A Finish and a WIP Revisited

Yeah!  I have my very first cross stitch finish for 2009!  I decided to get back into stitching by doing a small project--a free SAL by Dyan Allaire from Kustom Krafts--offered on her Yahoo group.  Dyan's intention was for the design to be finished into a gift bag. 

However, once I got the design stitched, I decided to go in a little different direction with it.  I decided to stitch it onto the side of a tote bag so I could carry my current stitch project in the tote.  One thing led to another, as I was putting borders around the design, I thought, "Ok, what if I lined the stitching and made it into a pocket on the outside of the tote bag?"  This is what I came up with:

I think it came out pretty good.  If you look closely, the dark fabric I used for the cornerstones (and also for the lining of the pocket) has butterflies in it.

So.....first project for the year finished.  What to stitch next?  I'm torn between starting something new, :^) or working to finish one of my WIPs (or more correctly UFOs!).  So, I decided for right now I am going to begin stitching on an old project.  It's called Fall Y'all by Lizzie Kate.  Here's a photo of how it currently looks:

According to the photo file, it was last worked on it on 9/20/07, so it has definitely been a while!!  Here's what the finished project should look like:

Now I can't guarantee that I won't also start a new project soon.  I have been eying something I bought a while back at our LNS.  It's called  "I Love Quilting" and it's by Hob Nobb Designs. 

Here's a close-up of the design itself:

It comes with very cool clay embellishments.  Only thing slowing me down from starting this one right away is that I need to find the right 28 count fabric and dig out the appropriate GAST threads! But, watch this space for updates soon....

Until next time, Happy Stitching!  Vicki in CO