Getting the New Year of 2014 off to a stitchy start!

As mentioned I am getting my stitching mojo back and have joined FOUR SALs (stitch-a-longs) for 2014 on four different Facebook stitchy groups!  There are badges on the side bar here for three of them, still need to figure out how to make my own badge with words to add the last for the Peacock SAL.

SAL #1 is the Teresa Wentzler Tinies SAL, by which it is meant that folks in the group are picking out designs by Teresa Wentzler (refered to as TW) in the small range for a quick stitch each month, many from older magazines when she first started out as a designer, and many are her smaller freebies from her website.
For my January stitch, I choose a freebie called the Peacock Tapestry Ornament, which is an element of the full Peacock Tapestry design, a corner of the border in fact. I used a 28ct pearl cashel and the called for threads and beads. I made it into a biscornu ornament with a peacock bead I had on hand (from the Just Nan line). Here is the result!

The second SAL is with a small group of  folks stitching a Joan Elliott design from a magazine. It is called Blackwork Peacocks....I am working on it at the present and will post more when I have something to show off!  I am also in a group stitching different peacock designs during the year, so the Blackwork Peacocks will help in that effort. In addition I have a Chatelaine design called the Beaded Peacock Tile in my rotation. It comes back up next week in early February. Here is my progress so far. More on that later!

Earlier in the year I did another pair of small designs. One is a cover kit from the magazine Cross Stitch Crazy #177 by Kate Knight. I switched out the aida for a small piece of light blue opalescent linen. Unfortunately I did the backstitching in the wrong shade of blue, but I wrote it off to a happy mistake and lived with it!

I think it was meant to be seen as a peacock, but I think it looks more like a Victoria Crowned Pigeon!

One other finish in January was this ornament by San-Man Originals called Quaker Tuck. It is an exclusive to the San-Man bulletin board members and the tuck and button came with the pattern. I stitched it on a small piece of Silkweaver Solo linen.

More on the 4th SAL, the 2014 Just Nan Stitch-a-Long tomorrow. Happy Stitching in the New Year!