Merry Sunshine

Ta-da! My new WIP is Merry Sunshine by La D Da! I've had this in my stash for ages...about time I get to work on it!

When I was a girl, I had a record player and a small stack of albums. One of my records was nursery rhymes set to music and sung. Merry Sunshine was one of the tracks. I loved that album and played it well into my teens...it was one of my "house cleaning" records, along with Disney's Mary Poppins, and played whenever I cleaned my room. I wish I could hear it again, alas, it isn't in my album stack any longer, although Mary Poppins is still there.

Here is my progress so far! 

Whoa, that first border was long! I bet I counted it a dozen times or more. I just don't trust myself. Not even when using pins. 

I've been fooled before.

This last photo shows the fabric color a little better. I am really liking the Gentle Arts threads I chose so far. I freaking can't wait to start stitching that giant dress. That giant PURPLE dress! I love it!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Frightfully Fun

Awww, it's over! This went by too fast! I had such a good time with this Trilogy "Take Along" kit. My only complaint is the chart was printed way, way too small! The graph itself was just over 2x5 inches. My eyes are too old for that! (The chart was printed very lightly too, so enlarging it on my scanner didn't work.) But much peering later...I have a finish:

Too cute! 

Looking sideways with the camera makes the colors show correctly.

This one goes into the "to be finished" pile and I'm free to start my next stitch. I finished tea dying the fabric for it last night and I'm very excited!

The camera wants to pass this off as mushroom, it is much more golden brown in real life. More to come...

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

August ORTs

Hello TUSALers! Have you shined up those ORT jars for the New Moon? It's time for the Totally Useless Stitch A Long! My year to date jar has a whole lotta orange Orts from this fat pumpkin:

The sewing ORTs in the wood leaf bowl are mostly white. These from sewing the Dresden blocks together. Oh, I still need to work on the borders for this quilt. Cross stitching, with fun pumpkins and kitties, has my interest right now.

=^..^=

Now it is YOUR turn...we want to see your ORTs! Leave a comment on this post with a link to your August TUSAL post so we can come to visit! If I hold a Totally Useless giveaway your comment will earn you an extra entry.

Wondering what a TUSAL is and why all these people are posting pictures of rubbish? Click here to learn more and join the fun!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Rolly Linen

I stitch in hand so the top of my fabric gets rolled up, the bottom too if it's long enough. This is not usually a problem on cotton, the roll lines fall out easily! Linen is a different beast. It trains itself into the roll and is stubborn about unrolling for photographs!

See how I'm holding it open with my needleminder and scissors? And all the fold lines? Such tenacity! 

If I let it go it rolls right up tight. Handy for stitching but obnoxious for photos!

I've made great progress on this ginormous pumpkin...my sister talking me into watching Breaking Bad and this fill-in is perfect for TV watching.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Progress and Plans

Frightfully fun is coming along nicely. I am really enjoying stitching this! Here is a photo from Sunday...I did get more done at my Dad's house yesterday. I'm too lazy to take another snap.

I'm changing the design up a little, (a lot?) what else is new? Lately, it seems I'm always changing something! I'm leaving out the wording altogether, just continuing the pumpkin seams and filling it in. Easy, mindless fill-in which I find very relaxing. My Zen. Ahhh!

Since I am having such fun with these hand dyed cotton threads, I decided I might as well stitch another project with them. The design I have in mind is charted in DMC so I color matched to some Gentle Arts threads. No, I didn't mention which design this is for, did I? Guesses? Lots of purple thread there!

Then, I needed to dye a bit of fabric for it so I cut a 13-inch length of some 32 count Lugana and did some tea staining. I'm not sure if I want this darker yet so I'm mulling...

I also started working on a DMC conversion for Brenda Gervais' Summer Schoolhouse series. Why would I convert a DMC into hand dyed then turn around and convert a hand dyed into DMC? Cost! Goodness, I got lucky and already owned most of the colors for the project above but I only have one of the called for colors in this project. Either I spend nearly $40 or convert and since I already spent a lot on the 4 patterns, I, maybe, ought to be frugal somewhere, right?

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

New Stash and Old Stash

I went and spent a good bit of my piggy bank savings money on some fat quarters, a bit of Christmas yardage, clearance buttons and a roll of patriotic trim.

I was frugal and still have money left over though!

Nothing was tickling my fancy in the cross stitch pile that's labeled "want to stitch" so I dug through my stash and unearthed this great Trilogy kit called Frightfully Fun. It comes with fabric, a 32 count Natural Belfast Linen, Week's threads, and JABCO button. I seldom stitch with overdyed threads so I'm having fun with the changeup. 

The Dresden blocks are now sewn together and waiting for borders to be created.

Lastly, Miss Molly hasn't been featured in a while. We've been spending a lot of time with the undercoat rake, covering the neighborhood in dog hair. Adorably gap-toothed.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox