Theme-A-Licious Jubilee July

The theme for last month was Jubilee July, "It's time to celebrate! What are you celebrating this year? Stitch on your holiday-related projects, OR find some WIPs you know you'll never finish and set them free."

I stitched on Halloween and Christmas designs in July, which I actually do all year long!

I started Brew, which is part 9 of Boo! Club.  I think I'll finish the whole thing by Halloween this year!

Boo! Club (Brew)

I also started part 2 of Very Scary Mystery Sampler by doing the border on the right side.  I might finish this one by Halloween 2015!

Very Scary (Part 2)

For Christmas stitching, I finished Santa's jacket and pants on Santa's 12 Days of Christmas.  No, I don't think all 12 days will be finished by Christmas this year, but I'll get there eventually!

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6) update #4

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6) update #4

I also finally finished the Stained Glass Nativity needlepoint this month!

Stained Glass Nativity - FINISHED!

The first three animals of Brooke's Books Advent Animals are finished.

Brooke's Books Advent Animals 1-3

 I stitched on Santa Hang-Up while I was waiting in an airport for 3 hours.

Santa Hang-Up update #9

I also added more cross stitch videos to YouTube showing some WIPs and finishes in July!

Cross Stitch video #4

Cross Stitch video #5

The theme for this month will be Author! Author! August.  "The words are speaking this month! Hunt out those WIPs with a verse or two.  It's time those projects with words and sentences grew."

I have several wordy WIPs to choose from to stitch in August!

Check in on Heather's blog, It's Geek to Me, to see what everyone else stitched for the holiday theme in July!

Theme-A-Licious June Jolt

The theme for last month was June Jolt, "School's out for the summer! Let's work on things with sunshine in them or REALLY bright colors.  Summer is here!"

I finished part 8 of 12 on Boo! Club.  I like the bright Halloween colors in this design!

Boo! Club (Fright) - FINISHED!

"Fright"
Boo! Club series
Lizzie*Kate
28 ct Prairie Grain linen
Started 1/16/2014, Finished 6/28/2014

I also finally finished part 1 of Very Scary Mystery Sampler!  Hopefully, parts 2 and 3 won't take me quite as long to do!

Very Scary (Part 1) - FINISHED!

"Very Scary Mystery Sampler" (Part 1)
Lizzie*Kate
30 ct Tin Roof linen
Started 7/25/2012, Finished 7/1/2014

I also finished The Sorcerer and The Sorceress!  I'll pick them up from the framer tomorrow.  They will be framed together with gold, purple, and red mats.

The Sorcerer and The Sorceress - FINISHED!

The theme for this month will be Jubilee July, "It's time to celebrate! What are you celebrating this year? Stitch on your holiday-related projects, OR find some WIPs you know you'll never finish and set them free."

I have Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas designs to stitch.  I might even stitch on some Easter designs, too!

Check in on Heather's blog, It's Geek to Me, to find more blog posts with the bright colors theme this month!

May WIPocalypse and SAL updates

The full moon was last week and the WIPocalypse topic this time is:  "What designs or themes do you really wish you could find?  What do you think is missing among stitching designs?"  I think it would be great if there were more designs based on movies, TV shows, actors, actresses, singers and bands; not just a computer generated chart that's a copy of a photo, but an actual design!

Be sure to see the list of other bloggers with WIPocalypse updates this month on Measi's blog, too!

Since the last WIPocalypse update, I have had three more finishes, but two of them were new starts so my WIPocalypse page isn't getting smaller yet.  I finished Happy Easter, "O" is for Owl, and Winter Witch, which were all small designs.

I started the 6th day of Santa's 12 Days of Christmas by stitching a goose!

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6) update #1

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6) update #1

The scarecrow girl on Fall Welcome has a face now!  I really enjoy backstitching!

Fall Welcome update #11

Fall Welcome update #11

I started stitching the red and white pole and mailbox on the Cut Thru' North Pole House.  I want to get to the bottom of the design so I can start stitching the pretty water!

Cut Thru' North Pole House update #10

Since the last WIPocalypse update, I finished Alice's jacket, her hair, and started stitching the background on Alice from Resident Evil.

Alice from Resident Evil update #5

I also made some progress on the Very Scary Mystery Sampler by stitching the green vines and the blue row on the bottom.  After the acorns and rest of the border are stitched, part 1 will be finished!

Very Scary update #11

I'm really looking forward to a stay-cation next week so I can stay home and stitch! I'm not going to tell my friends and family that I'm on vacation, either!  HA!

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!

Smalls SAL and TUSAL - January

It's the last Wednesday of the month and time for the Smalls SAL!  This is my first finish of 2014, Life's a Stitch by Lizzie*Kate.  This is a traveling pattern and now I'll send the chart to Virpi in Finland.

Life's a Stitch - FINISHED!

"Life's a Stitch"
Lizzie*Kate
14 ct Desert Rose Rustico Aida
Started 1/3/2014, Finished 1/29/2014

It's also time for the Totally Useless Stitch-Along (TUSAL).  Here is a pic of my ORT jar this month.  I'll keep adding all those little bits of floss to it all year long!  Be sure to check in on Daffycat's blog with a link to your TUSAL blog post, too!

TUSAL 2014 #2

Here is a picture of all 3 of my cats, Billy, Blueberrie, and Bubbles (top to bottom). Blueberrie has been wearing a cone for two weeks because he was scratching his ear so much, he broke a blood vessel and got a hematoma and his ear swelled up. The vet had to do surgery on his ear.  We still don't know why he was so itchy in the first place.  No fleas, no ear mites, no infection.  She guessed it must be allergies, but we don't know what he's allergic to!

Crazy January start #16 and traveling pattern winner!

Day #16 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is Jacks are Wild from Waxing Moon Designs.  I won this chart from Ingrid of Mii Stitch blog.  I started to stitch it on off-white Aida, but ripped it out and started over again on 28 ct tan linen over 2.  The yellow swirls and white zigzags will show up so much better!  The finished size will be 12" x 5".  Since it is long and skinny, I have the linen turned sideways and it looks like the lines are vertical instead of horizontal.  Does it look OK to you?  This is the same linen I used for Jolly Jack and Quaker Moon, which used 9" x 9" pieces and this piece is 9" x 18".

Jacks are Wild

The perfect matching piece from my WIPocalypse list is Triple Jack-o-Lanterns, which I haven't touched since last May.  Today I stitched more stripes on the center pumpkin.

Triple Jack-o-Lanterns update #2

The winner of the traveling pattern, Life's a Stitch, is Virpi!  I have left a comment on her blog to send me her address since she has noreply-comment so I can't send her an email.  I hope she sees it and contacts me.  She lives in Finland.  Wow!  This traveling pattern sure gets around!  It has been stitched in Canada, South Africa, France, California, and now to Finland as soon as I finish stitching it myself.

Crazy January start #13

Day #13 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is Boos Brothers from the Halloweenies chart by Sue Hillis Designs.  I've only stitched their hats and sunglasses.  Do you think I should use glow-in-the-dark floss for their bodies?  This is stitched on 14 ct black Aida and will be 3.5" x 5.5".

Halloweenies (Boos Brothers)

Looking through my WIPocalypse list, I found Boo! Club hasn't been stitched on since last July.  Today I started "Fright" which is part 8 of this 12-part design.  I stitched part of the border and the yellow moon.

Boo! Club (Fright)

We had two earthquakes the last two nights, at 1:35 a.m. and then 1:50 a.m. the next night.  The epicenter was less than a mile from my home so they felt a lot bigger than they actually were, 4.4 and 3.2 magnitude, actually bouncing the bed off the floor!  It's also been very windy and hot in the 80s.  A wildfire started this morning, grew from 50 acres to over 1700 acres in a few hours and is burning down houses.  This is about 25 miles away.  How is the weather where you live?

Crazy January start #3 and January YOTA update

Day #3 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is Life's a Stitch by Lizzie*Kate, which is a traveling pattern.  I won it from Annette, California Stitcher.  It has been from Canada to South Africa to France, back to Canada, and then to California.  I'd love to send this traveling chart on its way as soon as I finish.  Please mention in the comment if you'd like a chance to stitch it next and then pass it on to another lucky stitcher.  I will draw the winning name on Sunday, January 19.

The fabric is 14 ct Rustico Aida by Zweigart and the color is Desert Rose.  I'm using Dragonflylotus Designs Handspun Mulberry Silk thread in Aurora Borealis.  It will be about 4" x 4".

Life's a Stitch

Since I started a new Lizzie*Kate design, I also stitched a little more on another Lizzie*Kate chart, Very Scary.  I haven't stitched on this since last November. Now I started the border on the right side.

Very Scary update #9

It's also the first Saturday of the month and time for the YOTA (Year of the Acronym) UFO SAL update on Universal Unity.  Here is how I left it in September (the last time I stitched on it).

(before)

I stitched more blue on the Earth this time.  The pattern calls for 3 blended threads in different colors in half-stitches for the Earth.

Universal Unity update #12

Stitching Get-Together Progress!

Six members of the SoCalCrossStitchers Yahoo group met at the food court of the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach yesterday to sit and stitch all day!  Another 7th stitcher who just happened to be there stitching came over and joined our group, too!

I only seem to stitch on Very Scary by Lizzie*Kate when I'm at a stitchy get-together. It's like a chore I have to do before I can really enjoy myself.  LOL.  I still don't like the Tin Roof linen fabric or the dull colors of the WDW floss.  Oh well, I'll get it done eventually!  Since my last update, I added another purple Quaker star, the little black star, and the border on the left side.  Those satin stitches weren't too fun, either!  I think they were slipping in the linen but it seems to look OK now.

Very Scary (Part 1) update #8

Then I stitched the outline of the letter G on Thankful Critters by Ursula Michael.  It will say Give Thanks.  I'm sure it will be done by NEXT Thanksgiving instead!

Thankful Critters update #9

I also added another bottle on "99" by Ink Circles and finished the top shelf! Only 8 more shelves and 88 bottles to go!

"99" update #7

Bottle #11 is Pipeline Porter, Kona Brewing Company, Kona, Hawaii.

Pumpkins and more beer!

Hurray! I finished Pumpkin, part 7 of 12 on Boo! Club by Lizzie*Kate.  Only 5 more to go!  The buttons for the eyes will go on last.

Boo! Club (Pumpkin) - FINISHED!

"Pumpkin"
Boo! Club series
Lizzie*Kate
Started 6/22/2013, Finished 7/26/2013

Seven members of the SoCal Cross Stitchers Yahoo Group met to stitch together on Saturday.  This time we sat at outdoor tables with big shade umbrellas between the movie theater and restaurants.  The weather was perfect and we stitched from 10:00-5:00!

I made a little more progress on the Lizzie*Kate Very Scary Mystery Sampler by stitching the leaves on the pumpkins and another purple Quaker star (which I like to call a snowflake).

Very Scary (Part 1) update #7

I also finished two more bottles of beer on "99" by Ink Circles.

"99" update #2

Bottle #3 is Fat Tire Amber Ale, New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins, Colorado.

Bottle #4 is Dead Guy Ale, Rogue Ales Brewery, Newport, Oregon.

I'm going to print out all these beer photos and put into a little photo album to go with the finished project, or better yet, I can upload the photos to a photo printing website and get a photo book made with all the beer bottles in order to match the finished cross stitch project!  How fun!

More SAL updates!

SALs (stitch-alongs) are so much fun when you know other stitchers are working on the same designs.  There are lots of others in the Bothy Threads Cut Thru' Monday SAL posting updates each week.  Linda and I are hosting this SAL.  Sharon also started a Bothy Threads Cut Thru' Designs Monday SAL Facebook group.

I stitched more blue water under the Igloo.  This is all the way to the bottom right corner of the design.

Cut Thru' Igloo update #15

I stitched the flower stem which will be the letter "I" and it will say "Give Thanks" on Thankful Critters.  Linda is stitching this one, too!

Thankful Critters update #6

I finally got Santa's head done and stitched another bird on Santa's 12 Days of Christmas.  There will be two more birds for the 4th day of Christmas.  I love how there is a pear in all 12 designs. This is a SAL with Linda and Kaye.

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 4) update #6

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 4) update #6

I stitched the word Pumpkin on part 7 of Boo! Club by Lizzie Kate.

Boo! Club (Pumpkin) update #1

Whenever I finish all 12 of these Boo! Club designs, I'll have a giveaway on my blog of all six of the double-flip charts from Lizzie*Kate.  So keep reminding me to stitch on this so I can hurry up and give the charts away!