Well, I guess that sounded whiny. It's not meant to be. Just my excuse. What I did accomplish just now is starching and ironing and folding various things - 2 daygowns, some quilting fabric, and some flannel and seersucker that I just bought. That was a nice warm activity and nice to make some neat piles of things.
And I started these:


When I was poking around in my cross-stitch drawer and finding socks to smock, I found these little shoes. I made a pair for my daughter-in-law's niece when she was born (she's now 11, I think!), so I decided to do something that doesn't require a sewing machine. It's awful to maneuver that needle into the small space, but it's so rewarding. Once I outline these and put in the ribbon (and do the other one - I HOPE I'll do the other one), they should be cute. I'm not sure if they sell these shoes any more to embroider, but I have patterns for every month - an Easter bunny, pumpkin, Santa face, duck with an umbrella, etc - and would like to do a whole set.
So I'm not totally needle-free.
The last of my two long-time-ago creations I freshened up and ironed to hang in the closet with the other things.
Just starting out, I didn't do a lot of lace or tucks, and it was before I knew how to do the bullion stitches, so I'm not sure what these little flowers are. My grandmother did little daygowns like this for all our children, and I have some of them in the attic now.
My favorite part is the back. I'm going to have to learn how to make these cute little hangers like Martha. That's funny. I'd better worry about making the things to go on them first.

I think this is the favorite of all the things I've made. It was my first project in the heirloom sewing class, and I fell in love with shadow embroidery. Not so much rolling and whipping lace and putting in entredeaux, but that got easier too. Bias neck bands? Never have learned to love those, and it shows!

Sleeves are my favorite.
