Jolly Jack is almost done!

Do you want to be the next stitcher who gets the traveling pattern of Jolly Jack?  Just leave a comment on my previous post and I will draw a name on Monday, October 8.  This is how Jolly Jack looks today!

Jolly Jack update #1

I blended DMC variegated Steel Gray and black 310 to substitute for WDW Charcoal, and I used DMC variegated Terra Cotta instead of WDW Tobacco Road for the leaves.

I've also been trying to keep up with So Many Tools, so I will have it ready in time to give to my dad for Christmas.  There are still 30 more tools to go, plus the words.  Only 11 weeks until Christmas, so I still need to finish about three tools each week.  There was a TON of backstitching on this tray of nuts and bolts and screws and nails!

So Many Tools update #3

I went to the Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds on Saturday with four other stitchers from the SoCalCrossStitchers Yahoo group.  Then we went to lunch, had a quick stop at a LNS, then back to the group leader's home to stitch.  Three more stitchers joined us there.  I bought a new pair of stork scissors and three cross stitch kits by Bobbie G Designs at the fair, then bought a Bent Creek chart at the LNS.  What a perfect stitchy day!

Jolly Jack after one night of stitching!

This is such a fun chart to stitch!  I didn't want to put it down until I finished the pumpkin!

Jolly Jack update #1

Instead of using Weeks Dye Works floss in Sweet Potato color, I blended DMC variegated Burnt Orange with an old skein from American Thread Co. Star Six Strand.  Can you see the 10 cents price on the label?  I like to buy random floss on eBay and then convert it to DMC colors.  This one is close to DMC 900, Dark Burnt Orange.

I'm giving away this chart when I'm done because it's a traveling pattern! If you would like to be in the drawing, leave a comment on my previous post.  Drawing on Monday, October 8.

Happy Stitching, everyone!

Halloween Stitching!

I haven't touched my Halloween House in a month! Now it looks like this:

Halloween House update #21

I finished all the purple on the house, stitched the third floor window and the orange shutters.  I wonder who will be peeking out of the windows at the next update?! You can click on the picture to see it bigger.

Lucky me!  I received the traveling pattern, Jolly Jack!  I am stitching him on 28 ct tan linen over 2.  Instead of using Weeks Dye Works floss, I am using my own variegated DMC and some other colors that I chose. I hope it looks OK when I'm done.

Jolly Jack

Devon at Devon's Quiet Corner in Florida stitched him first, then she sent him to Amanda at Samplers, Silks and Linens in Taiwan.  She sent him to Denise at Country Stitcher in South Dakota, who then sent Jolly Jack to me in California!  He has been traveling all over the globe and I would love to send him off to the next stitcher to see how many Jolly Jacks we can stitch before Halloween.  Please leave a comment if you are would like a chance to get the traveling pattern of Jolly Jack.  I will choose a winner on Monday, October 8, and send the pattern as soon as I finish stitching.

Katy at tadamama is having a giveaway on her blog to celebrate reaching 50 followers!  Please tell her that I sent you!

Blogoversary Giveaway winner!

The winner of the $10 gift certificate to 123-Stitch is

RITA E. in AZ!

Congratulations, Rita!

WIPocalypse update #10

BBQ Queen update #19

Well, I didn't finish BBQ Queen like I thought I would by this WIPocalypse update.  I did all the backstitching on the bottom and added the grass.  The last part will be a flag that says "Summer" and purple backstitching on her dress.  This is a SAL with Linda, who is stitching Lady Liberty, another design by Diane Arthurs.

Summer & Winter (June) update #3

Since the last WIPocalypse update, I have added the sunflowers and leaves to this June square.  The mother bird will be on top, feeding worms to her babies.  I plan to make flat ornaments of all these monthly designs by The Prairie Schooler.  This is a SAL with Linda and Rosemary.

So Many Tools update #2

I'm trying to finish So Many Tools by Christmas or January for my dad's birthday.  There are 32 tools in this design, so I need to stitch 3 tools each week to have it done in time for Christmas.  There is A LOT of backstitching!

My only new finish since the last WIPocalypse update is Burnt to Perfection, which I stitched for my brother's birthday gift.  I gave it to him tonight!

Don't forget to check in on Measi's blog with your WIPocalypse update, too!

Happy Autumn to everyone, or Happy Spring down under!  It is still HOT here in Sunny Southern California.  Today was 102 degrees and tomorrow will be even hotter.  The forecast is 106 degrees for the first day of October!

Happy Blogoversary to me!

Today is my second blogoversary!  I started this cross stitch blog in 2010 when I began stitching Wedding Ride for my best friend's wedding gift.  I hadn't been stitching for over 10 years and was excited to find so many blogs to follow and meet other stitchers all around the world!

This is the piece that got me back into cross stitching:  Wedding Ride.  

You can find just about everything at 123-Stitch, so I will have a blogoversary giveaway of a $10 gift certificate to this website.  Just leave a comment below and I'll draw a winner on Sunday, September 30.

Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is also having a giveaway of an Autumn gift bag of goodies, drawing on October 15.  Enter HERE and tell Nancy that I sent you!

I was a previous lucky winner of one of Nancy's giveaways of hand-dyed floss.  I plan to use the dark green floss she gave me for the leaves of the sunflowers on my June square from the Prairie Schooler Summer & Winter booklet.

Summer & Winter (June) update #2

Burnt to Perfection finished!

Burnt to Perfection - finished!

Burnt to Perfection - framed!

"Burnt to Perfection"
Designed by Sue Hillis
Sue Hillis Designs, Inc.
Started 2/16/2012, Finished 9/22/2012

I finished this fun gift for my brother's birthday.  I hope he laughs at it!  I quickly folded the edges and tucked it into the frame to see how it looks, but I will still wash it and iron it and mount it correctly.  I used 28 ct tea-dyed Monaco fabric from a kit with a design that I didn't want to stitch, so I gave the chart away and kept the fabric for myself.  It worked out perfectly for this design.

Stitching for men, TUSAL #9, and vacation photos!

I was on vacation and brought along some cross stitching WIPs for the men in my life!  My brother's birthday is next week and I'm stitching Burnt to Perfection by Sue Hillis Designs, since he does most of the cooking for his family.  I don't have the BBQ charm, so I centered the words under the design instead.

Burnt to Perfection update #1

I also got a little stitching done on So Many Tools, a kit that I bought many years ago to make for my dad.  If I don't get it done in time for Christmas, I'll give it to him for his birthday in January instead!

So Many Tools update #1

I finished most of the gas tank on Harley-Davidson, a kit by Pinn Stitch that I bought many years ago to make for my boyfriend.  It will be for his birthday next year.  I am not going to add the clock to it.

Harley-Davidson update #1

My TUSAL jar is filling up nicely!  Don't forget to check in on Daffycat's blog with your TUSAL blog post, too!

TUSAL #9

I spent the week at a condo at the beach and saw some beautiful sunsets.  It is just about impossible to take a picture with the camera that actually looks like the real thing!

We saw the Tall Ships Festival and walked all over 8 different ships. Some people were dressed as pirates.  By the way, today is Talk Like a Pirate Day and you can get a free donut at Krispy Kreme if you talk like a pirate, or a free dozen donuts if you dress like one!

We saw the Faberge exhibit at the Bowers Museum.  This Easter egg was made in 1908.  The letters stand for "Christ is Risen."

We saw some surfers and pelicans at the San Clemente Pier.  This guy was posing for everyone!

We went on a whale watching ship out into the Pacific Ocean for 2 hours but didn't see a single whale and not even a dolphin, so we have free tickets to return any time in the future.  I have gone whale watching here several other times and this was the first dud trip. :-(

We went to Old Town San Diego and looked at the old Estudillo House from the 1800s (see my Flickr photo album).  It must have been miserable to live without air conditioning!  LOL

Then we watched a San Diego Padres vs St. Louis Cardinals baseball game.  The stadium is beautiful.

Now I'm back home in my regular routine.  My cats and dogs sure missed me!  It's time to get back to stitching my brother's birthday gift!

Happy Stitching, everyone!  Thanks for visiting my blog.

WIPocalypse update #9 and more finishes!

Four bookmarks - FINISHED!

Since the last WIPocalypse update, I have finished four bookmarks and another month of the Prairie Schooler Spring & Fall series.  My WIPocalypse page is slowly shrinking and my Finishes 2012 page is growing!

Monkey Read, Monkey Do bookmark - FINISHED!

Memento Mori bookmark - FINISHED!

Spooky bookmark - FINISHED!

"Spooky" bookmark
Designed by Barbi Singlar
amintkipattan
Started 2/23/2012, Finished 8/26/2012

Hands Off My Book bookmark - FINISHED!

"Hands Off My Book" bookmark
Designed by Kell Smurthwaite
Kincavel Krosses
Started 2/8/2012, Finished 9/1/2012

Spring & Fall (May) FINISHED!

I started June in the Summer & Winter booklet from The Prairie Schooler.

Summer & Winter (June) update #1

BBQ Queen has a chef's hat and a smiling sun now.  I think she'll be done by the next WIPocalypse update.

BBQ Queen update #18

Halloween House has the second floor started.

Halloween House update #20

Santa has one of the three French hens for Santa's 12 Days of Christmas.

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 3) update #1

The Passione Ricamo Fairy Mystery SAL has part 1 and some of part 2 finished.

Passione Ricamo Fairy Mystery SAL - update #2

I stitched a gray squirrel on Universal Unity.  This is a Dimensions Gold Collection kit that I started in 1998 and haven't touched it since!

Universal Unity - update #1

 

I started a Day of the Dead flowery skull face from the book, Twisted Stitches. This is the nose!

Day of the Dead

Don't forget to check in on Measi's blog with a link to your WIPocalypse blog post, too!

Fall and Halloween Giveaways!

Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having three fantastic giveaways!  Enter HERE for the Fall gift bag full of treasures, drawing on September 21.  Enter HERE for the Halloween gift bag full of goodies, drawing on October 1.  Enter HERE for the Treasured Friend gift bag giveaway, drawing on September 30.  Tell Nancy that I sent you!

The frog finally found me!

Arrrgh!  This supposedly simple bookmark has been such a challenge!  I started it in February and finally got back to it now, since I'm sending several bookmarks to my friend's nieces as back-to-school gifts. This free chart is from Lady Kell of Kincavel.

I seemed to have a good start the first day:

Then I was happily stitching away (and watching TV at the same time) and somehow missed an entire letter! Oops! My daughter thought it was so funny that she told me to take a picture before I fixed it.

Then I was making great progress on the flower border, but noticed that I was one stitch too low, so I carefully ripped out 20 stitches to fix the problem (circled in pink).

I re-stitched that part, one stitch higher (circled in pink), but THEN I noticed that I had left a space, one stitch over to the right (circled in green).  Bummer!

So I ripped out all those stitches back to that point, and not so carefully this time!  See all my shreds of floss in the glass star shaped ORT dish.

Hands Off My Book - update #1

I hope that frog is done with me now and finds his way to someone else instead!  Wish me luck to get this bookmark finished without any more rip-rip-ripping!

Craftymoo's giveaway!

Sarah is having a wonderful birthday giveaway on her blog, Craftymoo.