Recent Finishes

TINGLES October 31-Jack O Lantern Double Flip by Lizzie*Kate

Sweet Tooth (Limited Edition pattern) by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

Mysterious Halloween Town (Part One) by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

☺☺☺

Halloween SAL Progress--Week Three

Hello! Here is my progress for Week Three of the Halloween in July Stitchalong!

Week Three's progress

I didn't get nearly as much done during Week Three as I'd hoped. It was a very busy week for my family, and we weren't home much, so...there wasn't much time for stitching. Oh well. This is a laid back stitchalong--thank goodness! No deadlines, no pressure. For comparison's sake, here is a photo of last week's progress:

Week Two's progress

 As you can see, I only got a little bit done. And as you can also see, the colors in these pics don't quite match up. The linen doesn't look at all the same to me! It's amazing what a difference early morning light is versus midday light. ;)

By the way, if you leave your needle minder on the ottoman and your cat spots it, you can expect to find a maimed needle minder. Or maybe that's just with my cat. 

Bite marks--ack!

I am just glad she didn't swallow it!

Well, that's it for my Week Three progress report. Be sure to check out Julie's progress! I just love the fabric she's doing her piece on, don't you? 

☺☺☺

Halloween SAL Progress--Week Two

Hello! Here is my progress for Week Two of the Halloween in July Stitchalong!

Week Two's progress

I didn't get too much done this week. Here is last week's pic for a comparison.

Week One's progress

I didn't have much stitchy mojo this week, plus I have been busy trying to downsize my collection of craft supplies. That means a lot of time has been spent purging and organizing instead of stitching. I've also been on a major crochet kick, and have been churning out washcloths all week. 

Anywho, here are a couple more pics from Week Two.

See you next Monday for Week Three's update! Be sure to check out Julie's progress in the meantime. 

☺☺☺

Halloween SAL Progress--Week One

Hello! The Halloween Stitchalong has begun, and it's going well! I didn't get a lot of work done, but I am still pleased with my progress.

Knock! Knock! by The Prairie Schooler

I am stitching this on a gorgeous piece of Cashel linen, "Highland" by Picture This Plus. Isn't it dreamy? I just love PTP's linen. 

As you can see, I've barely made a dent in this pattern. It's a small piece, only about 5x7, but it's going to take me longer than I had anticipated! Not that it matters; after all, this is a very laid back stitchalong. But I have two more Halloween patterns arriving in my mailbox soon (Trick or Treat and Boo Moon), and I'd really like to finish this one up before I start on anything new.

 Well, I guess that's it for Week One. Not much to report. ;) Be sure to check out Julie's progress! I think you'll like love what you see.

See ya next week for Week Two's progress report!

☺☺☺

Sneak Peek Revealed

Here is the completed piece I teased you with last time I posted. 

From the Portrait of a Masked Girl pattern by Greenbeanbaby

Isn't she gorgeous? I just love her! You can make her, too. In fact, I hope you do; I'd love to see another stitcher's interpretation of her!

☺

Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of my latest project. I am in love with this piece...more info & pics coming soon!

Halloween Cuties

From the Trick or Treat Halloween Kids pattern set by Greenbeanbaby

I stitched these little cuties recently, and I just love them! For the witchy gal, I played around with one of DMC's fluorescent floss colors, which was super fun (and bright!). For the candy corn boy, I had fun using Gentle Art Sampler Threads for his hair. Fun, fun, fun! (How many times can I say "fun" in one post? ;))

☺

October's Dessert of the Month

Happy October! It's hard to believe that September is over. How did that even happen?!? I can't handle how quickly time flies these days. ;) But at least that means I can show you a new dessert! Woo hoo!

Isn't this adorable?! I just love Halloween (especially Halloween stitchery!).

Look at those treats! See the candy corn? So cute!

How 'bout you? Do you love Halloween, too?

Halloween Mystery Sampler (Part One)

I've been working on Lizzie*Kate's Mystery Sampler. I have been hesitant to show you pics because I don't want to spoil it for anyone else who is stitching this but doesn't want to see it before it's done. (There is no photo of the finished design on the cover of the pattern--it's a mystery! :)) But since it's been nearly three weeks since my last post, I decided it was time to figure out a way to share what I've been doing. I think I've found a way to do that without spoiling it for anyone.

So! If you don't want to see Part One of the Mystery Sampler (there will be three parts in all), then avert your eyes! Turn back! It's not too late! ;) And if you do want to see it, keep scrolling!

(Hee hee, pixels.)

Keep scrolling!

You're getting closer!

So close!

Ah! There it is, in all its mysterious glory, sans embellishments. I will attach those later, after all three parts are done.

I made a few minor changes when it came to the colors. I didn't want to shell out a lot of cash for the overdyed threads, so I only bought a few of the recommended colors. I used what I already had in my stash for the rest (mostly GAST). Also, I changed up the border a bit, which is a combination of cross stitches and satin stitches. It is supposed to be done in all purple, but I liked this version so much that I did the same thing and did the cross stitches in a darker color--Crescent Colour's Black Coffee, to be precise.

I am using the recommended fabric, Weeks Dye Works Tin Roof linen in 30-ct. I like it, but I found a HUGE slub where the acorns are stitched. It's kind of annoying, but I think I can fix it so you can't tell it's there. I hope so, anyway. At first glance, it looks like I missed a stitch in the middle of the acorn. 

Click pic for details

I haven't started Part Two yet, though hopefully I will soon. I need to take a break from this piece and resume work on some of my Christmas gifts. Oh, and I have some baby items to work on. Two of my sisters-in-law are expecting soon! Eeeeeep! 

A-B-C-Done

Please join me in a happy dance, my friends, for the ABC Halloween sampler is DONE!

I loved this project so much! I was a little sad when it was near completion. As much as I love having it finished, I am going to miss working on it. Good thing I have tons of other things to stitch; a nice Christmas sampler ought to ease the pain. ;)

Speaking of other stitchy projects, be sure to check in tomorrow. I will be doing my second Christmas in July Stitchalong round-up post. 

See ya tomorrow!

☺

Rog

I recently mentioned that I put some work in on Halloween project. Gosh, I love this project. 

This is how far I got last year before I put it away for the season:

Here it now, after 2 days' worth of work:

Can you tell I took these pics in different rooms of my house? Last year's pic, taken in the living room, looks much "warmer" than this year's snapshot, taken in the office/den/craft room.

I was dreading having to stitch the words "haunted house" because, to be frank, the lettering gets a bit monotonous. But I made myself do it one afternoon (while watching an episode of Leave it to Beaver about, ironically, a haunted house), and I am glad I did. Now I have mostly short words left. Mostly. "All Hallow's Eve" is going to take a bit of time. BO-RING. ;)

Here are a few close-up pics for you.

 

Rog. I left off at "frog" but didn't do the "f" yet. I plan on doing that soon. Maybe today, even. I am supposed to be working on my Christmas in July Stitchalong projects, though, so I may force myself to finish an ornament for that before I do this.

What are you working on today?  Anything Halloween-related? I'd love to see it if you are!

☺

Stitching 2011

Well, I didn't think I'd have much with which to make a mosaic, but I was surprised when I went through my pics and found more than I remembered stitching. I've blogged about much of what you see in the mosaic, but not all. Maybe you see an unfamiliar piece or two...?

Anyway, stitchy friends, I hope 2011 was as kind to you as it was to me. Thanks for being here to share it. ☺

A Little Bit of Progess

I wonder how many more titles I can come up with containing the word "progress" before I run out of ideas and start repeating myself. Hmmm....

Progress as of 10/24/11

This project is still coming along nicely, albeit slowly.

Mr. Bones is pretty cute:

I am almost certain that I will not be done with this by Halloween. And I am fairly certain that I won't be working on this come November 1st. I have a hard time working on holiday/seasonal projects once the holiday/season has passed. I actually have a nice Winter Stitching project planned. This pattern should be arriving in my mailbox any day now. Isn't it adorable? Those little pine cones are too cute for words. :)

In the meantime, though, I will continue to work on my Halloween ABC's piece. After all, I have a whole week before it's time to put it away. And you never know, I just may give in to the urge I've had lately to stitch up something Thanksgiving-related. It's been a while since I've stitched a turkey.

A Finish and a Progress Pic

Hooray, this project is finally done. (The details about it, like what kind of floss I used, and what the heck that fuzzy stuff on Santa's hat is, can be found in this post from last month.)

I really don't know why it took me ten years to do this. I'm glad it's done now, for it is super cute and will look great with my other Christmas stitchy pieces.

And of course, no post would be complete without a progress pic of my current WIP.

Progress as of 10/17/11

The chances of this being finished before Halloween are growing quite slim, but it's ok. Just working on it has been fulfilling enough. :)

Not Much Progress

Progress as of 10/11/11

Cloudy days are horrible for picture taking, but wonderful for stitching. Too bad I've haven't been able to do much stitching, though, for my college courses started again last month and I've been busy with homework. Oh well! I've managed to get a little bit done on this project. It's still SUCH a fun piece to stitch! :)

More Progress

Are you tired of these updates yet? I've been posting an awful lot of the same thing lately. But it's the only thing I've been stitching for the for the past couple weeks, so I have nothing else about which to write.

I'm ok with it, though. I really love this project. 

I also like looking at the pics I've posted and seeing the progress I've made since day one.

It's my own little stitchy journal, here for you to read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. :)

My friend Amanda (hey porkchop!) is also stitching this. We're having our very own stitchalong!  We've been each other's personal cheerleaders for this project, and it's been so fun!

Progress Report

I love love LOVE this project!

Pretty Ugly

I've really enjoyed working on the Halloween project that I posted about recently. Here's my progress as of this afternoon:

Working on this has been really fun. The stitching is simple, and I can do it while I watch Arrested Development on Netflix. (I am pretty late to the party on this, but oh my gosh, talk about funny. Why was that show canceled?)

It wasn't so fun, however, when this happened:

I was running the needle under a row of completed stitches on the back when the eye of the needle snapped! What the heck?!?

Things got pretty ugly around here for a while. Broken needle = cranky Kristi.

Ok, so it wasn't really that bad; a broken needle isn't that big of a deal. It was just a minor inconvenience. It's not like I don't have dozens of needles stashed away.

But speaking of pretty ugly, isn't this the prettiest "ugly" you've ever seen?

I know I've said it many times before, but I'm going to say it again: I love overdyed floss. It's just so pretty! The "S" is done with Pumpkin Harvest and the "U" is done with  Mulled Berries, both by Crescent Colours.

Wish me luck with the rest of this. I'd like to get through it without breaking any more needles!