TUSAL - March and SAL updates

It's time for the Totally Useless Stitch-Along (TUSAL).  My ORT jar is starting to fill up!

TUSAL 2014 #4

Check in on Daffycat's blog with a link to your TUSAL blog post, too!

My Saturday SAL with Linda is Fall Welcome by Diane Arthurs.  She is way ahead of me, as usual! I finally finished stitching the scarecrow girl's dress and started on her checkered shirt. I will do her face next, then start on the basket.  I'd like to make a wall hanging with this one.

Fall Welcome update #8

Fall Welcome update #8

I also made a little progress on Santa's 12 Days of Christmas by The Prairie Schooler.  Santa has boots and a pear.  Did you notice that there is a pear in every picture?  All that is left to stitch is the rest of Santa's coat and a dog!

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 5) update #5

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 5) update #5

Happy Stitching, everyone!

Theme-A-Licious March Madness (week 4)

The theme for this month is March Madness, "Work on something different every day... it's madness... of the funnest possible kind."  I used the Random Number Generator to pick a number from 1-95 for a WIP from my WIPocalypse list to stitch on each day.  I'll post an update every weekend with the choices for the prior week.

March 22 - #51, Yo Ho Ho Ho:  I stitched the pirate Santa's hat.

Yo Ho Ho Ho update #3

March 23 - #46, Christmas Ark:  I stitched more of the elephant using Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe overdyed floss.

Christmas Ark update #2

Christmas Ark update #2

March 24 - #87, Best of Friends:  I stitched a little more in the lower left corner. This whole design is printed on the Aida so I don't have to look at a chart. It's so easy! The colors will all wash out with water when I am done.

Best of Friends update #1

Best of Friends update #1

This is how it will look when finished (some day):

Best of Friends

March 25 - #78, Spring Sampler:  I stitched a row using lemon-lime Perle cotton.  All the floss is from Dinky Dyes.

Spring Sampler update #1

March 26 - #85, Believe:  I stitched more of Santa's red coat.  This is on 28 ct black linen.

Believe update #1

Believe update #1

March 27 - #26, Christmas Sampler:  I stitched another reindeer on this Prairie Schooler design.

Christmas Sampler update #3

March 28 - #35, Easter Hang-Up:  I finished the basket and stitched the background using Dragonflylotus Handspun Handpainted wool thread in Sunlit Quackenbush, but the 5-yard skein (1 ply) wasn't enough with only 6 stitches left at the bottom to do, so I'll just change the border design a bit, unless anyone out there has a little 6-inch piece to spare?

Easter Hang-Up update #2

My final Theme-a-licious blog post will be on April 1, with the last 3 days of the month and all the March Madness links.  Happy Stitching, everyone!

Stitch From Stash March

Mel from Epic Stitching started a Stitch From Stash group to encourage us to stay on a budget of $25 or less per month for cross stitching.  Click the link to see the list of blogs that are participating.

My carry over from February was $24 for a total budget of $49 this month.  Here is my check-in for March:

Amount Spent:  $47
$10 - Neighborhood Friends chart by Little House Needleworks for animal care fundraiser.

$5 - Forever in my Heart chart by The Sunflower Seed

I'm going to stitch this with both my dogs' names and frame it together with their photos. They both went over the rainbow bridge in 2010.

Brandy & Norman, age 15

$32 - Cross stitch fabric from MCG Textiles (They were having a sale and I couldn't resist!)

I'm going to use the Starlite Aida to stitch the Brooke's Books Advent Animals. There will be 25 free charts, from now until October 2015.

Now I only have $2 to carry over to April.

New Starts from Stash: St. Patrick's Day, Best Witches.

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Santa Hang-Up, Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 5), Universal Unity, Fall Welcome, Thai Dancer, Boule Pastel, Alice from Resident Evil, Cut Thru' North Pole House, Beach Babe, Leo, Lamplight Bridge, Halloween Happiness, I'll Get You My Pretty, Out for a Ride, Pac-Man, Harley-Davidson, Thankful Critters, The 12 Days of Christmas, The Wave, Flaming June, Black Cat Alphabet, The Wizard of Oz, Trick or Treat Greeting, The Sorcerer, Snow Bear and Sleigh, Boo-gie Fever, Star Wars, Yo Ho Ho Ho, Christmas Ark, Best of Friends, Spring Sampler, Believe.

Finishes: I'll Get You My Pretty, St. Patrick's Day, Best Witches.

What I was tempted to buy but didn't buy this month:

This looks like a great Halloween design, but I'll wait until I finish a few of my Halloween WIPs before I buy it.

Halloween Eve chart

Smalls SAL - March

The last Wednesday of the month is time for the March Smalls SAL post!  I finished this St. Patrick's Day freebie and added it to my blog header this month!

St. Patrick's Day - FINISHED!

"St. Patrick's Day"
Designed by Marcia Singleton
cross-stitching.com
14 ct white Aida
Started 3/12/2014, Finished 3/16/2014

I also finished this cute witch for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL.  Each month is a different theme and March was witches.

Best Witches - FINISHED!

"Best Witches"
Designed by Barbara Ana
Cyberstitchers
18 ct hand-dyed orange Aida
Started 3/26/2014, Finished 3/27/2014

Theme-A-Licious March Madness (week 3)

The theme for this month is March Madness, "Work on something different every day... it's madness... of the funnest possible kind."  I used the Random Number Generator to pick a number from 1-95 for a WIP from my WIPocalypse list to stitch on each day.  I'll post an update every weekend with the choices for the prior week.

March 15 - #74, The Wizard of Oz: I started stitching the wicked witch. When I have big blocks of one color, I do the half stitches first when following the pattern, then it's easy to go back and cross the X's without looking at the chart.  Do you stitch this way or prefer one X or one row at a time?

The Wizard of Oz update #1

March 16 - #82, Trick or Treat Greeting:  I stitched the purple letter E and some backstitching.

Trick or Treat Greeting update #1

March 17 - #6, The Sorcerer:  I stitched more purple in his cloak.

The Sorcerer update #11

March 18 - #70, Snow Bear and Sleigh:  I stitched more blue half-stitches for the background.

Snow Bear and Sleigh update #1

March 19 - #50, Santa Hang-Up:  I did some backstitching and started his hat.

Santa Hang-Up update #8

March 20 - #86, Boo-gie Fever:  The skeleton has a hat now.

Boo-gie Fever update #1

March 21 - #11, Star Wars:  I finished stitching C3P0.

Star Wars update #3

I roll up the extra fabric and tuck it into the Q-Snap covers which I buy from Christine's Q-Snap Huggies.  Only 10 more days to go for March Madness!  Happy Stitching, everyone!

Pickle Barrel Designs giveaway!

I'd like to introduce you to Nancy from Pickle Barrel Designs!  She is having a wonderful giveaway of one of her new charts (winner's choice).  Just become a new follower of her blog and let Nancy know that I sent you!  Leave a comment HERE to enter.  If I win, I'll choose "Popsicles."  Good luck!

March WIPocalypse update and a finish!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I got this freebie from cross-stitching.com and stitched him up in a couple days.  I want to make this into an ornament.

St. Patrick's Day - FINISHED!

"St. Patrick's Day"
Designed by Marcia Singleton
cross-stitching.com
14 ct white Aida
Started 3/12/2014, Finished 3/16/2014

There's a full moon in the sky, so it's time for a WIPocalypse update!  My WIPocalypse page has been shrinking and my Finishes 2014 page has been growing!  Since the last WIPocalypse post, I had 5 more finishes.  I've also been stitching on something different every day for Theme-a-licious March Madness.

I stitched on these two Lizzie*Kate designs at the last get-together with the Southern California Cross Stitchers Yahoo group:

I finished the satin stitch border on the right side and did one row across the bottom. I'm still on Part 1 of the 3-part Very Scary Mystery Sampler.

Very Scary update #10

I started stitching the spooky house on Fright, part 8 of Boo! Club, which has 12 parts.

Boo! Club (Fright) update #1

This month's topic is "Show us your favorite places to stitch."  You might have seen these photos on a previous blog post, but here I am in my favorite place to stitch, on the love seat watching TV and always with cats and a dog.  I have another cat and dog not shown in these photos, but they're not interested in stitching.

Check in on Measi's Musings blog with a link to your March WIPocalypse blog post, too!

Theme-A-Licious March Madness (week 2)

The theme for this month is March Madness, "Work on something different every day... it's madness... of the funnest possible kind."  I used the Random Number Generator to pick a number from 1-96 for a WIP from my WIPocalypse list to stitch on each day.  I'll post an update every Saturday with the choices for the prior week.

March 8 - #12, I'll Get You My Pretty:  I stitched the moon, broom, and bat and it's finished!

I'll Get You My Pretty - FINISHED!

"I'll Get You My Pretty"
Designed by Sue Hillis
Sue Hillis Designs, Inc.
32 ct Voodoo Belfast linen from Picture This Plus
Started 1/11/2012, Finished 3/10/2014

March 9 - #42, Out for a Ride:  I stitched the rest of the snowman.  He'll get his scarf and hat next!

Out for a Ride update #3

March 10 - #16, Pac-Man:  I stitched more blue outlines.

Pac-Man update #3

March 11 - #20, The 12 Days of Christmas:  I finished this square with the hen.

The 12 Days of Christmas update #2

March 12 - #93, The Wave:  I stitched more blue sky.  This one is 28 pages and will take forever!

The Wave update #1

March 13 - #7, Flaming June:  I'm so excited that I finally got to stitch some orange!  I'm still on the first page and there are 25 pages in this one.

Flaming June update #8

March 14 - #55, Black Cat Alphabet:  I started filling in the cat using one strand of black and one strand of variegated steel gray blended together.

Black Cat Alphabet update #1

This is so much fun!  Maybe I should do this all year long!  LOL!

Turtle Trot SAL - March

Claudette of BAP Attack is hosting the Turtle Trot SAL, where we choose 10 WIPs and post before & after progress pics on the 10th of every month.  Here is my progress on three of them since last month:

Stained Glass Nativity:  I started stitching the red robe of the wise man.

Stained Glass Nativity (before)

Stained Glass Nativity update #6

Harley-Davidson:  I stitched more on the tank and handlebars.

Harley-Davidson (before)

Harley-Davidson update #3

Thankful Critters:  I added a bird and backstitched the letter G.

Thankful Critters (before)

Thankful Critters update #11

Now I'm back to stitching something different everyday for March Madness!  It's time to click the Random Number Generator and see what it chooses for today!