SAL updates and videos!

I've been so behind in my SALs with Linda and Kaye but I'll really try to keep up now! My Saturday SAL is Fall Welcome.  I finished her sunflower hat and her face will be next!

Fall Welcome update #10

Fall Welcome update #10

My Sunday SAL is Santa's 12 Days of Christmas by The Prairie Schooler.  I started the 6th day by backstitching the border.

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6)

My Monday SAL is the Bothy Threads Cut Thru' Monday SAL with almost 50 other stitchers!  There are so many different Cut Thru' designs to choose from!  I stitched a blue blob on North Pole House.

Cut Thru' North Pole House update #9

I'm in several Facebook groups about cross stitching, and in one of the groups, we posted videos of our WIPs or stash to show each other.  I made these 2 videos of some of my WIPs.  Teddy started barking so I stopped the video and then made a part 2 instead of starting all over again.

"I like to bark during videos."

WIPs video #1

WIPs video #2

Great news about Teddy!  He started taking hypothyroidism medication and his weight has gone down from 132 pounds to 120 pounds!  

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

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!

 

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

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!

Turtle Trot SAL - February

For the Turtle Trot SAL, we choose 13 WIPs to work on and post progress pics on the 13th of every month.  You can join us by signing up at BAP-Attack.  I'll keep the current pics on my Turtle Trot SAL page.  Here is my progress on some of them.  You can click on the picture to see it bigger.  Hopefully next time you'll see more stitching on all 13!

Universal Unity:  I stitched the grass below the deer and started on the tiger. Can you see his stripes?

(before)

Universal Unity update #3

Universal Unity update #3

Thomas Kinkade's Lamplight Bridge:  The picture is printed on the fabric.  I finished the half-stitches on the flowers and bushes above the bridge and the stem stitch along the top of the bridge.  There will be lots of French knots in the flowers on the right side coming up next.

(before)

Lamplight Bridge update #5

Lamplight Bridge update #5

The Sorcerer:  I stitched his hat and started the big yellow moon behind him.

(before)

The Sorcerer update #2

Flaming June:  I finally put in 300 more stitches on my first HAED.  I started this on 1/1/2012 and never got past the first day.  I'm stitching 2 over 1, tent stitch on 25 ct.

(before)

Flaming June update #1

All's Good in the 'Hood:  I finished the border on the right side up to the corner.

(before)

All's Good in the 'Hood update #3

Merry Christmas:  I won this chart from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.  I started the letter "h" of Merry Christmas.  I'm using DMC 115, variegated garnet.

(before)

Merry Christmas update #2

Disney Princess Birth Announcement:  I stitched a lot more blue on Cinderella.

(before)

Princess Birth Announcement update #1

Passione Ricamo Fairy Mystery SAL:  I stitched more rows of blue and another gold swirl. Can you see the sparkle?

(before)

Passione Ricamo Fairy Mystery SAL update #3

Day of the Dead:  I started another flower eye for the skull face.

(before)

Day of the Dead update #3

Here is a picture of my stitching buddy, Teddy!  He took over the cat's spot and sits next to me when I'm stitching!