Bad Bad Kitty

This is one of my "older" works. I got the pattern out of a book of patterns called Cats Galore by Leisure Arts. The book has over 66 designs of different kitties. I stitched this on 14 count aida cloth using 2 strands of floss. I love how the eyes came out. They are so real looking. While I was stitching this particular piece my brother and his Siamese cat were living with us and she was trying to eat our fish in the tank and other horror stories.

Oo-la-la She's Done

Oo-la-la I finished the angel earlier this evening! The final running time on this particular piece is 5150 minutes! Whew, the hardest part of this project was keeping my time. I am going to start doing this with every project so hopefully as I stitch it will become habit for me to write my times down. I had not intended on finishing this project this soon as I was going to set it aside and start another. I had a small problem. I could not decided which one I wanted to stitch first, Geisha or ABC Bears. So, now I have to decide which one I want to start.

I have the fabric for my RR. There are 5 of us in the group so I am going to stitch the borders creating 5 blocks for each of us to stitch a design. I have a theme in mind but I am not 100% for sure yet.

November Cherub

I have been stitching away on this piece. This is the first piece that I have actually kept track of how long I have been stitching on it. I officially started on this cherub on May 10 and have stitched on it everyday. I am not for sure on how exact my time is because I did not stop my time for potty breaks but I am pretty sure it is somewhat accurate. As of this morning I have stitched for a grand total of 4455 minutes (74.25 hours)! On the average I stitched about 4.25 hours a day.

I have joined a Round Robin and I am pretty excited (and nervous!) about doing this RR. I have not ever done one before so hopefully I don't mess it up to much

Angel Progress

This week I have made excellent progress on my Dreamsicles Angel. I have kept track of the time I have stitched on her but I haven't added up the total time. I felt a little discouraged when I added it up last time and compared the time to my progress so Ihave decided to wait until I am completely finished before I add up the hours. I am about 50 percent done with the stitching. I have the wings, the flower crown, and a small portion of the forehead to finish. I am not to happy with the color of the wings. The pattern calls for a blend of 746/3047 floss however, I think those colors are too yellow and should have been a more golden color. Other than that it is coming along great.

Since summer vacation has arrived my 2 daughters, Krissy and Allie, have decided that they want to do some cross stitching. Now as a stitcher I am happy to see that they are interested in learning but as a mother it is worse than walking across a bed of hot coals. I will be the first to tell someone that it is hard for me to teach stitching to a child and especially my two girls! I know that they will enjoy it for the rest of their lives but my nerves wont last forever.

Seeing Bugs

This is a big pattern which contains six small patterns of insects. My son loves anything that crawls or flies so I figured this would be a good throw pillow for him to use when watching TV or playing the PS2. I am stitching it using 2 strands (again using the "loop" method) on 28 count white fabric. The best part is it does not call for any backstitching so I should be done stitching in the next week. Well, that is if I can get some good quality time stitching and seeing how next Thursday my kids get out for summer vacation I may not get a whole lot accomplished.

I did manage to start on A Year Of Dreamsicles (November)Tuesday night and I also have managed to keep track of my time so far. I have managed to stitch on it for 85 minutes in the last two days. It definitely isn't the amount of time I would have liked to spend on it but once I get the Insect pillow done I will be able to devote more time to the little cherub.

Keeping Track

Today I completely finished all the cross stitching on International Buffet. I have even went ahead and started the backstitching on it. I am really proud of this one as it is my first good experience with eavenweave. I am stitching on 28 count eavenweave. I used 2 strands on all cross stitches except for the hair which I used 3 strands to stitch. As for the backstitching I am using 1 strand, although I think 2 strands would be a little better. Oh well, I will make my little change it note for the pattern when I do it again someday.

Since I am almost finished with this piece I think I will gather up my floss for my next project A Year of Dreamsicles. I am going to do the month of November which just happens to be the month I was born. With this project I am going to try to keep track of how long it takes me to stitch in hours. I bought a small notebook to help me keep accurate track of the time it takes from start to finish. Since tomorrow is Mother's day what a better day to start a new pattern. We are going out to eat for lunch tomorrow and after that I should get a good bit of stitching done.

A Good Day

Today was payday so we all know that means it was a pretty good day. What made it better is I only worked 2 hours in the morning so that left my afternoon free with money. This is never a good combination because I usually spend too much money or at least that is what I am told. It was a pretty day and I was in a good mood so I decided that I would go out to the craft store and pick up a cross stitch leaflet that I had been eyeing really hard since I found it when I bought my Precouis Moments leaflet(PM53 World Harmony). That was such a hard choice! I bought it today. It is A Year Of Dreamsicles #2977! I have not stitched any angels before and these ones were so cute I just had to have them. Also, since it is "A Year" of Dreamsicles I have one for every month to do and I will have projects for the next year. I am really excited about stitching these Cherubs. I have already had one friend ask if I could stitch one of them for her daughter(same little girl the Snow White if for).

I am pretty close to being finished with the cross stitching on PM53 World Harmony-International Buffet. All I have to do is some hair in 3371 and the backstitching. It is looking really good. I am impressed on how well it looks on the eavenweave. I have not decided on how to finish the piece (pillow, wall hanging, etc.) I definitely have converted to eavenweave! It does cost a little bit more than aida cloth but I think that it is well worth the price.

I have also started another project for my 7 year old son. He is a typical boy and he loves bugs and dinosaurs. I decided to make him a throw pillow to use when watching TV or playing games. I got these patterns free from DMC (Ant, Beetle, Butterfly, Dragonfly, Grasshopper, and Ladybug). I am stitching them all on one piece of eavenweave with two going across and three going down. I am stitching it on eavenweave so I think that it will turn out really good.