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!

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!

Back from the framer!

I finally got Mr. Mittens framed!  I finished him in June 2012.  This was a Janlynn kit that someone gave me.  Then I had a giveaway drawing and passed the chart on to another stitcher.  I found this natural wood frame at a yard sale for a dollar.  It was brand new and from Ikea.  My friend Beth the framer mounted it and cut purple and green mats that match just perfectly!

Mr. Mittens - FRAMED!

Mr. Mittens - FRAMED!

I'm almost finished with Mary's Sampler II, the free Mystery SAL from Plum Street Samplers.  Part 9 is almost done except for the red flowers around the border and one more crown in the blank space on the right side.

Mary's Sampler II (part 9)

Here I am in my usual stitching position with a cat or two, watching the Olympics and stitching!

Teddy usually sits next to me but he's getting so darned BIG, he takes up half the couch!  I took him to the vet on Friday and he weighs 131 pounds!  The animal shelter told us he was a Labrador when we adopted him 3 years ago.  Hmmmm... vet says he must be part Mastiff, of course!

 

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!

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!

Hurray! Happy dance time!

Whew!  I finished Let's Do Coffee at the very last second!  Now it's framed, wrapped, boxed up, and on its way to my friend who unfortunately moved from California to Texas, so I can't give it to her in person for her birthday.

Let's Do Coffee - FINISHED!

Let's Do Coffee - FRAMED!

"Let's Do Coffee"
Designed by Ursula Michael
Imaginating
Started 6/26/2013, Finished 7/9/2013

I stitched this on 18 ct Aida (ecru/off white/cream?) with DMC 3857 (Dark Rosewood) since I didn't have 814.  I used almost the entire skein for this design.  The finished size is 7"x7" and the frame is 8"x8".  The wood matches the floss perfectly!

I provided the link above to 123-Stitch if you want to buy the chart, but you can also buy the PDF file online HERE and save on shipping!  Check out all these wonderful Ursula Michael cross stitch designs! (There is a design with teacups, too!)

Thanks again to Regge from You Got Me in Stitches, who gave this chart to me in a giveaway on her blog!  So now I'll pass it on to another lucky stitcher! Please mention in the comment if you're interested and I'll draw a name on July 15 and mail the chart to the winner (worldwide).

Two of my stitchy helpers cheered me on to a finish last night!  As soon as I sit in my favorite stitching spot with my OttLite next to me and put my feet up, I'm joined by Teddy the Mastiff/Labrador and a cat on my lap every night!

March TUSAL

Here is my TUSAL blog post for March!  Be sure to check in on Daffycat's blog with your TUSAL post, too!

TUSAL 2013 #3

On Halloween House, I finished the green roof on the left side and a ghost. Next time I'll do the backstitching on the ghosts and start the roof in the middle. You can see everyone else's updates HERE.

Halloween House update #27

I finished Spiders on Boo! Club by Lizzie*Kate.  Now I'm one-third done with this 12-part design.  I bought the tiny black and white buttons for the eyes and spider bodies, but I misplaced them!  I'm sure I'll find them before I finish this and will add them at the end.

Boo! Club (Spiders) - FINISHED!

I had a great time on Saturday, stitching all day with the SoCal Cross Stitchers Yahoo group.  We met at a mall and stitched outside from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  The patio had nice padded chairs and a waterfall and beautiful blue skies. We were steps away from the food court, too!  Here is the view from where I was sitting:

Now with Daylight Savings Time, it doesn't get dark until 7:00 p.m., so I can try stitching outside after work all week long, unless it gets too hot!

Happy Stitching, everyone!

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!

Crazy January starts 22-24

Only one more week of January to start something new everyday!  Then I'll have a fun year of stitching all these, plus the WIPs from 2012!

Day #22 is Black Cat Alphabet by Isabelle Haccourt Vautier, a freebie chart I found HERE.  The cat is missing a leg!  I stitched the fourth leg twice and ripped it out twice because it looked funny.  Oh well!  I like these simple designs when I can choose any floss and any fabric.  I'm blending black and DMC 53, steel gray variegated floss on 14 ct orange hand-dyed Aida.  The finished size will be 8" x 3.5".

Black Cat Alphabet

Day #23 is Cut Thru' Igloo by Amanda Loverseed from Bothy Threads.  I bought the pages torn out of a cross stitch magazine, the December 2006 issue of UK Cross Stitcher, on eBay in the UK.  You can find this magazine on eBay HERE.  You can also buy the chart with specialty floss HERE.  I'm stitching it on 14 ct hand-dyed lavender Aida and the finished size will be about 9" x 9".

Cut Thru' Igloo

Day #24 is PTP Special Delivery by Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED).  Isn't that a cute baby?  This petit point chart is only 120x120 stitches (small for a HAED).  I am stitching 2 over 1, full crosses on 22 ct white Hardanger fabric, so it will be 5.5" square.

PTP Special Delivery

My daughter took these pics with her cell phone yesterday of our cats, Billy, Blueberrie, and Bubbles:

 

Cactus, Cherry, and BBQ Queen progress!

These three projects are coming right along!  The Christmas Cactus is waiting for the Christmas lights.

Christmas Cactus update #3

One of the cherries is coming to life.  Does it look real from a distance?

WOCS - Cherry update #2

I have started stitching the flag that says "Summer" on BBQ Queen.  There is still a lot of backstitching to do.

BBQ Queen update #20

Here is a peek into my everyday work situation!  I work at home on the company computer on the right, and my personal computer is on the left.  There is always a furbaby within arm's reach!

Billy, Blueberrie, and Bubbles

Bubbles, Billy, and Teddy

Sophie under the desk

Sophie sitting in the cat bed.

Teddy under the desk

Billy on my lap when I'm typing!

The brown tabby cat is Billy, 5 years old, the black and white tuxedo cat is Blueberrie, 9 years old, and the calico cat is Bubbles, 10 years old.  Teddy the Labrador Retriever/Mastiff mix is 2 years old.  Sophie the German Shepherd/Shetland Sheepdog is 10 years old and very camera shy.  She is best buddies with Billy the cat.  I wish I could get a picture of them playing together, but she always takes off when she sees the camera!

TUSAL #10 and stitchy helpers!

TUSAL #10 and Teddy

One of my cats posed with my ORT jar last month, so this time it's the dog's turn! This is Teddy, a 2-year-old Labrador Retriever/Mastiff mix.  He lays at my feet all day long when I'm typing and follows me to the couch when I'm stitching, too!  

Teddy, Billy, and me!

Billy is 5 years old and is the youngest cat.  I was a foster mom for kittens for the animal shelter, but after having several litters and giving them back when they were old enough, I just couldn't let Billy go.  He always sat on my lap and still does, even when I'm typing.  He lays across both my arms and nuzzles his head into the bend of my elbow.  I stopped taking foster kittens after deciding to keep Billy.  I always had 2 dogs and 2 cats before adding him.

After my daughter took this picture, another cat joined us.  She is the one who sits next to me every night when I'm stitching.  Even though the dog was in her spot, she squeezed in there, too.  But my daughter didn't want to take another picture with her cell phone.  Oh darn, missed photo op!

This is what I was stitching when that picture was taken!

So Many Tools update #4

I stitched two more tools on So Many Tools.  Only 10 weeks until Christmas and I have 28 more tools to go.  My goal is to stitch three more each week.

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 3) update #3

I stitched all of the green hen house for the third day of Christmas.  This is my Sunday SAL with Linda and Kaye.