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!

Crazy January start #5 and I'm a winner!

Day #5 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is the Hungarian Peacock Sampler by Manka Mintai.  She sent this free chart by request but her Hungarian blog sadly is closed now.  I'm using Cosmo Seasons 8079 variegated floss in purple/green/blue shades and 18 ct DMC Aida in Light Sea Green.  It will be about 9.5" x 11".  I am also in the Peacock Stitching group on Facebook where everyone is stitching different peacock designs.

Hungarian Peacock Sampler

Hungarian Peacock Sampler

I chose this companion piece from my WIPocalypse list because it is also a free monochrome design from a foreign blog and is stitched all in one color with variegated floss.  This is Merci, a freebie from a French blog, Gazette94.  I haven't touched this one since November 2012.  Today I stitched Merci and finished the border but there will be another flower and heart to stitch.  I will stitch Merci and Thank You and put them back to back and hang on a ribbon to make a pretty sign for my daughter.  It is on 14 ct Aida in Mint Parfait and will be about 4" x 3".

Merci update #2

I won the 10-year blogoversary giveaway from Lindsay at Caring Stitcher blog!  The prize will be a complete mystery, which is perfect since I love surprises!  Thank you, Lindsay!

I also won the Samplers Not Forgotten chart giveaway by Brenda at Time 2 Xstitch blog to celebrate reaching 100 followers.  I had my choice of five different samplers and chose Elizabeth Lamb 1837.  Four of the samplers were featured in the October newsletter from the Attic Needlework shop in Arizona.  Thank you so much, Brenda!

I also won three 20-yard skeins of hand-dyed floss from Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.  Thank you, Nancy!  She is looking for model stitchers in the US. Details HERE.

Stash enhancement! (picture heavy!)

Last month I won Kate's Easter Giveaway on The Flying Needle blog of a $50 gift certificate to 123-Stitch! I finally made my choices and all my goodies have arrived!  The Ink Circles chart, "99" has been on my Wish List since the first time I saw it, and now it's mine!  Some other ladies in the SoCalCrossStitchers Yahoo group and I will have a SAL of this chart and get to watch each other's progress.  I also got The Final Frontier booklet by Stoney Creek and black linen for this.  I also got pink opalescent fabric for a Disney Princesses chart and glow-in-the-dark and metallic Kreinik floss for a Halloween chart.  Thank you so very much, Kate!

I also won these two charts and six skeins of GAST floss from Nancy at Pickle Barrel Designs!  Thank you, Nancy!

I won the Let's Do Coffee chart from Regge at You Got Me in Stitches blog. Thank you, Regge!  I traded two charts I had finished for some floss from someone who contacted me after seeing my blog.  I only expected 3 or 4 skeins, but she sent me a whole pile!  Thanks, Shelly!

I won this DMC linen floss from Brenda at The Dropped Thread in her "From My Hoard to Yours" Giveaway.  Thank you very much, Brenda!

I won these two charts from Darlene Lara, the designer from The Marking Samplar, when I stopped by her booth at The Online Needlework Show!  Thank you so very much, Darlene!

I've also been buying charts and kits here and there, all over the internet! These two Wizard of Oz designs will go nicely with the chart shown in the header on my blog, which I bought on eBay.

I fell in love with these charts from Sue Hillis Designs and the Polar Bear pulling a sleigh Dimensions kit:

I bought these kits and charts from Christine's Stitching Stash on Facebook. The Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter needle roll kits from Dinky Dyes Designs came with floss, ribbon, and beads for only 50 cents each!  The Chickadee and January charts were only 25 cents each, Halloween Cats and Max in His Birthday Suit were 50 cents, and the Frank-n-Stein kit with fabric, floss, and charm was $1.00.  Thank you, Christine!

I always look for stitchy stuff at the thrift stores and found these goodies recently: a cross stitch book, Santa's Cuisine cross stitch kit for $1.50, a 15" x 18" piece of orange 14 ct Aida for $1.25, and a fat quarter of flag fabric for 35 cents that I could use for a patriotic ornament some day.

What do you think about these director's chair replacement covers?  They look like they could be used for cross stitch or needlepoint!  I bought some for me and the others in my SoCalCrossStitchers Yahoo group for $1.99 each.  One of them goes to dog shows and will stitch the name of her kennel club on the seat backs.

About six members of the SoCalCrossStitchers Yahoo group went to a stitchy garage sale together and I was lucky enough to add all of this to my hoard stash, too!  I bought an afghan to stitch (someday), 3 big pieces of Zweigart 14 ct E-Z Guide fabric, 32 ct white Belfast linen, 20 ct black Valerie fabric, 14 ct brown Aida, 14 ct white Aida, gold and white perforated paper, and a bookmark.  I only bought 2 spools of gold Kreinik, even though there was a lot more in the basket, a spool of multicolored thread, Mill Hill beads, and 200 skeins of DMC floss!  I also got a new 8x10 picture frame and a tote bag, all for $30.

I also rescued these four finished cross stitch designs at a thrift store and will donate them to World of Charity Stitching.  They can be sewn onto a tote bag, walker bag, pillow, or used to start a new quilt theme!

Happy stitching and stash enhancement to all!

A very old UFO is finished and I'm a winner!

I bought the kit for Bear Hug at a Creative Circle needlecraft home party waaaaaaay back in 1988 (25 years ago!) and guess what?!  I finally finished it! This will be donated to World of Charity Stitching so they can sew it to a pillow or walker bag or tote bag.

Bear Hug - FINISHED!

Bear Hug
Designed by Sue Miyata
The Creative Circle
Started 1988, Finished 3/22/2013

I did the backstitching on the two windows and the roof of Halloween House.

Halloween House update #29

I pulled out one of my starts from last year to use for the 2013 Ornament SAL for this month.  It is a freebie from a French blog, Le blog de Vava.  I'm stitching it on perforated paper with DMC gold metallic 5282 with the word "Noel" in white DMC.

Boule Bordeaux update #2

I am using a variegated red J&P Coats floss for the top and bottom.  It's not turning out exactly how I planned (LOL) but I'll try a different method for the bottom half.  I bought a piece of red felt with an adhesive back to put on the back of this ornament.

Boule Bordeaux update #3

I was a lucky winner of a Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe giveaway!  Nancy sent me five 20-yard skeins of over-dyed floss.  She is having another giveaway on April 15.  You can enter HERE and tell her that I sent you!

I was also a lucky winner of DMC linen floss from Brenda in her "From My Horde to Yours Giveaway" at The Dropped Thread!

I also bought the rest of the DMC floss at JoAnn's yesterday that I need for my next BAP.  Hint:  It's the big picture at the top of my blog!  Yes, that's actually a cross stitch chart called "We're Off to See the Wizard."  I had a coupon for 25% off my entire purchase, so the floss was only 29 cents each!  Here's what the chart looks like:

"We're Off to See the Wizard" chart

My Prairie Schooler progress!

Several of my WIPs are from The Prairie Schooler.  Here are updates on some of them.

I decided to use Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss for Christmas Ark.  The animals and the ark are solid colors so I thought the softly changing colors of over-dyed floss would liven it up a bit.  I started stitching the elephant using Linda's Brown.

Christmas Ark update #1

This Saturday SAL has been neglected for too long!  Linda, Rosemary, and I are stitching the monthly designs from the Spring & Fall and Summer & Winter booklets on Saturdays.  I finally started July.  I had Aida fabric with a printed border which I cut into four pieces and decided to stitch right over the background design.

Summer & Winter (July)

It seemed like a great idea at the time, a good way to use up this printed fabric. Even though it looks kind of funny, I'm going to follow through with it and do all 12 months.  March, April, May, and June are finished.  On the April square, I stopped stitching on the printed fabric and did it on pale pink instead.

Spring & Fall (March, April, May) and Summer & Winter (June)

Linda, Kaye, and I are stitching Santa's 12 Days of Christmas on Sundays.  I started on the red of Santa's coat.

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 4) update #2

Thank you for visiting my blog!  Happy Stitching!

November 7-9, per Random Number Generator!

You can see current pics of all of my WIPs on my WIPocalypse page.  I let the Random Number Generator choose which one to stitch on each day!

November 7 - #16 I'll Get You My Pretty.  This is a free chart from Sue Hillis Designs.  I started this for Day #11 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge.  It is stitched over 2 on 32 ct Voodoo Belfast linen from Picture This Plus.  I stitched a bat and started the witch.  It's too bad I didn't have it finished in time for Halloween, but it will be ready for next year!  Actually, I can display it year-round with my Wizard of Oz collection!

I'll Get You My Pretty update #1

November 8 - #5 Thomas Kinkade's Lamplight Bridge.  I bought this Candamar kit many years ago.  This is an embellished cross stitch, where the picture is printed on the fabric and I stitch over it with full and half stitches, French knots, and backstitching.  I finished the flowers and bushes above the bridge on the left side and the three lamp posts.

Lamplight Bridge update #4

This is the full picture.  I have stitched the left side so far.  The right side will have lots of French knots in the flowers.  This is on 14" x 17" Q-Snaps.

Lamplight Bridge update #4

November 9 - #39 Christmas Sampler.  I am stitching the small square design in the And to All a Good Night booklet by The Prairie Schooler.  This one was started for the Super Duper Ultimate Crazy February Challenge when Linda and I started a new design every day in February.  She's not talking me into it again next year!  I stitched one of the four reindeer.  This is on 28 ct Antique White Jobelan, stitched over 2.

Christmas Sampler update #1

I love to shop for stash at thrift stores, don't you?  On Friday, I found a brand new in the box Edmunds Universal Craft Stand with scroll frame for only $15.  I also bought about 40 skeins of floss for $4.  I really like getting the baggies full of old unusual floss brands, then matching them up to DMC numbers using my DMC floss card, since most of these brands don't have conversions.  The brands are American Thread Co. Star Six Strand, Trebla, Duchess, Sari Sticktwist, Bucilla, J&P Coats, Anchor, Clark's, Peri-Lusta, Lily, Royal Moulon, and Brilliante D'Alger floss.  The best deal I found at a thrift store near Yosemite National Park that had baggies with 100 skeins of J&P Coats floss for $8.  Out of all these brands, I like stitching with Anchor and Peri-Lusta the best!  Here is a pic of some of the floss that I haven't sorted yet: