The Christmas Carrot

I'm on the home stretch of this design. I think this is my favorite Bride's Tree ornament so far, and it makes me smile. I'm hoping, and it may be beyond hope, that I will get this finished this evening, so that I have my April ornament done in the month it represents. It might be doable--Friday nights we normally watch movies til late and the border is not so bad to stitch. I think I'll finish this very simply. If I'm lucky, I can find some gingham ribbon to match the outside border and then will probably use a plainer fabric or felt to back it. At some point, I plan on stitching the other ornaments in the set, but not this year.

I haven't worked on Pumpkin Pie this week. I have just been too busy. The chart is smaller than most of Sanman's charts, and a little trickier to read, so I want to work on it when I have long stretches of time to focus. That may mean working on it at the beach or in Richmond at the Memorial Day retreat. I'm not sure yet.

I'm toying with which project to pick up after this is done. I have to work on my ring pillow badly. I want to get that done by July 1st. But I also have to get hopping on my pandas. That will probably end up being a focus piece for May, but I still have to get the Variations that the chart calls for--Michaels did not have a good selection when I was in, so it means a trip to AC Moore for them. I really want that done by the time I go to Richmond, so that I'm not stressing about the framing.

I think this is the year that I am going to teach myself to stretch and frame my own work. When I was in 4-H, I did my own framing. It was probably not the best, and I did use sticky board, but it looked good when it was done, and 20 years down the road, the pieces are still in good condition. I figure there are good tutorials, and I'm not a stupid woman. Silly, yes, stupid no. Michaels carries frames, and most of the pieces I've done lately don't have unusual shapes, so I think I can actually make a real go at this. Or at least try . . .