Sticking with the plan

Another week of work stitching and then a weekend for myself--can't believe I've stuck with it for two weeks now! I have definitely felt the urge to work on something else, both WIPs and new starts, but I am really going to try to finish the Vervaco mini SAL before moving on to another project. Here is where I ended up after this weekend:

Once I finish the sleeping kitten part 1 will be done. Part 3 arrived last Friday, so the whole design has now been released; Leonore, hopefully you received all three parts last Friday?

Since that is all of the stitching I can share for now, I thought I'd give an update on my little Murphy, since Marilyn was kind enough to inquire about him. He has definitely settled in and has become a much-loved part of our household; even the cats have gotten used to him! Here is Gracie sharing a patch of sun with him:

And Maxie sharing her couch:

The polar vortex went through our area, and that was hard for Murphy as he has a very short, wiry coat and his feet would start freezing after just a minute or two outside; he wasn't thrilled with the jacket I got for him, but he lets me put it on him anyway:

He spends most of his time warmly swaddled in the chair behind my stitching table:

It's been fun watching him grow more secure in our home and having more of his personality come out; I feel so lucky that we found him at the shelter, though it makes me sad knowing that there are so many wonderful animals out there that haven't found their forever homes yet.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Weekend stitching

So far I'm sticking with my plan to do "work" stitching during the week and then my own projects on the weekend--one whole week!! Unfortunately I lost part of the weekend to errands, but I was able to finish the flowers in the vase on the shelf below the kitty:

Working on the flowers was really enjoyable, as the cheerful colors are a big mood booster here in wintry Wisconsin. Part 2 was sent out last Friday, and it consists of a cat and another vase of flowers to the right of this fellow. It's called a mini SAL, but it's actually quite a bit of stitching, and very nice for being totally free.

I have also signed up for their main SAL which starts March 8 (though I know I won't be able to keep up with it as it is released), and I've received the kit that I ordered from Crafty Kitten:

If you're interested in either of these you can read more about them on Vervaco's site.

This weekend I received a copy of Rosewood Manor's By The Numbers, which I stitched and which will be released at Market at the end of the month:

Karen has three other releases and a cookbook/chart compilation which looks awesome!

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

I couldn't resist!

I recently joined Vervaco's Secret SAL group on FB, and have ordered the kit for the large Lanarte design that will be released in parts starting on March 8. In the meantime they have offered a mini-SAL consisting of three parts, and the first part was released last Friday--it's kitties! I wasn't going to start it right away, but I have no resistance against kitties so here is my weekend progress:

I think I'll spend today filling in the first cat and then get back to work on the current model; I'll try to do "work" stitching during the week and then work on this on the weekends (for the most part!)... The mini SAL is available at no charge, and they give you DMC numbers so you can use your own threads and fabric; check it out if you like kitties and flowers: Vervaco SAL

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Two wings down, two to go

I was right that the wings on Miss Dragonfly were going to be time consuming; I've managed to finish two of the four, and made a start on the remaining two. The back
stitching between the wing segments adds quite a bit to them:

And it makes for nice, clean lines over the partial stitches along the edges between colors:

That's part of the reason I'm looking forward to finishing the two bottom wings, so I can back stitch the arms, which look kind of wonky right now. Here's where I'm at as of last night:

Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to finish the wings before some models come in; I should be receiving three Nora Corbett pieces tomorrow, and a Rosewood Manor design later this week. One of the NC designs has already been stitched by someone else, but Nora decided after they had already gotten it back that she wanted to make some changes, so I'm going to be frogging and re-stitching part of it; it needs to get done as soon as possible in order to be ready to be released on schedule, so that will be all I work on until it's completed. Might not have much to share for a while.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!