Smalls SAL - June

The last Wednesday of the month is time for the June Smalls SAL post!  I finished Leo the lion, a freebie from Stitch Alley.  I want to sew it into a hanging ornament for my daughter.

Leo - FINISHED!

"Zodiac Signs - Leo"
Designed by Kai & Denis Chabault
Stitch Alley
14 ct red Aida
Started 2/27/2012, Finished 6/25/2014

I also finished one of my starts from the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge, The Sorceress by Dimensions.  She is at the framing shop right now with The Sorcerer!

The Sorceress - FINISHED!

"The Sorceress"
Dimensions #6733
14 ct Ivory Aida
Started 1/26/2014, Finished 6/24/2014

Theme-A-Licious Menagerie May

The theme for last month was Menagerie May, "Is it a zoo in your stack of WIPs? How many projects can you find that include animals or birds?"

I have lots of WIPs with animals and birds and this was just the right incentive to stitch on some of them that have been ignored for awhile!

On Bird Nest (No 2), I stitched more of the pretty pink bird from Yiota's XStitch.  I started this one in the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 2012.

Bird Nest (No 2) update #3

Yiota's XStitch kits come with all the floss on bobbins already.  Isn't this nice?

I stitched the other back leg on Leo, a freebie from Stitch Alley.

Leo update #5

I stitched an owl on Picnic Area.

Picnic Area update #7

I stitched another little bird on Thankful Critters.

Thankful Critters update #13

I also started stitching another crow and the basket on Fall Welcome.

Fall Welcome update #12

And here's another bird, a goose on Santa's 12 Days of Christmas!  The gap in the middle is where Santa's arm is holding him.

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6) update #2

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6) update #2

I filled in the rest of the raccoon and started the zebra on Universal Unity. This is on a 14" x 17" Q-snap.  Since I'm right-handed, I turn it upside-down to stitch the zebra so it will be closer to the right side.  Do any of you stitch your designs upside-down, too? 

Universal Unity update #17

Check in on Heather's blog, It's Geek to Me, to see links to more blog posts with the animals theme this month!

Heather sent me this amazing prize package for suggesting the theme for April Showers.  All the goodies have the "water" theme.  She sent an April Showers chart from Country Cottage Needleworks and a kit to make a Lighthouse scissors charm. The fabric colors are Seafoam and Neptune blue.  But the most amazing part is the floss with names like Tropical Ocean, Mediterranean, Seafan, Silver Icicle, and Sea Turtle!  She included a vinyl project pouch to protect my WIPs from getting wet! Thank you so very much, Heather!

April Showers Theme-a-licious prize package!

The theme for this month will be June Jolt, "School's out for the summer! Let's work on things with sunshine in them or REALLY bright colors.  Summer is here!" (Northern Hemisphere... LOL)

My WIPs with sunshine and bright colors are Stained Glass Nativity, The Sorcerer and The Sorceress, Flaming June, Pac-Man, Holiday Cheer, Thankful Critters, Fractal 156 bookmark, Dance of the Geckos, Triple Jack-o-Lanterns, Beach Babe, Basket of Fruit, Orange Poppies, Jacks are Wild, Trick or Treat Greeting, and Believe.

I'm looking forward to making some progress on these to share with you on July 1! Happy Stitching, everyone!

Theme-A-Licious March Madness (week 1)

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 1 - #3, Thai Dancer:  I stitched more of her arm and the cuff of jewelry.

Thai Dancer update #3

March 2 - #23, Boule Pastel:  I filled in the yellow stripe of this ornament on perforated paper.

Boule Pastel update #2

March 3 - #76, Alice from Resident Evil:  I stitched some black shadow by her face.

Alice from Resident Evil update #2

March 4 - #39, Beach Babe:  I stitched some purple stripes in her swimsuit.

Beach Babe update #2

March 5 - #31 - Leo:  I stitched from his tail down to his rear paw.

Leo update #4

March 6 - #4 - Thomas Kinkade's Lamplight Bridge:  I stitched the grass and rocks along the shore under the bridge.

Lamplight Bridge update #8

Lamplight Bridge update #8

March 7 - #45 - Halloween Happiness:  I finished the white part of the moon, still needs more gray.  Thanks to Lindsay, I'm using the new Q-Snap huggie that she made for me!

Halloween Happiness update #2

Cross stitching for my daughter!

I had to follow up my last post with another about the cross stitch gifts I'm making for my daughter!  She took French in high school and has always wanted to work in Paris, so most of the things for her are in French.  She has been to Europe four times and loves to travel!

I'm stitching the free Positive Thinking SAL from Jardin Privé in French, La Pensée Positive, for her.  This is on 18 ct baby pink Aida.  I finished part 2 using Cosmo Seasons variegated floss for the words.

La Pensée Positive update #3

I'm also using VMSS floss for the rest of the design.  I just found out that Nancy of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is giving 10 lucky winners 5 skeins each of her hand-dyed floss in spring colors.  Her floss comes in 20-yard skeins so this is 100 yards for each winner!  Enter HERE and tell Nancy that I sent you!  Drawing on March 10.

The Hungarian Peacock Sampler will also be a gift for my daughter.  I'm using Cosmo Seasons variegated floss for this one, too.  I added another pretty peacock.

Hungarian Peacock Sampler update #1

This will be a hanging sign that says Merci on one side and Thank You on the other. It is a freebie from gazette94 that you can find HERE.  I used DMC 48, variegated baby pink floss on pale green mint parfait Aida.

Merci - FINISHED!

"Merci"
Designed by Claire Findlay
gazette94
14 ct mint parfait Aida
Started 2/28/2012, Finished 2/23/2014

Another one I'm stitching for her is Leo, a freebie from Stitch Alley, since that is her zodiac sign.  Her birthday is in August.  They have all the zodiac signs and lots of free charts.  I stitched his back and tail.

Leo update #3

The first cross stitch gift I made for my daughter was A Paris Kiss by Vervaco.  I only stitched it when she was at work, so it was a complete surprise when I gave it to her for her birthday!  This was my first time stitching on linen.

A Paris Kiss

She picked out this Day of the Dead sugar skull from the Twisted Stitches book, so I stitched this one for her, too!

Day of the Dead

I also made her this bookmark.  "J'aime lire" means "I love to read."  This was a freebie from Les petits bonheurs de Miss T blog.

J'aime lire bookmark

I've also stitched these French Christmas ornaments for her future Christmas tree, but haven't finished them into actual ornaments yet.  We really should have a crafty weekend some day and finish them up!

Bon Noel

Boule Bordeaux

Boules Baroques

C'est Noel

These are all freebie designs from gazette94, Le Blog de Vava, and The Sampler Girl.

Stitching black on red!

Just for fun, I'm going to post updates on my WIPs that have something in common. Here are two designs that I started last February 2012 that are both stitched with black floss on red 14 ct Aida.  They are darker than this, but it's really hard to get an accurate picture of red with my camera!

Quoth the Raven, a freebie from Lady Kell of Kincavel, will be a gift for my nephew.  I stitched more of the border.

Quote the Raven update #4

Leo, a freebie from Stitch Alley, will be a gift for my daughter.  I stitched his chest and front paws.

Leo update #2

I'm actually caught up on Mary's Sampler II, the free Mystery SAL from Plum Street Samplers!  I added two crowns and a cross for part 8.  This Sunday will be the 9th and final part!

Mary's Sampler II (part 8)

Today I'm going to meet up with some other ladies from the SoCalCrossStitchers Yahoo group for a stitching get-together.  We'll be stitching at the food court of the mall by the beach today!  We usually like to stitch outside, but it might rain, which is pretty rare for Southern California.  Check out this TV news video about our terrible weather the other day! 

November 10-12, per Random Number Generator!

I hope to finish some more of my Ultimate Crazy January Challenge starts before the end of the year.  The Random Number Generator chose these designs.  It's still fun to see the winning number pop up!

November 10 - #21 Pac-Man.  The only video games I ever played at the arcade were Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, very simple ones with only a joystick.  I couldn't handle anything more complicated than that!  Does anyone remember back in the day when you had to go somewhere and bring quarters to play pinball machines and video games?  This was hundreds of years ago before you could play video games in your own home!  I stitched more yellow and light blue outlining.  This is on 14 ct black Aida.  I'm making this one for me!

Pac-Man update #1

November 11 - #47 Leo.  This is a free chart from Stitch Alley.  I started this one in February and today I stitched more of the lion's head.  I'm making this one for my daughter, since her zodiac sign is Leo.  It is simple black on red 14 ct Aida.

Leo update #1

November 12 - #41 Noel.  I started this ornament in February but haven't touched it since.  Today I stitched the letters E and L.  I'm glad the Random Number Generator picked this one to stitch.  In fact, I'm happy whatever WIP is chosen!

Noel update #1

Bird finished for WOCS, and two new starts!

Bird - finished!

Hurray!  I finished this Bird for World of Charity Stitching!  Everyone used the same free pattern found HERE, and chose their own floss color and also provided fabric for the border.  I found material with blue swirls on it, which was a perfect match!

"Bird"
Designed by Claire Findlay
gazette94
Started 2/6/2012, Finished 2/28/2012

 

Day #58 is Leo, a free design from Stitch Alley.  I am using black floss on red 14 ct Aida, just like the Quoth the Raven design from Day #45.  This will be a gift for my daughter, whose birthday is in August.  I am not sure how I will finish it, but I'm thinking of something that can hang from a doorknob or maybe a little pillow.

 

Day #59 is Merci, another freebie chart from gazette94.  I will also stitch the Thank You design and put them back to back and hang from a ribbon.  Both designs are found HERE.  The fabric is 14 ct Mint Parfait Aida, and I am using pink variegated floss.  This is also for my daughter, who hopes to live and work in Paris some day!

Mr. Mittens update #4

I finished all the checkered squares and started the shoes for Mr. Mittens, for my Monday SAL with Linda.  You can barely tell he's a snowman, since he's covered with clothes!