2016 - My embroidery year in review

Well, there's not going to be as much to report here as there was on my quilting review. Unfortunately my embroidery seems to have taken a back seat because I've spent a lot of evenings English Paper Piecing.

It's still worth checking back against the goals I set for myself at the start of the year, so here goes:

1.  Gingerbread Quilt Shop  - Finished! you can read all about it here.

2.  Gingerbread Needlework Shop by Victoria Sampler. I've made a small start, but I put it aside when other exciting things came along.

3. Gingerbread Stitchers' Hideaway - the pattern still hasn't been released yet, so I can't start this one.

4.  Peacock tapestry cushion by Erhman.  I received this cushion for Christmas in 2014, and made a start in March 2016.  Progress was slow while I struggled with a needle that was the wrong size.  I'm using a better needle now, and I think I'm more than 50% done now. I will pick this up again in winter when it's nicer to work with wool.

5. Needle rolls by Victoria Sampler  I still haven't started any of these.

6. Christmas panels by Victoria Sampler.  I've had these for some time too.  I've been distracted by the Gingerbread Village, but I really want to stitch these too. This year I bought special white floss for them, and would really like to start them in 2017.

7. Heirloom Christmas Tree.  No action on this one yet.

8. Canvas work Christmas wreath by Laura J Perin.  No action here either.  This is my mum's version and it's lovely.  I have the canvas and the threads, I just need to start it!

9.  Something new.  Well, I achieved that! I made a Sardinian knot work piece in a class at Nancy's Stitch Studio. The pattern is by Yvette Stanton and is in her book Sardinian Knotted Embroidery. You can read more about my piece here. The stitches all sit on the top of the linen.  You can hardly see anything at all on the back of the piece.

10.  Needlelace - 1, 2 and 3.  Yes I have 3 needlelace WIPs. I made progress on the white one when a different Russian lady (Mila) took over the stitch along, but it's still not finished.

New start: My in-laws gave me money for my birthday in October, so I decided to buy one of the Dimensions Gold kits that I see the Russian ladies working on.  It's a different style of stitching to what I'm used to, but I'm enjoying watching the picture emerge.  I haven't used Aida in a very long time, and wasn't sure how I'd like it, but it suits this piece perfectly.  Because many of the stitches are only half cross stitches, the fabric behind shows through and linen would leave too many holes.  There's lots of blended threads in this piece, and very close shadings to make the finished result look like a painting.  I will add the backstitching and knots at the very end.  This one is called A Treasured Time and it's a beautiful Christmas scene.

So I only finished 2 embroidery projects in 2016 - The Gingerbread Quilt Shop and the Sardinian Knotted Embroidery.  I guess that means I'll go into 2017 with lots of things already on my embroidery to do list.  I better not dream up any more ideas over the Christmas break.