50 WIP Witnesses!

Just last night I remarked to my husband that I now had 49 followers on my blog, and that I wanted 50, since that was a nice, round number. So this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find that another wonderful person had joined; I am so excited! It is just such a joy to be able to share my obsession with people who understand it so well. :)

In honor of reaching that 50, I have decided to have a give-away! I have chosen 10 stitchy goodies to give away, which I will mail anywhere in the world. Here is how it will work: I will post pictures below of each item. Please choose the one item that you would most like to win, and leave a comment with your choice on this post. If more than one person chooses an item, all the names for that item will be placed in a bag, and my son will draw one winner. All comments must be left by 8pm Central DST (this post is being published at approximately 5:30pm in my time zone, just to give a reference) , this coming Saturday, June 2. I will post the winners on June 3; I won't ask for emails when you comment, so you will need to check back here to see if you are a winner, then email me at rrowe"at"new.rr.com (though using the @ in place of "at"). ;)

Phew! I think that covers it, but please let me know if you have any questions. Now for the pictures!

This first picture actually shows two of the prizes; there are two bundles of 14 skeins of DMC Color Variations cotton floss, so two people have the chance to win one bundle each. There are 14 different colors, and each bundle has the same colors:

Next is a small Dimensions kit, Monogram Elegance, which includes 18ct Aida, floss, needle and instructions:

Then there is this adorable Sue Hillis chart, Happy Birth*Day For Girls. Sue actually had a contest on the 123Stitch MB, asking for names for baby samplers, and she chose my niece's name for this one!

Here is Lizzie*Kate's ABC Halloween chart; it originally came as a kit, but I am giving away the chart only:

As I am a pretty big L*K fan, I also have the chart "Cat Lessons For People" to give away:

And another kitty design, as well (remember, I have 7 cats, so it only makes sense that I have a lot of cat charts!); this one is Brittercup Designs Britty Kitties III, with charms included:

Not to totally ignore the dog lovers, I am also giving away X's & Oh's Puppies!. I ended up with two of these, because I bought one, and then won one; I had to have it because I once had the cutest Samoyed pup!

I also ended up with two of Bent Creek's Quaker Moon, but this time only through my own stashaholism; this comes with the button used in the design:

Finally, in case none of these charts appeal to you, I'm giving away a 13" x 18" of Silkweaver's Poltergeist on 32ct opal Lugana. It's hard to get a good pic of this, but IRL it is a light mauve-y/gray color:

I hope everyone can find something they like. I so appreciate the comments I"ve received, and hope you'll all stick around for a time to come!

Halloween RULES!!

Finally finished Lizzie* Kate's Halloween Rules, and I am loving it! In fact, I have already taken it to the framer, so I should have it back before the new L*K mystery sampler starts at the end of June. It is stitched on PTP Haunted Edinburgh, and it will be straight in the frame! ;D

Here are some close-ups of the various sections:

The panels "Scare a Crow" through "Mind Your Mummy" were stitched during the two weeks I sat by my mom's bedside in ICU last fall, not knowing whether she was going to pull through, or not. Luckily, she did get through it, and is now back in health and living in the same town as me. So while it was harder to work on the end of this one, because of the memories it brings back, this finish truly is worthy of a Happy Dance!

Not to mention, I have now slain another WIP with my silver needle!! ;D

So close...

...to being done with Halloween Rules! I spent a little more time with it this past week, and have now completed 11 of the 12 panels:

Here is a close-up of the latest (it was taken in late afternoon sunlight, so it looks a bit "puffy"):

I did change the color of the moon in "Howl at the moon" to Carrot, as the pattern called for a darker orange, Colonial Copper. I just didn't like a moon being that color, as well as the fact that it just seemed like too much orange in the last few panels. I'm very happy with the compromise.

I also wanted to share a couple of non-stitchy pics, for all the cat lovers out there. I finally managed to get a shot of all seven of my kitties, six eating on the counter and Callie down below, looking for trouble!

Then my son came up and wanted to get in on the eating action:

Tanner is almost 11, and he's only a few inches shorter than me already; how weird it will be to be shorter than my child!

Hope everyone has a great stitchy weekend!

Getting there...

I took a small break from the model I'm working on and picked up Lizzie*Kate's Halloween Rules again. Yesterday I completed "Greet a Ghost", so now I only have two more panels to go; woo hoo!

Here is a close-up of the most recent panels:

I have to get back to work on the model, but I am going to try to get this piece done before June 27th; that is when L*K is releasing part one of a three-part Halloween mystery sampler, which I have already signed up for. I haven't seen a L*K Halloween design, yet, that I don't like, so it should be great!

Hope everyone has a terrific stitchy weekend! :)

Got my groove back!

This past week has been the best stitchy week that I've had since before my mom got sick last September. It probably helps that I bought the first three seasons of "Mad Men" on DVD; I stick in a disc and then stitch like crazy while immersing myself in the 60s. I have to say, apparently people had sex pretty much all the time and in every possible place back in the 60s; who knew?! Of course, it might have had something to do with all that alcohol they consumed! ;D

Unfortunately, I have no WIP pics to share, as I have been spending all my stitching time on a model. So instead, I'll share a pic of the prize I won from Cross Stitch Collection for having my "Lady Alexandra" picture and letter published in issue 209:

They sent 28 skeins of Anchor variegated floss, and I already have the perfect project to use them for. My wonderful husband gave me an iPad for an anniversary (21 years!)/Mother's Day gift, so I bought a stitchable case for it:

 My plan is to use Ute Senkel Weinberg's "My Hearts" chart to stitch a few of the hearts using the variegated flosses, and then fill in the background with black floss. Hopefully, it will end up looking similar to this:

But first, I really want to get this model done. So, off to the craft room I go; hope everyone has a great stitchy weekend!

I miss Sugar Maple Fabrics!

A few days ago, over on Facebook in the Mirabilia group, I had mentioned my stash of Sugar Maple Fabrics. Just for fun, I took some pictures and posted them, and suddenly I got seven new "friend" requests! ;D

Taking them all out of their boxes and looking at all of the gorgeous colors really made me miss SMF; Mindy (the owner) was truly an artist with fabric and paint/dyes. Some of her pieces were pretty enough to frame without stitching anything on them!

Here are the pics I took; the first shows my "treasure chests":

This one shows my fat halves and fat eighths:

And then three pics of my fat quarters:

I've shared this pic before; it is Mirabilia's Charlotte, started on SMF Shimmering Nightshade, which is one of my absolute favorites:

It was a sad day (for me, at least!) when SMF closed down. I guess I'll just have to appreciate the pieces I have, and find just the right design for each one! :)