February ornament and WIPocalypse update

I'm in the 2013 Ornament SAL, where we stitch a new ornament each month for any holiday.  My February ornament is Vinney Reindeer.  This chart is in the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine.

Vinney Reindeer - FINISHED!

"Vinney Reindeer"
Designed by Lynda Watkins & Angie Williams
Fresh Threads Studio
Started 1/14/2013, Finished 2/25/2013

The WIPocalypse theme this month is designs by Little House Needleworks, love/family, and stitching in red and white.  Singing the Blues is a LHN design and I finished stitching the white border using Anchor Marlitt floss, which is so slippery!

Singing the Blues update #6

Since my last WIPocalypse update in January, I finished Hummingbird by Teresa Wentzler and made some progress on several other WIPs that I started in 2012.

Hummingbird - FINISHED!

On Boo! Club by Lizzie*Kate, I finished Treats and Black Cat and started on Spiders.

Boo Club (Spiders)

I'm making very slow progress on Very Scary by Lizzie*Kate.  I'm using Weeks Dye Works overdyed floss for the first time and trying to stitch each X one at a time so the color changes in the floss look right.  I finished the leaf motif.

Very Scary (Part 1) update #2

I finished the second flower eye of the Day of the Dead skull from the Twisted Stitches book.

Day of the Dead update #4

You can see current pics of all of my WIPs on my WIPocalypse page. Remember to check in on Measi's blog with a link to your WIPocalypse update, too!

Just a few SAL updates!

It's always fun to be in a stitch-along when you know someone else is stitching the same design!  My Friday SAL is Halloween House with 10 other stitchers. You can see their updates HERE.  I finished the green roof on the right side, but I still need to do the left and middle green roofs, too!  The Q-Snap cover is a perfect match for this design, isn't it?  It is from Christine's Q-Snap Huggies.

Halloween House update #25

My Saturday SAL is the Spring & Fall and Summer & Winter designs from The Prairie Schooler with Linda and Rosemary.  I finished the red and blue parts on July.  I'm still trying to find B5200 to use for the white, but Michael's, JoAnn's, and Wal-Mart are always out of this color!

Summer & Winter (July) update #1

My Monday SAL is Singing the Blues by Little House Needleworks with Linda. We're already planning what to stitch next when this is finished.  She is farther ahead than me.  I stitched the white border using Anchor Marlitt floss, which I bought a long time ago for a wedding design that I made for a coworker.

Singing the Blues update #5

I almost finished part 3 of Boo! Club by Lizzie*Kate, but I misplaced the orange floss for 4 little stitches in the middle between the words.  I suppose I could have used any color orange but I'm determined to find it!  This is a SAL with Linda, Lesleyanne, and Angela.

Boo! Club (Black Cat)

Teresa from At Willow Tree Pond is having a wonderful Third Blogoversary Giveaway!  Sunday the 24th is the last day to leave a comment on her blog to enter!

Two 100-Follower Giveaways!

Two more cross stitch bloggers are so happy to have reached the 100-follower mark that they're having wonderful giveaways!

Visit Emma at My Creative Corner and Meggie at Cross Stitch Cottage to enter.  Good luck!

Turtle Trot SAL - February

For the Turtle Trot SAL, we choose 13 WIPs to work on and post progress pics on the 13th of every month.  You can join us by signing up at BAP-Attack.  I'll keep the current pics on my Turtle Trot SAL page.  Here is my progress on some of them.  You can click on the picture to see it bigger.  Hopefully next time you'll see more stitching on all 13!

Universal Unity:  I stitched the grass below the deer and started on the tiger. Can you see his stripes?

(before)

Universal Unity update #3

Universal Unity update #3

Thomas Kinkade's Lamplight Bridge:  The picture is printed on the fabric.  I finished the half-stitches on the flowers and bushes above the bridge and the stem stitch along the top of the bridge.  There will be lots of French knots in the flowers on the right side coming up next.

(before)

Lamplight Bridge update #5

Lamplight Bridge update #5

The Sorcerer:  I stitched his hat and started the big yellow moon behind him.

(before)

The Sorcerer update #2

Flaming June:  I finally put in 300 more stitches on my first HAED.  I started this on 1/1/2012 and never got past the first day.  I'm stitching 2 over 1, tent stitch on 25 ct.

(before)

Flaming June update #1

All's Good in the 'Hood:  I finished the border on the right side up to the corner.

(before)

All's Good in the 'Hood update #3

Merry Christmas:  I won this chart from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.  I started the letter "h" of Merry Christmas.  I'm using DMC 115, variegated garnet.

(before)

Merry Christmas update #2

Disney Princess Birth Announcement:  I stitched a lot more blue on Cinderella.

(before)

Princess Birth Announcement update #1

Passione Ricamo Fairy Mystery SAL:  I stitched more rows of blue and another gold swirl. Can you see the sparkle?

(before)

Passione Ricamo Fairy Mystery SAL update #3

Day of the Dead:  I started another flower eye for the skull face.

(before)

Day of the Dead update #3

Here is a picture of my stitching buddy, Teddy!  He took over the cat's spot and sits next to me when I'm stitching!

My Prairie Schooler progress!

Several of my WIPs are from The Prairie Schooler.  Here are updates on some of them.

I decided to use Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss for Christmas Ark.  The animals and the ark are solid colors so I thought the softly changing colors of over-dyed floss would liven it up a bit.  I started stitching the elephant using Linda's Brown.

Christmas Ark update #1

This Saturday SAL has been neglected for too long!  Linda, Rosemary, and I are stitching the monthly designs from the Spring & Fall and Summer & Winter booklets on Saturdays.  I finally started July.  I had Aida fabric with a printed border which I cut into four pieces and decided to stitch right over the background design.

Summer & Winter (July)

It seemed like a great idea at the time, a good way to use up this printed fabric. Even though it looks kind of funny, I'm going to follow through with it and do all 12 months.  March, April, May, and June are finished.  On the April square, I stopped stitching on the printed fabric and did it on pale pink instead.

Spring & Fall (March, April, May) and Summer & Winter (June)

Linda, Kaye, and I are stitching Santa's 12 Days of Christmas on Sundays.  I started on the red of Santa's coat.

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 4) update #2

Thank you for visiting my blog!  Happy Stitching!

February TUSAL

Here is my TUSAL blog post for February!  Billy approves of my ORTs!  Be sure to check in on Daffycat's blog with your TUSAL post, too!

TUSAL 2013 #2

I bought these towels on eBay to cross stitch on the Aida band.  I also bid on some pastel colored towels, but I was outbid.  Now I just have to find the perfect designs!

A little finish and SAL updates!

I finished part 2 of 12 on Boo! Club by Lizzie*Kate!  This is such a fun design to stitch!  I wonder why I let it sit for so long.  Now I'm in a SAL with the Southern California Cross Stitchers Yahoo Group, where we choose any project and post updates every Wednesday.  So now I'll be even more motivated to stitch on this one every week.  I'm also in a SAL with Linda, Lesleyanne, and Angela.

Boo! Club (Treats) - FINISHED!

"Treats"
Boo! Club Series
Lizzie*Kate
Started 2/1/2013, Finished 2/6/2013

I finished the letters on Singing the Blues.  Visit Linda's blog to see her progress on this design, too!  This is our Monday SAL.

Singing the Blues update #4

My Sunday SAL with Linda and Kaye is Santa's 12 Days of Christmas.  I stitched Santa's boots and one of the four calling birds, which is a pretty blue and green parrot!

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 4) update #1

Happy Stitching, everyone!

Hummingbird finished and more stash!

Come join me in my happy dance!  Hummingbird is finished, so now I can move it from the WIPocalypse page to my Finishes 2013 page instead!  This was one of my Ultimate Crazy January Challenge starts from 2012.  I haven't forgotten any of them and I still want to finish them all!  I used 16 ct pink blush Aida.  The leaves and flowers are stitched over 2 and the hummingbird is stitched over 1. This is my first time making lazy daisy stitches, and there are gold Mill Hill seed beads on it, too!

Hummingbird - FINISHED!

Hummingbird - FINISHED!

Hummingbird - FINISHED!

"Hummingbird"

Designed by Teresa Wentzler

Started 1/3/2012, Finished 2/4/2013

I've been stocking up on fabric.  Look what I found on eBay!  Lots of Aida 14 ct and 18 ct and Hardanger 22 ct.  The two big rolls of dark Aida are from the trade/giveaway pile at our cross stitch get-together last Saturday.

Now I need to build up my floss stash next!

SoCal Cross Stitchers GTG!

I had a great day on Saturday!  Nine of the members of the Southern California Cross Stitchers Yahoo Group met at We, of the Needle for a get-together.  Kathy, Susan, Shaunterria, Sandy, Mindi, Cherise, Ruth, Janis, and I stitched and shopped and traded and ate and talked and talked all day!  I brought six different WIPs to stitch, but only did four of them.

I started Treats in the Lizzie*Kate Boo! Club series.  This is part 2 of 12.  I stitched some of the border and one of the candy corn pieces.

Boo! Club (Treats)

I did ONE row on my Lizzie*Kate Very Scary Mystery Sampler.  This is the first time I used Weeks Dye Works floss and was happy to see the changing shades of color in that dark green line!  Several of the other ladies in the group are also stitching this one.

Very Scary (Part 1) update #1

I finished the corner flower motifs and the lazy daisy stitches (my first time) on Teresa Wentzler's Hummingbird.  Now that all the over 2 stitching is done, I can start on the hummingbird in the center, which is stitched over 1.

Hummingbird update #5

I bought some Gentle Arts Sampler Threads (GAST) at the LNS for Quaker Moon.  This is also the first time I've used GAST.  I stitched the owl's eyes in Gold Leaf which is so nice and shiny!

Quaker Moon update #1

Then when I got home, I stitched on All's Good in the 'Hood from Kincavel Krosses.  I stitched more of the border along the corner and bottom using DMC 115, variegated garnet.

All's Good in the 'Hood update #2

Happy Stitchy February, everyone!

Crazy January starts 28-31

Is the Ultimate Crazy month of January over?!  I have started something new every day, and now it's time to stitch, stitch, stitch away for the rest of the year! Lucky for me, I'll get to meet the stitchy ladies of the Southern California Cross Stitchers Yahoo Group on Saturday for a get-together at We, of the Needle, a LNS that has a wonderful stitchy room reserved for us!

Day #28 is Quaker Moon by Bent Creek.  I bought this chart on my last outing with the SoCalCrossStitchers group last October.  Isn't the owl just adorable? I'm stitching over 2 on 28 ct tan linen and the finished size will be about 5.5" square.

Quaker Moon

Day #29 is Orange Poppies by Thea Gouverneur.  This is a wonderful kit!  The chart pages are nice and big and clear.  The floss was presorted on cards with the color symbols.  They do not provide any floss names or numbers, so I could never pass the chart on when I'm done.  I bought this kit from 123Stitch.  It came with a huge piece of fabric, so I'm glad I can roll it up and tuck it into the Q-Snap huggies.  I'm stitching it on 18 ct black Aida and will be 17.7" x 18.5".

Orange Poppies

 

Day #30 is Christmas on the Beach, a Dimensions Gold Collection kit.  I also bought this kit from 123Stitch.  You can find almost everything there!  I'm using the 18 ct white Aida in the kit and it will be 7" x 5".

Christmas on the Beach

Day #31 is Cut Thru' Pirate Ship from Bothy Threads.  This is a restart from 2012.  I had to rip out everything I did, since the fabric was turned the wrong way!  (see previous post here)  Has this ever happened to you?  Sharine asked if it counts as a new start, so I've been thinking about that ever since.  I'm going to consider it a new start effective today!  I am stitching on 18 ct light blue Aida and it will be 12" x 9".

Cut Thru' Pirate Ship

I won the chart, Let's Do Coffee, in a giveaway, so I added it to my UCJC list. The chart is on the way so I'll start it when it gets here.

Have a great stitchy February, everyone!