TUSAL - July and a big finish!

Here is my Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long (TUSAL) update for July!  Check in on Daffycat's blog with a link to your TUSAL post, too!  Alice is posing again with the ORT jar, but this time she is finished and framed and matted and ready to go to my son at last!

TUSAL 2014 #8

Alice from Resident Evil - FRAMED!

I also added mats to the frame for Dog House Sampler, which I finished in 2011.  I found this perfect blue wood frame at a thrift store.

Dog House Sampler - FRAMED!

You might have noticed some yarn bits in the ORT jar.  They are from the Stained Glass Nativity needlepoint, which is finally finished after 34 years!  The framer has it now and is working her magic on it to get it blocked and framed just right!

Stained Glass Nativity - FINISHED!

"Stained Glass Nativity"
Designed by Wayne Maurer
Sunset Designs needlepoint
10 ct cotton mesh canvas, 100% wool yarn
Finished size 10" x 20"
Started 1980, Finished 7/23/2014

Whew!  I'm out of breath after doing that big happy dance!

TUSAL - June

I'm a few days late for the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long (TUSAL).  Check in on Daffycat's blog with a link to your ORT jar, too!

Once again, Alice is posing with the jar of ORTs, and she still isn't finished yet!

TUSAL 2014 #7

This will be a belated birthday present for my son, who I will see next week in Texas!

Alice from Resident Evil update #7

Guess I'll be stitching the same thing every day until she is finished!

Smalls SAL and TUSAL - May

The last Wednesday of the month is time for the May Smalls SAL post!  I just finished Peter Polar Bear, the second of 25 free Advent Animals from Brooke's Books.

Peter Polar Bear - FINISHED!

"Peter Polar Bear"
Designed by Brooke Nolan
Brooke's Books Advent Animals Collection
14 ct Green Starlite Aida
Started 5/22/2014, Finished 5/29/2014

There is a Facebook group for the Advent Animals Stitch-A-Long where you can see other finishes of Peter Polar Bear, too!

I also finished Frank-N-Stein for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL.  Each month is a different theme and May was Monsters.

Frank-N-Stein - FINISHED!

"Frank-N-Stein"
Raise the Roof Designs
32 ct tan linen
Started 5/27/2014, Finished 5/28/2014

Frank-N-Stein was a limited edition kit from 2008.  I'll have a drawing to give away this chart since I'm done with it, but it won't have the button.  Just mention in the comment if you're interested and I'll draw a name on Friday, June 6.  I'll mail it anywhere in the world.

It's also time for the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long (TUSAL)!  Check in on Daffycat's blog with a link to your ORT jar photo, too!

TUSAL 2014 #6

My cat Billy is posing with my ORTs this time!

TUSAL - April

Are you in the Totally Useless Stitch-Along (TUSAL)?  Check in on Daffycat's blog with a link to your blog post with your ORT jar photo, too!

TUSAL 2014 #5

I don't have any updates to show on my SALs, since I was trying to finish Alice from Resident Evil for my son's birthday.  Nope, I didn't make it in time but he'll get it eventually!

Alice from Resident Evil update #4

Does she look like Milla Jovovich to you?

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!

YOTA UFO update and TUSAL - February

It's the first Saturday of the month again and time for the YOTA (Year of the Acronym) UFO SAL update hosted by Pull the Other Thread.  Universal Unity is a Dimensions Gold Collection kit that I started in 1998.

Here is the before pic from the January YOTA post:

Universal Unity (before)

I finished stitching the Earth and started the fox!

Universal Unity update #14

It's also time for the Totally Useless Stitch-Along (TUSAL).  My ORT jar is starting to fill up!  There are bits of yarn in there too from the Stained Glass Nativity needlepoint. Check in on Daffycat's blog with a link to your TUSAL blog post, too!

TUSAL 2014 #3

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 #2 and January TUSAL

I emptied out my ORT jar and filled another glass ornament for 2013!  Join the Totally Useless Stitch-Along (TUSAL) and share a picture of your ORTs every month. Leave a link to your blog post on Daffycat's blog, too!

TUSAL 2014 #1

Day #2 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is Count Your Blessings by Bobbie G. Designs.  I hope to have this cornucopia done by Thanksgiving this year!  It is stitched on 14 ct black Aida and will be 6" x 5".

Count Your Blessings

Since I'm pairing up each new start with one of my WIPs, this time I chose another one from Bobbie G. Designs.  I started Basket of Fruit last January and never touched it again.  Today I stitched more of the leaves.  It is on 14 ct ivory Aida and will be 13" x 10".

Basket of Fruit update #1

Bobbie G. Designs is one of the few cross stitch booths at the Quilt & Craft Show that comes to the Los Angeles Fairgrounds twice a year.  I bought both of these kits there.

My cross stitching plans for 2014

Cross stitching plans are more fun to make than New Year's Resolutions (which I never do).  Tomorrow is a new start for a new year of stitching!  How exciting! Which stitching challenges and SALs (stitch-alongs) have you signed up for in 2014?  Here is my list:

The buttons in my side bar are linked to the sign-up pages.

Grow Your Blog 2014:  This blog party is hosted by Vicki of 2 Bags Full blog and I missed it last year.  Deadline to sign up is January 15.  On January 25, everyone will post on their blogs and visit the other blogs and find new blogs to follow and gain more followers, too!

Turtle Trot SAL 2014:  This SAL is hosted by Claudette of BAP Attack blog.  Choose 10 UFOs/WIPs to work on and post progress photos on your blog by the 10th of each month.  Leave a link to your blog post on the BAP Attack blog.

WIPocalypse 2014:  This SAL is hosted by Measi of Measi's Musings blog.  This started in 2012 when we made a list of all of our WIPs to finish before the apocalypse that was predicted for December 21, 2012 (this didn't happen so the end of the world has been extended indefinitely).  Post progress photos on your blog on the Full Moon of each month.  Leave a link to your blog post on Measi's Musings blog.

TUSAL 2014:  This SAL is hosted by Daffycat.  For this Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long, save all your ORTs (old ratty threads) in a jar and post a picture on your blog on the New Moon of each month.  Leave a link to your blog post on Daffycat's blog.

Ultimate Crazy January Challenge:  Start a new project each day for the first 15 days in January or all 31 days (for the Ultimate version) and try to complete them during the year.  You can sign up on the Crazy January Challenge Yahoo Group or the CrosstitchCrazy2014 Facebook group but it's not required.  Just start something new every day and have fun!

2014 Smalls SAL:  This SAL is hosted by Heather of Stitching Lotus blog.  Stitch a small project (ornament, bookmark, pincushion, etc.) each month.  Post a picture on your blog on the last Wednesday of the month.  Leave a link to your blog post on the Stitching Lotus blog.

Theme-a-licious 2014:  This SAL is hosted by Heather of It's Geek to Me blog.  There is a different theme to stitch each month.  Post on the first day of the month to celebrate the past month's successes and share plans for the coming month.  Leave a link to your blog post on the It's Geek to Me blog.

Stitch From Stash 2014:  This group is hosted by Mel of Epic Stitching blog.  This is a challenge to spend less than $25 per month on stitching supplies and try to stitch from your stash instead.  Post about your spending or lack thereof by the 28th of each month and send an email to Mel.  There will be monthly prizes and an end of the year giveaway.  Sign up by January 2, 2014.

YOTA SAL 2014:  This is the UFO SAL (Year of the Acronym) hosted by Pull the Other Thread.  Pick a UFO (Unfinished Object) to stitch on during the month and post before & after progress photos on the first Saturday of the month.  Leave a link to your blog post on the Pull the Other Thread blog.  My UFO will be Universal Unity (my oldest cross stitch project started in 1997).

Fall Welcome SAL:  This is a Saturday SAL with Linda and Kaye of the Fall Welcome chart by Diane Arthurs.  It should be finished in plenty of time for fall decorating!

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas SAL:  This is a Sunday SAL with Linda and Kaye of the Prairie Schooler designs for Santa's 12 Days of Christmas.  There are 3 booklets for Days 1-4, Days 5-8, and Days 9-12.  The plan is to stitch on them every Sunday. I finished 4 of the 12 days and am stitching them all together on one piece of fabric.

Bothy Threads Cut Thru' SAL:  This is a Monday SAL hosted by Linda and me with over 30 stitchers working on different Cut Thru' charts.  There is also a Bothy Threads Cut Thru Designs Monday SAL Facebook group.  Please join us if you're stitching a Cut Thru' chart!

Happy Stitchy New Year, everyone!

December TUSAL and more stitching!

For the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long (TUSAL), we show a picture of our ORT jar each month.  My cat Blueberrie is posing with the jar this time!  He is 10 years old and my coworker bottle-fed the whole litter.  I took him as soon as he could eat cat food.  He's the boss of all the other cats and dogs in the house.

TUSAL 2013 #12

I stitched more border on Quoth the Raven, which will be a gift for my nephew.  I also bought him a nice Edgar Allan Poe book to go with it!

Quoth the Raven update #5

For the Monday SAL, I stitched more presents and yellow wall in the gift wrapping room on Cut Thru' North Pole House.

Cut Thru' North Pole House update #6

Nancy of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having her 3rd Day of Christmas giveaway!  She will give 10 skeins of her 20-yard over-dyed floss to a few winners on December 16.  Enter HERE and tell Nancy that I sent you!

November TUSAL and more SAL updates!

Stitch-A-Longs are so much fun, especially since you know someone else is stitching on the same thing that you are!  It helps motivate me to keep on stitchin', even when I'm left in the dust.  Linda already finished Thankful Critters and Santa Hang-Up, but I'll get them done eventually.

We started a new Saturday SAL with Kaye of Kitten Stitching to stitch Fall Welcome by Diane Arthurs.  I already had the pumpkins done before, and now I stitched one of the blackbirds.

Fall Welcome update #2

I'm also stitching Mary's Sampler II, a mystery SAL from Plum Street Samplers.  I stitched the star and an angel for part 4.  Parts 5 and 6 are already out and ready to be stitched.  There is a new part every Sunday until November 24, so we can have the sampler done in time for Christmas.

Mary's Sampler II (part 4)

Part 3 of the Jardin Privé Positive Thinking SAL is ready, and I haven't stitched part 2 yet!  There is a new part on the first of every month.  I'm stitching the French version, but I think I'd like to stitch the English version, too!  Nathalie also made Spanish, Italian, and German versions!

There are stitchers all over blogland in the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long.  Here is a photo of my ORT jar for November.  I woke up Teddy, who was sound asleep, just to pose with my ORT jar.  Be sure to check in on Daffycat's blog with a link to your ORTs photo for the TUSAL, too!

TUSAL 2013 #11

Tardy TUSAL and Turtle Trot SAL - October

For the Turtle Trot SAL, we choose 13 WIPs to work on and post progress pics on the 13th of every month.  I only stitched on three of them since September.  You can click on the picture to see it bigger.

The Sorcerer:  I stitched the book and more purple on his cloak.

The Sorcerer (before)

The Sorcerer update #8

Majestic Eagle:  Just some more stitching on his wing.  It will really look nice when I add the backstitching on the feathers!

Majestic Eagle (before)

Majestic Eagle update #5

Canyon Waterfall:  I stitched more clouds and sky.

Canyon Waterfall (before)

Canyon Waterfall update #3

Here is my tardy TUSAL (Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long) photo of my ORTs!  Check in on Daffycat's blog with a link to your ORTs photo, too!

TUSAL 2013 #10

Big thanks to Justine of Justine's Cross Stitch for sending me a traveling chart, Be Naughty, by Lizzie*Kate.  I will stitch this one soon and then have a giveaway drawing to send it on to the next stitcher.  She also sent ribbon with bunny rabbits and Stitched With Love and a fuzzy pink sheep magnet.  Thank you also to Kate of By the Babbling Brooke for sending the Loon Lake chart and an Uncle Sam booklet!  It was so nice to come home from vacation to find international packages in my mailbox waiting for me!

New start, TUSAL, and more stash!

I just found out about this new free SAL from Jardin Privé!  It is called La Pensée Positive (Positive Thinking).  It comes in five parts, one each month, and just started in September.  You can find it on the blog, Les Marottes de Nathalie.

La Pensée Positive

It will have this quote from the book, "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale:  "The way to happiness:  Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry.  Live simply, expect little, give much.  Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others." 

The chart comes in English and French versions.  I'm going to stitch the French version for my daughter.  I'm stitching it on baby pink 18 ct Aida using DMC and Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss.  The flowers are supposed to be pink, but I'm using a pink/purple over-dyed floss instead.

Here is a picture of my ORT jar for the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long.  Check in on Daffycat's blog with your September blog post, too!

TUSAL 2013 #9

I'm happy that I bought this Disney cross stitch kit from someone on Facebook.  It is called Family Dinner and features lots of Disney characters having Thanksgiving dinner together.  Maybe I'll start it next year.

I was so lucky to get the traveling pattern, Life's a Stitch by Lizzie*Kate from Annette, California Stitcher.  This chart has been all over the world, from Canada to South Africa to France, back to Canada and then to California.  I'll have a giveaway when I'm finished and pass on this chart.  Annette was so generous that she also sent me a Joan Elliott alphabet book and a pretty zippered pouch full of Cosmo floss and handspun silk thread from Dragonflylotus, and a beautiful handmade card!  Thank you so very much, Annette!

A friendly stitcher on Facebook also sent me the chart, Woodland Splendor by The Sweetheart Tree.  It is a heart with acorns and oak leaves.  I already have the name of the next stitcher who gets this traveling pattern after I finish.

Cross Stitchers are such wonderful people!

August TUSAL and Stitching Santas!

Oh fun!  It's time for another themed blog post!  Here is my progress on my WIPs of Santa designs!

On Sundays, I stitch on Santa's 12 Days of Christmas by The Prairie Schooler, a SAL with Linda and Kaye.  I work on Sundays and it used to be slow so I could stitch at my desk, but now we're busy every Sunday, so no more stitching on company time!  I stitched the four calling birds.

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 4) FINISHED!

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 4) FINISHED!

"Santa's 12 Days of Christmas" (Day 4)

Book No. 125
Designed by Pamela Byrd Smith
The Prairie Schooler
Started 1/21/2013, Finished 8/5/2013

I also stitch Santa Hang-Up by Diane Arthurs for an every other weekend SAL with Linda.  These X's are so huge, because I'm stitching over 2 on sparkly 20 ct Valerie fabric.

Santa Hang-Up update #3

I started Yo Ho Ho Ho by Sue Hillis Designs in January for the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge, but haven't touched it since the first day.  Now I started stitching some red of Santa's coat and pants.  This is on 14 ct gold-dusted Stardust Aida.

Yo Ho Ho Ho update #1

I also started Out for a Ride, an Imaginating chart by Diane Arthurs, in January, but only stitched the carrot nose on the snowman.  This time I stitched the red trim on the snowman's hat and his face.  This is also on 14 ct gold-dusted Stardust Aida.

Out for a Ride update #1

The next WIP with a Santa is Christmas Sampler by The Prairie Schooler.  This is the smaller design in booklet #167, And to All a Good Night.  Linda and I extended the UCJC 2012 last year into February and started something new everyday.  I've only touched it once since the first day until now.  Today I stitched another reindeer.  This is on 28 ct Antique White Jobelan, stitched over 2.

Christmas Sampler update #2

It's also time for the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long (TUSAL) where we share a picture of our ORT (Old Ratty Threads) jar each month.  Check in on Daffycat's blog with your August blog post, too!

TUSAL 2013 #8

I bought the Christmas Q-snap cover from Christine's Q-Snap Huggies!

Now I think I'll get back to stitching Halloween designs and beer bottles!  LOL

July TUSAL post and Coffee!

I'm so close but not finished yet with Let's Do Coffee!  I still have to backstitch the coffee beans in the handle, then stitch two more rows of words in the saucer.

Let's Do Coffee update #4

I'm SURE I can finish this today after work. I already have a frame ready to pop it in, then I'll wrap it up, pack it in a box, and mail it tomorrow to my friend for her birthday!

It's time for the Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long again!  Share a picture of your ORT (old ratty threads) jar. Read all about the TUSAL HERE.  Check in on Daffycat's blog with a link to your July TUSAL blog post, too!

TUSAL 2013 #7

I took the picture outside by this big flower bush with clusters of little berries.  It grows like a weed and I don't even know what it's called!  It's about 5 feet high now.  Can anyone identify it?

CORRECTION: Thanks to AnaCristina, now I know this is Lantana!