Ribbon Reindeer

Surprise! This is a freebie I designed as a little thank you gift for putting up with my incessant posting this November while I participated in NaBloPoMo. I can't say thank you enough for reading my blog. You are all a big part of my life and I cherish you.

Ribbon Reindeer

Please email me to receive a copy of the design at daffy-cat AT hotmail DOT com. Tell me the name of the design you are requesting

Respect my copyright and do not upload my designs to any website or share with other people. Yes, they are free but I still retain copyright.

My designs are published as PDF. You must have the free Adobe Reader installed on your computer to view/print my patterns ~ or a similar PDF viewer.

As always you can click the cat in my sidebar to see my other designs. They are all still available for the asking.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Loose Stitch Fix

A how-to for new-ish stitchers.

It never fails you don't notice the loose stitch until well after the fact. The little buggers usually crop up after a tiny twist in the thread finally untwists (sometimes days later) and there you have it. A loose stitch. If you are OCD or working on perfecting your backsides now is the time to frog. Unpick the whole blasted thing to get to that ONE LOOSE STITCH! Or you can fudge it like this...

I stitched this block with one thread so you could see everything easier. And I exaggerated a loose stitch.

It's the perfect place to use the loop method start I showed you ~ just loop through a thread on the back side. I'm doing it with white so you can see. Secure the thread a little bit away from the loose one.

Find the loose thread, pull it to the back with the tip of your needle and go through it. Make sure to get the whole thread or threads! Pull snug.

Now, going a little bit away from where the loose stitch was, run the needle under the stitches to secure the thread and end as usual. The loop holds the loose stitch tight. It isn't pretty but it works.

It sure beats frogging.

Shhh! You can't even tell from the front! Just ~ nobody look at my backside. Please!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox



Joy

I have another finish to share! I made a cute little scissor fob out of Lilybet's Joy freebie design. This is stitched over one on 28 count tea-dyed Monaco. There is a trio of snowflakes on the reverse. Tiny, it's around 1 inch by 2 inches! I stuffed this with crushed walnut shells and a bit of Lavender. So sweet and precious! 

This post was a hidden giveaway!

Congratulations to Meari!

Crushed walnut shells isn't found in the needlework or crafts department. You get this in the pet section, sold as litter for cages. It is usually with the bird stuff but I have seen it sold as reptile litter as well. It smells lovely, isn't dusty and has a nice weight to it. One bag will last you just about forever. Here is a link to it on Amazon in case you don't have a pet shop near you.



When I go to stuff an item with walnut shells I use a funnel and a cup. I stitch my item up to leave a small hole and poke the end of the funnel through and pour it in. It likes to clog the funnel  so go slow or you will have it everywhere! Fill your item as full as you want it; full and tight or loose and floppy ~ both work. This little fob was stuffed as "packed tight" as I could get it.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Mini Giveaway

I guess I liked this design so much I bought it twice. You do that, don't you? Please, don't tell me I am the only one! My silliness is your gain. Up for grabs is this Lizzie*Kate design Snowman '10. Leave a comment on this post telling me to include you in the giveaway. I will close the giveaway on November 30 and draw for a winner on the 1st of December. Quick ~ hence the "mini" giveaway in my post title.  International participants are welcome.

I discovered this silliness yesterday as I sorted stash. I started a basket to put  the designs in that I really wanted to stitch soon. Of course the basket is overflowing with more patterns than I could hope to stitch in ten years, let alone SOON! A brief search netted me a couple to stitch next though. More on that later!

This giveaway is now closed. The winner will be announced soon!

 Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Six Geese

My Stitchass Holiday is going so well! I've taken short breaks to eat turkey sandwiches, to feed the pets and toss laundry in the wash but I'm already stiff and have needle-finger syndrome. Just look at the results:

Six Geese a-laying is complete! I'm loving these Prairie Schooler designs. They are such fast and fun stitches. I very nearly changed that white egg Mrs. Goose laid into a "golden" egg but in the end I left it alone. A girl could change her mind though!

I may have another finish to share very shortly; my tush is pretty chapped!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

November ORT Report

Note: there is some important information at the end of this post. Please read.

My ORT jar is looking pretty this month! Lots of threads from my Prairie Schooler ornaments and exchanges in the jar. Very Christmassy. I am gearing up for some extreme stitching these next few days so my now empty jar won't stay that way for long.



I want to clarify things about next year's Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long because I'm not sure I explained what I had in mind very well. Next year's SAL is a straight draw giveaway. The "members" are NOT required to make ALL the New Moon posts to be included in the giveaway. Yes, you must be on the guest list but if you miss a post you are not "disqualified" from the giveaways. Giveaways? Is that plural? Yup, there will probably be multiple prizes since there are so many participants.

During this year's TUSAL I noticed how stressed my guests were about their New Moon posts. I am three days late ~ oh no! Does that knock me out of the running? Do we empty our jar each month? Wait, am I doing this wrong? This is a blog GAME and it is meant to be FUN. I don't want anyone stressed out about their blogging experience! 

I also changed the sign-ups so people could join at any time. During the TUSAL this year, I had so many people emailing me (after the sign-up deadline had passed) wanting to join. Since it was a requirement to post EVERY new moon to be included I had to turn them down. I felt it wouldn't be fair to the others to change the rules after the game had already started. This rule resulted in some really angry bloggers! This is the main reason for the straight draw giveaway change.

So, if you were waffling about joining only because you knew you would not be able to post every single month don't worry about it, you don't have to! This is ONLY a game!

Another request: I noticed this year there are a lot of bloggers completely in the dark about your Totally Useless posts. They see lots of people posting pictures of ORT jars but they have NO IDEA why. They might want to join in the fun too! Please put a LINK to the sign-up page when you make your TUSAL posts. A link in your sidebar is great but ONLY if your readers SEE it and realise what it is. If you need to learn how to create links email me. I can teach you how!

My email: daffy-cat AT hotmail DOT com (remove spaces, replace CAP words with symbols)

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing a happy Thanksgiving to my readers. I have so much to be thankful for, one day of celebration isn't really enough.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Frustration

What with one thing or another I've had very little stitching time in well over a week. This is all the stitching I have managed. Sad, isn't it? I loved the ornament I stitched for my blogoversary giveaway so much I decided to stitch one for myself. Now if I can ever get time to work on it.

This is my start on PS Six Geese A-Laying. That is correct. Nada, zip, zilch. A completely blank fabric.  

Things are looking up though, I managed to squeeze five days of work into three and have a four day weekend for the holiday. I'm very excited! Here is hoping I can manage at least one of those days to do nothing but contract a serious case of stitchass. Maybe even two days. I can hobble into work Monday if I have to!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

What big teeth you have!

Sheba at about one year of age.

Sheba hasn't really been acting like herself lately. She is ten years old now and she has lost quite a bit of weight the last few months, she is also thirsty, itchy, restless and panting. I had the vet out to look at her last week and today she went in to have her teeth cleaned and to have a full blood work panel done. We picked her up this evening. The vet said everything looked good except she had hyperthyroidism and a heart murmur. The vet comes back out to check her thyroid again in ten days and we go from there. Sheba may have to have surgery to remove the thyroid or take medicine ~ we just don't know yet. She might also need to start heart medicines, depending on how that develops. Right now, I'm just glad everything else looked good. I understand both conditions are common in older dogs and as I was studying a chart in the vet's office that said in people years Sheba is 60, whoa!

Sheba has nice clean teeth now.

All the better to eat you with, my dear! 

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

The Dancing Stick

Brodie said this Dancing Stick took him about 14 months to complete. If I remember correctly, the stick itself is about three and a half feet long. That is a good chunk of beadwork, isn't it? 

The beads are laid over deerhide. The loop at the top and the feathers are attached to soft hide as well.

Brodie says sticks were used in brush when tracking. Now they use them when dancing. A lot of you have probably never seen American Indians dancing. I assure you, it is inspiring! Living in Oklahoma we probably take it for granted. How I wish you could see Brodie's work for yourself.



I asked Brodie about the seemingly misplaced beads. "It can't be perfect." He said serenely. The Spirit guides him where to place the beads, and he prays.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox