Progress, a finish and a check-in

Here I thought I was being good and back to a weekly posting schedule but I looked at my last post and it was more than two weeks ago! I honestly don't know what I am doing with my time although I do vaguely recall that I had to rearrange me work schedule and last weekend was just strange. Despite all that, stitching has happened and I even have a finish!!

I'll start with the finish, Just Nan's Spring in the Air

It is stitched on 28-count Natural Cashel with DMC and whatever beads came in the embellishment pack. There is also a very cute pansy charm in the middle. I am not sure what I am going to do with it, but it is hanging on my display curtain right now.  Florentine Floral was randomly picked to take the Just Nan slot in the rotation and is ready and waiting.

I also had progress on a couple of pieces, another Just Nan, Swan Lake went from here:

to here:

I was so pleased when the circle closed correctly!!!

And Christmas Presence from HAED went from here:

to here:

Interestingly enough, the detail shows up better in the photo than it does in person. That bit of beard actually looks like curls and hair, in person it just looks like a blob.

And my check-in is for  which is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and is for us to show everyone that has gifted us with a pattern that we really do appreciate it.  I have counted Christmas Presence as a gift as it is a freebie from HAED and therefore a gift yes that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  My main gifted piece is Shakespearean Fantasy.  Pull the Other Thread gifted me this pattern (aren't stitchers the most generous folks?!?!) and I have been stitching away since the first of the year.  When I put it away last, it was here

I spent my last round with this stitching mostly black. That blob in the corner is just about 1/4 of page one!! I probably added a bit more green too.  My plan right now is to finish all the colors on these pages and then start on the colors on the right half (or so). Once those are in, it is just black to fill in the background and then onto the next two rows of pages.

You may have seen it in the background of Swan Lake, Chatelaine's Secret Victorian Garden is on the frame for a while. As of 3:45 this afternoon I am on vacation for two weeks and while I will be in Michigan for a bit of that time, I have nothing else planned for the rest of my time and hope to spend a good chunk of it stitching.  Here's where it was last time I put it up:

I hope to finish this corner and get the first band of the outer boarder that blue line done before I put it up again.