Bluebonnet Joy... and a surprise!

Until this past weekend, I hadn't picked up a needle since New Year's Eve. As I mentioned in this post, I'm currently working on my annual household purge, with my sewing room as this week's focus. My craft closet has become a death trap, but yesterday I managed to excavate to the surface of the temporary table I set up in there to accommodate my Christmas creativity.

I also managed to achieve my first finish of the year! This is Bluebonnet Joy by Redbird Designs, stitched on 28 ct. Valor by Picture This Plus. I flipped the red swirly bits and the white letters for white swirly bits and red letters (GAST Buckeye Scarlet), and added a few beads. I used GAST Grape Leaves for the lighter shade of green in the leaves, as it was friendlier to the Valor.

In other news, this adorable set of four charts arrived from the UK. I have a terrible weakness for Highland Cows and could offer no resistance to these. They're from Goldleaf Needlework.

And one more thing... surprise! I bet y'all figured I'd completely abandoned this project. Nope. If you need to catch up on what this one is all about, just click the WIP picture on the right sidebar and you will be taken to all of my posts about this project. I was flying through it until I reached "the people days" and decided to go my own way, which meant designing my own blocks, which meant more time than I had right at that moment. So I put it aside. I had hoped to have it finished by this past Christmas, but no. Over the weekend, I picked it back up again, and have been fiddling with it off an on. I only have the tenth and twelfth days left, so it shouldn't be too much longer. Unless I decide to rearrange day nine...

So that's a little of what's been going on around here. Today, I tackle my craft closet. If I don't return in a reasonable amount of time, send the dogs to dig me out, and make sure they're carrying cookies.