Another Finish and a Few Re-Starts

Here's my third February finish. the Mint Tea Towel.  Paired with the sage towel, the gift is now complete.  It is a joy to wrap this up in ribbon and pass it on to my secretary.  Firts because I know she'll like it and second because I am so very done with this piece.

I pulled the M Design's Name Tree for Sean out of the WIP basket and got about a 1/2 hour of stitching time on the project.  I am using an old Needle Necessities floss on it, #150, a lovely forest green/rose and cream color way that makes one think of  a Victorian Christmas.  The linen is a very soft sage color and I am stitching over one.  It is really a very pleasant stitch.  I can't imagine why I let it languish so long.

Finally, with less than one week left in the February Rotation, I have actually worked this piece into the schedule.  I had been putting it off because I just didn't feel like fussing with the sewing machine to bind the edges and because I dislike using Q-snaps.  But a large Q-snap frame is the only thing I own that allows me to frame an entire block for stitching.  One advantage of working with this project is that it provides me with a lap robe on these very chilly days, making for some very cozy stitching.  For the past three years, I have aimed at finishing this afghan in time for my mother's April birthday or failing that, for Mother's Day.  Perhaps this is the year I will meet the goal.  In any case, I will give it my best shot.

I will concentrate on this piece for the remainder of the week.  I will keep track of the time it takes to stitch the two different squares that make up the afghan: the flower and the bud.  Once I know how long each motif takes to stitch I will e able to estimate the hours of stitching needed to meet my deadline.  I haven't stitched enough on the afghan or the name tree to make it worthwhile to take a progress photo, but I am hoping that will change as the week progresses.

I pulled all the floss for the Town Square series Sandi's Sweet Shop but will have to hunt about for the proper blue linen.  So that project will be deferred till March.  It's just nice to know that I have all the floss ready to go once I find my linen. I think I have a bit of the Meditation linen I bought from Stitchery Row left in my stash.  But if not, I do have the two pieces of linen I bought from Chris' Collection.  It's just a matter of rooting about in the stash to find the best option.

P.S.: The Workbasket Quaker Animal Charts Giveaway is still open.  Just scroll back to the 2/21 post and leave a comment if you wish to enter.