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! :)

KO'd by the Flu!

I have just spent the past four days either sleeping in the recliner (during the days) or in the bed (at night). I had so little energy that I didn't even feel like thinking about stitching, which will give other stitchers a good idea of how sick I was. I feel more like myself this morning, but I just keep looking around at all the cleaning up that needs to be done and getting tired again! My sweet husband, Bob, took care of all the stuff that had to get done this past weekend, but there is still a lot to do. So it will probably be another couple of days before I pick up my needle again. :(

On the positive side, I've recently won some goodies, which has helped me keep my stash buying to a minimum. First was Cherries Jubilee, by Glendon Place, which I won in a bingo game at The Stitcher's Village:

Then, CherryWood Design Studio was having a giveaway on Facebook, and I said that I would love to stitch their chart "Moo" and make it into a scissor fob, because that design always makes me smile when I see it. So, they sent me "Moo", and, an added bonus "Merry", which I plan to make into an ornament:

As part of the Online Needlework Show, Ship's Manor also had a giveaway on FB, and from Erik's designs I chose "Dance of the Butterflies", which I should be getting this week:

Now I just have to make myself get some housework done, and then finally get some time to work on some of these beauties!

Pincushion Fairy Got Some Love!

Most of my stitching time has been spent on Karen's model (which is pretty big and intricate), but I took a small break to work on Nora Corbett's Pincushion Fairy. This poor little fairy was started almost two years ago, and has been languishing in the Bucket o'WIPs ever since. Here is where she had been when I picked her back up:

And here she is after a few hours of love:

She's such a little cutie! I have all of Nora's Stitching Fairy patterns, and someday they will make an awesome collage on the wall of my craft room. So far, Floss Fairy is up there all by herself; so lonely! ;)

But for now, it's back to the big one. Hope everyone has an awesome stitchy week!

This post is for Valentina, and all the other cat lovers out there!

Valentina recently left a comment on one of my posts, asking for more pics of my cats. Of course, as any proud fur-mommy would do, I am happy to share more pics; the only problem is choosing which ones! I have hundreds of pics on my computer, so I'll just throw some out that I love the best. :)

The first one is the only picture of all four of my "original" cats (those I had before my mom "gave" me three more); this is as close as they ever get to each other. Clockwise from top left they are Maxie, Tailor, Gracie and Callie (who has the cutest brown spots on her little pink paw pads!):

This is Maxie, hanging out in her favorite spot on a sunny day:

Here is Tailor, taking over the dog's bed and toys:

Gracie, who likes to lay in the sink after dishes have been done, as it stays warm for a while:

Callie is my youngest, so she's usually pretty active, but she really knows how to sleep when she's ready! (Those are Maxie's ears behind Callie):

The three cats that my mom left with me when she moved into her apartment are named Mei-Ling, Keishu and Sabrina. Mom actually only got Sabrina about two weeks before she (my mom) ended up in the hospital, so Sabrina has been my cat for longer than she was my mom's. She is almost 13 years old, and the woman who owned her was getting rid of her because her boyfriend was "allergic"; she would have had no chance at a shelter! She is the only long-haired cat that I've had:

Here she is with me, just so you can get an idea of her size:

And here are Keishu and Mei-Ling, in a pic taken when they still lived with my mom:

Wow, I have a LOT of critter pics to choose from! This has been a nice introduction, though, so I'll stop for now. I'm definitely going to have to post some more in the future! But for now, my fur-babies and I will say "Goodbye, and happy stitching!"

Halloween Rules Update

Just thought I woud share a pic of my HR, completely up-to-date. Three more panels, a bit of border and it will be done!

I've also edited my April 4 post about my Liebster Award, and added three new blogs that I gave the award to; please check them out!

Hope everyone is having a great stitchy weekend!

Fun at stitch group!

Yesterday, my husband was working from home, so even though our son is home for spring break, I was able to head up to The Stitching Bee in Green Bay for some stitcher-bonding time. The shop is about a 60-mile round trip, so I don't visit as often as I might if it were closer, but I really enjoy it when I do go. Kendra, the owner, hosts a stitching retreat in Door County towards the end of October, and I'm hoping to be able to make it this year; I went a couple of years ago, and it was just so much fun!

I took my L*K Halloween Rules with me, as the model I'm working on is a bit too large to be portable, and I was able to complete the ninth panel; three more and it's finished! I haven't taken a picture of yesterday's work, yet, but here is one I took before I went:

Here is a closer shot of my most recent work, although the block under the black cat is now complete, and says "Brew Some Fun":

It's getting hard to put this down, now, with only three blocks to go; I'm thinking I may have it finished by the end of the month. It'd be nice to be able to cross off another WIP!