to wear on my hands overnight!