Throwback Thursday - 2004 (Part 1)

In 2004 I made nearly sixty projects! I called it my Year of the Small Project. Most of them were ornaments and bookmarks. But since there are so many projects to share, I'm considering showing projects one month at a time. My #throwbackthursday posts for 2004 may go on for three months!

Let's get started with what I completed in January.


Wallace Snowflake

This ornament, designed to be stitched on perforated paper, was designed by a gal in a neighboring EGA chapter. Our two chapters met for a weekend stitching workshop and tour of their historic town.

The ornament is stitched on two different colors of metallic perforated paper and some nice specialty fibers. The town of Wallace, Idaho, where the workshop was held, is known for copper, silver, and gold mining. In the winter, it's a destination ski town. The materials used in this ornament represent the metals and the snow the area is known for. The ornament uses a silver snowflake charm in the center.

LoriBeth's Christmas Ornament

This ornament was designed by the president of our EGA chapter. As a group, we decided to stitch ornaments and donate them to a charity program. This was my first donation to the cause. Most of the ornament is stitched with cotton floss. The berries in the wreath are stitched with a metallic fiber.

Hardanger Christmas Ornament

This is the second ornament I stitched for donation. It's made from a practice piece I stitched while learning Hardanger techniques. It's backed with some blue and white calico and has a satin ribbon hanger.

Home of a Stitcher

This is another chart I received while on a stitching retreat where I learned the technique of stitching petit point. In essence, the stitches are 1/4 the size of the cross-stitches I usually use. Since I'd already purchased the sparrow charm, I decided to give the chart and the petit point technique a try. I do still have this piece in my collection.

At the time, adding stitched toppers to Altoid tins was all the rage, so I decided to give that finishing technique a try. The stitched top was padded and could be used as a pin cushion.

A magnet was adhered to the inside lid of the tin to hold needles. Felt was adhered to the inside on the bottom to cushion scissors and a needle threader.

July Birthday Faerie

I stitched this piece for my youngest daughter, Jodie, whose birthday is in mid-July. This is the third in this faerie series that I stitched. Jeanne's is the November Birthday Faerie which I stitched in 2000, and Julie's is the September Birthday Faerie which I stitched in 1998.

The majority of this design is stitched with cotton floss, But I did add some blending filament to the wings so they would shimmer in the light. The red dots in the border are seed beads.

I wish I had a more detailed photograph of this piece. I remember it being quite pretty.

Winter Ornament

I really like this simple design. It came as a freebie chart in a newsletter from a cross-stitch specialty shop in Florida. The designer, Trail Creek Farm, also has ornament charts for the other three seasons. It seems to me I've stitched at least one of the others.

I backed this ornament with a piece of solid purple cotton fabric and added the purple satin ribbon for a hanger.

This #throwbackthursday exercise is fun for me. There are quite a number of designs that I barely remember stitching because I gave so many of them away. It's like visiting with old friends.