Another finish, a new start, and giveaway winner!

I finished Red Cat, which was a free design from Cross-Stitchers-Club.  This will be donated to World of Charity Stitching to be sewn onto a cat-themed quilt.  I used Victoria Clayton silk HDF in Aquamarine.  It is stitched on 28 ct antique white Jobelan.

Red Cat - FINISHED!

"Red Cat"
Cross-Stitchers-Club
Started 2/22/2012, Finished 9/28/2013

My new start is Mary's Sampler II, a free Mystery Sampler from Plum Street Samplers.  There are 9 parts, one each Sunday.  I am stitching on 18 ct Fiddlers cloth light.  The finished size will be about 5.5" square.

Mary's Sampler II (part 1)

Remember, tomorrow (October 1), part 2 of the Jardin Privé sampler, La Pensée Positive, will be available!  She has also made charts in Spanish and Italian versions, and is working on a German version, too!  All PDF files are free on Les Marottes de Nathalie. 

The winner of the Cut Thru' Igloo chart is..... Debbie Daniels!  She has noreply-comment and no blog, so if she doesn't respond by next Sunday, October 6, I'll choose another name.  (I found her on Facebook after all!)

 Debbie Daniels said...

Since I am a Debbie also, and live in Alaska, (in an igloo of course!) I think you should pick me :-). You did a lovely job on this

September 18, 2013 at 8:06 PM

Pumpkins for Cathey

Happy Blogoversary to Cathey M. of Pumpkin Patch & Co.!!

Be sure to visit Daffycat's blog to see all the other bloggers who are wishing Cathey a Happy Blogoversary, too!

We're Off to See the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!

Oh, I'm so happy that I got to see The Wizard of Oz at the IMAX theater in 3D last Friday.  Can you believe it's the 75th anniversary of this wonderful movie?  I was lucky enough to watch it at the IMAX for the 70th anniversary five years ago, but this time it was in 3D!

Next month, there will be a Collector's Edition boxed set of DVDs that I have already asked my son to get me for Christmas!  Last year, he bought me this wonderful Wizard of Oz puzzle, but shame on me, I haven't started it yet.

So I've finally started stitching the picture you see at the top of my blog, "We're Off to See the Wizard."  I bought this chart on eBay from Keenah's Cross Stitch.  It is 15 pages.

We're Off to See the Wizard

I'm starting in the center because I want to get up to Dorothy's face.  I don't think I'd have the patience to stitch all the green trees, grass, and sky first.  My starting point is somewhere in her dress.  I'm stitching full crosses on 18 ct off-white Aida.  There are 96 colors and the finished size will be 16.67" x 12".

More blog giveaways!

Terri from Confessions of a Stitch Wraith is having a giveaway to celebrate 8 years of blogging!  I'm a new follower of her blog today.  Enter HERE and tell Terri that I sent you!  Drawing on October 24.

Nancy from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having a giveaway of Gingerbread Trim Packs!  Enter HERE and tell Nancy that I sent you!  Drawing on October 15.

And remember, I am also giving away the chart for the Cut Thru' Igloo that I just finished.  Leave a comment on the prior blog post HERE if you're interested. Drawing on September 29.

Halloween House update and slide shows!

Halloween House is almost finished!  The cross stitching is done and all I have left to do is the backstitching of the spiderweb all around the border.

Halloween House update #41

Just for fun, I made video slide shows with all the progress photos for Cut Thru' Igloo and BBQ Queen.  She is in a white frame in my kitchen now.

I'm going to draw a name for the Cut Thru' Igloo chart giveaway on Sunday, September 29.  You can leave a comment on the previous post HERE if you're interested!

September WIPocalypse update

It's time for the WIPocalypse SAL update!  You can see current pics of all of my WIPs on my WIPocalypse page.  Check in on Measi's blog with your WIPocalypse update, too!  This month the theme is Designer - Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED), Project Theme - Specialty Stitches, and Focus Colors - Brown and Green.

My Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED) chart is Flaming June, painted by Sir Frederic Leighton in 1895.  The actual painting is in a museum in Puerto Rico.

 

This is how far I have gotten, only halfway through the first page, which is the sky in the top left corner:

Flaming June update #

For specialty stitches, I stitched LOTS of French Knots on Thomas Kinkade's Lamplight Bridge and there will be a lot more!

Lamplight Bridge update #7

Lamplight Bridge update #7

For the Focus Colors of Brown and Green, I stitched the bear on Picnic Area by The Prairie Schooler.

Picnic Area update #5

I stitched the skeleton on Halloween House.  I have to finish the tree, add smoke and spiderwebs all around the border.

Halloween House update #40

Igloo is finished!

Come join me in a happy dance!  I finished the Bothy Threads Cut Thru' Igloo last night (early this morning).

Cut Thru' Igloo - FINISHED!

"Cut Thru' Igloo"
Designed by Kate Bothy Golby
Adapted from art by Amanda Loverseed
Bothy Threads
Started 1/23/2013, Finished 9/18/2013

I stitched this on 14 ct lavender hand-dyed Aida with DMC floss.  The finished size is 9" x 9".  I substituted a few of the colors that I didn't have, so there is a little more green and blue in the snow, which should be much lighter.  I also used DMC Light Effects floss in pink and purple that I already had, instead of buying the brighter colors for the Northern Lights.  I did order the Anchor multicolored floss in Blue Hawaii for the water, which I had to wait awhile for, but it was worth it!

I bought this chart on eBay one night around 2:00 a.m. when I was standing in line during Black Friday, the big shopping day after Thanksgiving.  I was so excited to win the auction that I didn't mind paying for pages out of a magazine so I could get this chart!  It came out of the December 2006 issue of UK Cross Stitcher magazine.

You can buy the chart from The Silver Needle in Oklahoma, and they include the multicolored floss for the water and the pink and purple metallic for the Northern Lights.  OR you could leave a comment below if you're interested in this chart and I will pass it on to the winner of my giveaway!  I will draw a name on Sunday, September 29, and mail it anywhere in the world.  But remember, my chart is only the pages from the magazine.  Good luck!

Turtle Trot SAL - September

For the Turtle Trot SAL, we choose 13 WIPs to work on and post progress pics on the 13th of every month.  I finished another one, so now I'm down to only 11.

Here is my progress since August.  You can click on the picture to see it bigger.

Universal Unity:  I stitched more grass and the raccoon.

Universal Unity (before)

Universal Unity update #11

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

The Sorcerer (before)

The Sorcerer update #7

Flaming June:  I stitched more sky and started some water.  Page 1 is halfway done!

Flaming June (before)

Flaming June update #5

Merry Christmas:  I stitched the letter S using DMC 115, variegated garnet.

Merry Christmas (before)

Merry Christmas update #6

Disney Princess Birth Announcement:  Cinderella has more hair and a blue ribbon.

Disney Princess Birth Announcement (before)

Disney Princess Birth Announcement update #5

Passione Ricamo Fairy Mystery SAL:  I stitched more rows of blue background.

Fairy Mystery SAL (before)

Passione Ricamo Fairy Mystery SAL update #4

Day of the Dead:  This one is finished!

Day of the Dead (before)

Day of the Dead - FINISHED!

Orange Poppies:  You can barely tell any difference, but I did 32 more stitches of orange!

Orange Poppies (before)

Orange Poppies update #4

Canyon Waterfall:  I filled in more confetti in the trees and started the clouds.

Canyon Waterfall (before)

Canyon Waterfall update #2

Jardin Privé SAL and Igloo!

I finished Part 1 of the free Jardin Privé SAL called La Pensée Positive (Positive Thinking).  Now I have to wait until October for Part 2.  You can find it on this blog, Les Marottes de Nathalie.  There is also a Facebook group for this SAL HERE.

La Pensée Positive update #1

This is how it will look when it's finished:

There is a mistake in the English version (sunhine) but I'm sure it will be fixed before we get to that part.

I'm not as close to being finished on the Cut Thru' Igloo as I thought I was!  I just discovered that my working copy didn't include the last three lines of the chart. Oops! Now I'm finally down to the bottom and nothing but water and fish to stitch until it's finished!

Cut Thru' Igloo update #23

If you scroll down to the bottom of the Bothy Threads Cut Thru' Monday SAL page, you can see that Alexis has started stitching the Igloo, too!

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!