Slow Sunday Stitching December 18th and Monday Link up Party

It has been a very busy week as I pull and pack items for shipping each day to keep all my customers happy. This time of the year is such a busy time for all of us so trying to make time for some much needed stitching time gets a bit creative and nearly impossible.

I did manage to get a start on the last block for Hocuspocusville and I will take a little time today to put in a few more stitches.

block 12 started

I removed the stitch and wash away project from the little goddess mandala project I was working on and you can see how much I chose to leave off from the original piece.

The piece still needs to be pressed and finished but overall I like the look of the simple hand embroidered outline. Below is the original piece where you can see all the moons I decided to leave off.

Yesterday I received a few small packages in the mail, one from my friend K in California who made these sweet little Christmas coasters. She retired from teaching this summer and has enrolled in a few sewing classes.

The other package contained a rainbow of perle embroidery floss for a future project I will be working on.  I don't normally use perle cotton when I hand embroider so it will be interesting to see if I notice any real difference when I am handling the threads.

A perle rainbow

The perle cotton is DMC number 5 which feels thin enough to get through the eye of some of my needles. I will experiment to see if I will work with a single thread or two or more.  I usually use 2 strands when I work with 6 strand embroidery floss, years ago I preferred working with 3.

I will be linking up with Kathy's Quilts for the slow Sunday stitching post. https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/12/slow-sunday-stitching_18.html

My last bit of stitching news I have is I am going to join  1 year of stitches 2017 here is a link if you are curious:
http://www.brwnpaperbag.com/1-year-of-stitches-2017/
I like project, blogs and groups that keep me hand stitching, so this hand embroidery project looks to be right in step and a fun way to start off the New Year.

Monday Update:
My progress on block 12 is slow and steady, just the way I like it.  I just now realized I started stitching this on the right to left, after I finish stitching the window I'll move the work over in the hoop.

I'll be joining the linky party at Super Mom No Cape today a place where talented bloggers show what they are working on too come have a look.
  http://www.supermomnocape.com/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-89/