Woop-de-do and La-De-Da

It is truly amazing, I now have 50 followers.  I would have never guessed that 50 people would want to read what I have to say on a regular basis.  So in honor of this grand occasion I have, with the aid of my daughter held a surprise grab-bag drawing.  There are 5 grab-bags and the winners are:
Rose Koslap (Christmas City Stitcher)
Tammy K (For the love of Cross Stitch)
Terri Patterson (no blog)
Mango girl (Naughts & Cross Stitches)
Mary (Stitches and More)
So if you wouldn't mind emailing me with your address I'll get these little tokens in the mail as soon as possible.  Thank you to all of my followers, you all and your comments are special to me. I look forward to reading them everyday. Again thank you all.  xxs

WIPOCALYSPE

It’s time again for Wipocalyspe, my goodness how time flies.  It you don’t know what this is click on the dragon button on my side bar and it will take you to more info.  As I’ve said in a previous post I love my instant gratification so I stitched mostly the last few days on my little lucky cat design and also I had two finishes near the end of January so my wips haven’t changed much but here they are.

One thing I did discover on the Rose Sampler is that I actually used the wrong shade of gray around that top edge.  I used DMC 413 (Dk Pewter Gray) instead of DMC 415 (Pearl Gray), the DMC 318 (Lt Steel Gray) was correct.  That misread turned out to be a good thing, I think that little bit of dark makes that edge pop.

This outline around the third woman’s face is all the progress I made the last time I touched the African Women but every stitch counts (pun intended). The Champagne is still untouched and the memorial is still on hold for soldier info.  Well I have to finish blog hopping so I can make more wonderful little xxs, so thanks for stopping by and leaving comments, I love them. 

What a Greaaaaat Super Bowl

Sale!  They had at “In Stitches Needlework” my local needlework store yesterday, everything was discounted and I got some really good bargains.  I know I need to buy more stash like I need another hole in my head but I couldn’t resist.  I picked up this little chart by Erica Michaels.  It is designed to be stitched on 40ct gauze (can you believe 40ct gauze) and is supposed to only be 1.8w x 1.8w ha ha (roflmao).  My progressive lenses aren’t that progressive, they would probably burst into flame if I tried stitching something that small. Here, take a look.

Anyway here is the chart and the fabric I bought for it, the threads are DMC and two of them are blended together which will make things interesting. My fabric is 28ct Cream colored Cashel.

Since I love instant gratification I have been stitching on and finished this little design from Joan Elliott’s “Oriental Collection” a small booklet that came with one of my many magazines.  If you eat Chinese food I’m sure you’ve seen this little statue in the restaurant before, I liked it and wanted to stitch it.  I don’t know what I’ll do with it but here it is and it’s stitched on a scrap of 28ct linen left over from a previous project so that piece didn’t go to waste.

Here also are a couple other goodies I got, one is white 30ct Northern Cross linen and the other is (to-die- for) 32ct linen in “Coffee Bean”, the picture is not doing it justice.  I have absolutely no idea what I am going to stitch on the fabric stash I have, which is getting kinda large (for me that is) but it’s fun to look at.

 I did watch the game and congrats to all the Giant fans on the Super Bowl win, even though neither of my teams was in it, I was cheering for Eli, you know Peyton’s little brother.   I thought the half-time show sucked big time but I loved most of the commercials especially the M & Ms and Doritos.  Well enough of me blabbing today, time to go make some wonderful little xxs.  Thanks for stopping by.

My first post of February

Well I had two finishes in January, what will February bring?  I am still trying to make contact with the mother of the soldier I stitched a memorial for, sadly with no success.  I have two more of the black and white figures to stitch and I got off to a great start on the African Women.  I haven’t forgotten about the New Year’s bottle but I’ve got 11 months to get that done.  I am totally in love with my Rose Sampler; my needle just seems to fly through the design with the single color.  Every time I start on it I can’t seem to put it down, as of 31 January I had almost completed the first three pages.  I found another design I am thinking about starting it is “His Name is Jesus” it is another freebie, from Joyful Expressions, I want to stitch it on 18ct white Aida but I haven’t decided on the floss yet.  Last night was stitch-in night at the LNS and I had planned to stitch on the Rose Sampler but you will never guess what I did. I pulled out the sampler and was ready to stitch and didn’t have my chart, so instead I worked on the African Women that I had taken to show the other ladies. There still wasn't much stitching getting done (at least on my part) but I had a excellent time as always. Here is just a quick pic of everything.

 Well that’s all for now, thanks all for stopping by, I’m off to make some wonderful little xxs.    

Another one down...

Another one down and so many more to go, I finished another WIP last night and finally got to work on the Rose Sampler.  There wasn't much progress that's why there's no picture to share yet.  This finish is a "Labor of Love" freebie "Counting Calories"  stitched on 14ct light blue Aida.

 The red border is half stitches using Madeira metallic which was a sample I got with one of my magazines.   This is definitely a quickie post got to go make more xxs. Thanks for stopping by.

First finish of 2012 Woooooo Hooooooo!

Just a short post to share my first finish of 2012.  Still again I did not work on what I said I would but instead picked up this wip and started stitching the last day of the “12 Days of Christmas”.  This design was taken from the “Better Homes & Garden 2001 Cross Stitch Designs” they don’t show a specific designer, and I stitched this on 32ct Belgium linen, it was started way back in November. I have an idea of what I want the finished, finished piece to look like I’ll just have to find the right fabric.  I promised it would be short so here is the picture or three.

Thanks for stopping by and I’ll soon be making more wonderful little xxs.

My 1st TUSAL and IHSW of 2012

It is the day to share my very first official TUSAL and my first IHSW for 2012.  I know in my last post I said that I may work on my Rose Sampler or a variety of other things  but I go so caught up in the developing of the African Women that I didn’t work on anything else. The freezing rain that was predicted arrived but was less than I expected, my car only had a thin layer of ice over a dusting of snow.   It warmed up enough the next day for the roads to clear and no one that I know of suffered any power outages so that was a good thing.

On the African Women I decided to change the skin tone of each of the ladies, it’s more natural because even in my family of four sisters and one brother there are six different shades of brown.  Bud was on hand this morning to access my progress and he expressed that he liked what I had done over the weekend. I saw it in the glint in his eyes.

 I like the way others have used different little jars for their orts and there are some really creative photos of them each month, so I have been trying my hand at selecting a different little votive holder or canning jar to put my orts in for the TUSAL, I hope you like what I’ve done this month.  I really like how the sparkly red from the beginning of the month shows at the bottom and the shades of brown build to the top with the little bits of black that defines the division between them… Oh sorry I was letting my creativity flow and it got away from me there for a moment.  It’s only the ratty bits at the end of threads.

Well since I’ve pretty much neglected everything for the last week or so to stitch there are things growing that need my attention.   The protective dust cover over all of my figurines needs to be removed so I can take pictures to share, the clothes hamper is beginning to show signs of weight gain, and some of the wildlife will expect a meal later today so I guess I should pause any cross stitching for a few hours.   Thank you all so much for stopping by and please leave comments, I love reading them.

Can’t do it right now but later, I’ll make some wonderful little xxs.  

                                                     

                                                                                   Our local weather people have forecasted freezing rain starting sometime tonight, if they are correct the picture at the left will be the norm for tomorrow morning. The picture below is the current view from my dining room window.  You be the judge, are they correct?

 The temps are still around 35 degrees F and falling. For a person who has nowhere to go, needle and thread like me, this is perfect. I will be working on the African Women, maybe try to finish the 12 Days of Christmas or my Happy New Year Champagne bottle or even my Rose Sampler.  That’s the fun of these IHSW (click on the cute little button on the sidebar for more info) you can stitch as much or as little as you want and on what you want. The IHSW starts tonight and my SWAT ends tomorrow so I get to just stitch and stitch and stitch. Oh wait somewhere in there I have to stop and feed the wildlife, but it will be fun.  Thank you to all of my followers old and new, who knew anyone would want to read what I write, ha ha. I love the comments so please keep them coming. Well here is the progress I made last night and my starting point today on the AW and it’s time to make some wonderful little xxs.

I would say it is cold here today but compared to Evaline in the Yukon who’s having temperatures that are -35 Celsius our 33 degree F is practically a heat wave.  Now I have a sister living in Arizona complaining that it is only in the 60s out there, ha! What I would I do for a nice 60 degree day?  Anyway I went to my stitch in group last night and I worked on my “African Women” chart.   

However with all of the talking and digging through the remnant fabric basket (for more stash) going on I didn’t get as much stitching done as I would have liked, but isn’t that what you go to stitching groups held in your LNS for? Not to actually stitch, you do that at home. I only got one small piece of (sparkly) Aida and some much needed floss I couldn’t do without.  This is still the middle of the SWAT I told you about in my last post and I finished the section from my black & white project (ahead of time) with the help of my iPhone.

  I took the advice of another stitcher and plugged into my iPhone for a little stitching music and it was fantastic. I didn’t have to hear sport center all evening.  I will definitely have to do that again. 

Well going to make some more little xxs.  Thanks for stopping by.

There is a wonderful group of ladies over at the About.com Cross Stitch forum that I have been very lucky to meet (at least on the internet) and we have a week long stitch-a-thon that we call a SWAT. It started as a one day stitching marathon that has evolved to include a whole week; the rules are there are no rules.  You stitch as much or as little as you want/can and have fun knowing that somewhere in the world there is someone stitching with you.  I have been able to stitch with a friend every day and finish many projects.  The first SWAT for 2012 started Saturday morning and I stitched on and off all day because you know life doesn’t stop and people have to eat.  I finished off the partial skein of DMC#436 that I was using on the African Women the night before and instead of starting another I decided to give some attention to the black & white project I have going, it hasn’t been worked on since before Christmas.  This chart is of another Shaman and is being stitched on 18 ct. Aida, when finished will be one of the six squares in my wall hanging project.  My goal is to hopefully finish it by the end of the SWAT and then on to another WIP for the IHSW. 

The weather here in Virginia has turned to winter finally and I am freezing.  The heat has been turned on and I am about to start Sunday dinner in the oven so that should warm things up a bit.  Hubby has control of the remote so i guess it will be football and stitching the rest of the day.

Here are my update photos.

Well it’s time to go make some more little xxs. Thanks for stopping by and welcome to my new followers.

I have just joined the WIPocalypse...

 and this is my update.  If you want to join click on the button to the right.

I was and always had been a one at a timer until a few months ago when I was tempted by some very good friends of mine.  They said that I was such a fast stitcher that I could probably do a rotation with several designs, No Problem.  Of course me being the addict I am believed them.  I have all of these projects going at the same time.  I like stitching on them all and I don’t know which one to stick with. I guess skipping around is the whole idea of a rotation.  I didn’t have the courage to join the crazy 15 that was a little too much for me, so here I am on the 9^th day of 2012 with six different projects.

The three black and white designs are to be combined into one big project so I counting it as one, the 12 Days of Christmas will hopefully be finished by next Christmas, the Champagne will be for every New Year and the Rose Sampler was a challenge for me because I'm not what you call a real sampler kinda girl and finally the faces just touched me and reminded me of my sisters.

So these are my wips, wish me luck on finishing something soon.

Time to make some more little xxs.

I got up this morning feeling a lot better, it was only my sinuses and not a cold or the flu.  I have been stitching on the Rose Sampler and I think I made the right choice of red (garnet) for this one.  The DMC (666bright red) would have been a little too much.  I didn't have a lot to share, just wanted to show that I've been stitching in between household chores.  They never stop, I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone that. (Rant over).

 Anyway I'm going back to make some more wonderful little xxs.  See soon.  

Ahhhh...

 A new year and new starts but I haven’t gotten as much done as I would have like.  I feel like I’m moving in slow motion ever since we returned from Vegas.  It is either a cold or a sinus infection from the dry air in Vegas or I caught something on the air planes coming home.  To top that off it has turned exceptionally cold here, we were in the 30s and windy yesterday and today it’s in the 20s.  I’m also disappointed I’m going to miss the first “stitch-in” of the year at In Stitches Needlework; I won’t go and spread whatever I have to everyone.  I guess I’ll just curl up in my jammies with a cup of mint tea, a bowl of chili and stitch (of course not at the same time) that could be a disaster. 

I started the “Champagner” on the 1^st and stitched on it for four days and I just couldn’t stand seeing my other charts that are already kitted up just sitting there so I started the EMS “Rose Sampler”  this afternoon and my cold meds made me nod off and this is all I have gotten stitched.  I’m awake now so I guess I can get a little more done before I go to bed.

I’ve seen on other blogs everyone is reviewing their finishes from 2011 well if you would like click here http://www.flickr.com/photos/x_woman/sets/72157628644558911/  “Pearl” was not actually cross stitched in 2011 but the pillow was finished in 2011. 

Well I’m off to curl up and make some more wonderful little xxs.  Thanks for stopping by.