SAL's and more

Hello everyone! Long time no see. Time has gotten away from me as usual.

As my title says, today is the first day of two SALs that I'm in, the Tis the Season/BBD on FB and Linda/Stitchin with My Furbabies. Linda is celebrating her upcoming birthday with some ideas and I'm doing 31 starts for the month. I hope I can keep up with it!

I also have a near FFO, progress, and some new stash!

Here is Tis the Season by BBD, picture taken off Pinterest. I work from a master copy. This takes care of the FB and Linda's SAL starts...

And my fabric and floss choices..

I'm not using the called for silks but I am using the called for fabric 32ct Pear by Lakeside. I'll stitch in Tis the Season in place of the French. So I have floss pulled for all the other colors but I'm undecided on the color of the Cardinal. In the picture is Country Redwood which is a nice variegated red and I also like Raspberry Parfait which isn't shown. Pictures on 123stitch for country redwood show up different as my skein above. I don't want my Cardinal to be mauve-y but red. So I may buy the skein of country rosewood and if the new skein is a little off I'll just take a strand each from both skeins since I'm doing 2 over 2. 

I will come back to Tis the Season during the month.

I have progress on two projects, Trick or Treat and The Merry Hart..

First is this one. Would you look at that?! I stitch on this for two hours or more for 6 days. There are JABC buttons scattered all over on the model but I plan on only a few bat buttons, a moon, and a purple cauldron placed on the base of the last street lamp. This is so cute! It's part of my Linda SAL so I'll be getting back to this also. Below is where I was before..

Here is my Sunday stitch..

I'll be starting the house real soon!

This FFO I showed before. I was waiting to buy flat pins...

I am still not happy with the decoration on the top but I have added the back and side fabric and the ribbon. I think I'll check out some transparent ribbon in red and green colors for the top.

I also stashed!

These two I bought off one of the resale groups on FB. I hemmed and hawed about the BBD but after I saw how much this was being sold on eBay, I snatched it up for $8 postage included. There are 4 designs in here, one being a reproduction. Then I couldn't pass up these festive moose. I'm seeing a tree covered with Merry Christmooses!

I believe this is my very first Goode Huswife chart. The name threw me off at first with 'Hooked' but it's all stitched. The Chessie and Me is called Scarlett's Christmas Sampler. I had to have it! A simple sampler with lots of Smyrna stitches! That's a given on a Chessie and Me, right? I guess there is hope for me in that I can actually buy a few charts that aren't Halloween or all Christmas!

So delivery day is approaching with the Haunted Harvest exchange and I have finally bought all the supplies to finish the round paper mâché box. I have 3 days off this weekend so I'll be tackling that. I just need a fire lit under my butt! I have mentioned that I'm a procrastinator and it has reared its ugly head in the last couple of weeks for sure. Any other time I would have had the exchange package on its way already but not this time.

If this post sounds disjointed it's because I am disjointed! It was a rough week this past week with plenty to stress about.

So if you made it this far, good for you! Giveaway time! The woman I bought two of the charts from threw this in as a freebie..

Some freebie, right?! I already have it so who would like it? The usual rules, be a follower on Bloglovin and Blogger, comment below you would like it. I can mail anywhere, even overseas. Comment until September 12 at 11:59 pm Arizona time. Good luck!

So I'm guessing that is it. You will be seeing a lot of me on here this month so you may get tired of me! It will be fun starting new projects for a change. I have lots of freebies and some kitted up projects along with a few WIPs to stitch.

Happy Labor Day to those in the U.S. and happy stitching to those not! 

Take care!

Football, FFO's, and a winner

Hi all! Hope you're all doing fine! 

I'm back with a winner of the little contest last post, some FFO's, progress, and another road trip pictures. First I thought I would comment on a few comments left in the last post.

Barb, I should have said that Tombstone was a bit further down I 10 interstate, about 25 or 30 minutes and then taking an exit and a short drive through some small towns to reach Tombstone.

Vicki, I'm right there with you on all the extra charges to see things in Tombstone. Sign of the times, I guess.

Vickie, I thought the same thing about the horses pulling the stagecoaches. I hope they were changed out frequently.

As for the name that song/artist contest from last post, the winner is Anna from the stitchbitch blog!

Congrats, Anna. I had 123 stitch send you a gift certificate. Bought that on Friday, yesterday, maybe you got notified by now. So between Anna and carolsylvester (no blog), I drew Anna's name. How fitting that her stitchy bug has returned too! 

I've been stitching on Trick or Treat mostly and working on Merry Hart by PSS on Sundays. Here's where I'm at with Trick or Treat..

I always get that reddish splotch there in the middle using my iPad. The color is more blue gray. I will keep on stitching on this until it's done or until September at least. I'm doing a birthday SAL along with Linda/Stitchin with My Furbabies. 31 new starts on the 1st of September. Yeah, crazy! I already have them all kitted and ready to go but some need floss here and there. I'm excited about starting some new stuff. I will attempt to go the whole 31 days but we shall see!

Merry Hart is my Sunday stitch and here is where I got to..

Having fun with this. Sunday is my day to get ready for the new week so this catches a few stitches throughout the day. I'm good with the pace.

So I caught the FFO bug! Mostly it was to finish my exchange piece. I practiced first on a piece of Halloween fabric and then sewed up the main piece. Unfortunately, the practice piece turned out better! Wouldn't you know it? It's still nice though. I have to buy a round paper mâché box, paint it, and then mount it. I'll be finishing the practice piece too and then having a giveaway here for it. Very easy to make. I can see myself making several with different Halloween fabrics. After all this, I can't show it until after my partner receives it. That in itself was pressure because my partner is a designer! Yikes! Then I decided I wanted to do another finish and stitched her first name initial on matching linen, sewed it up and it went awry. Here's the remains..

It was to be a black velvet heart with the linen making a pouch in the front. I even sewed the black ric rac on perfectly! Dummy me didn't turn the linen the right way so when I turned the heart inside out, the back of the stitching was outside! Arrrgh. I threw it out. The velvet kept sliding on me as I was sewing. I think I need a walking foot for my machine. Just another episode for As The FFO Turns!

After that, I FFO'd a couple other finishes. Here's Christmas, recently finished..

I just love how it turned out! I realized that the decoration for the top doesn't necessarily have to be in the center. I saved the decoration from a Christmas gift I received last year. 

Remember this one? I finished this last year or before. By The Nebby Needle..

I ran out of stuffing to finish this so it'll have to wait. Here is a picture of the model..

I wanted to finish mine like the model but ran out of buttons. It's adorable. I always thought red floss looked perfect on darker fabric. Then I decided to make another cube from this finish..

This is Rojo y Verde by Raquel Blasco. I ran out of flat head pins to finish this! I'm either running out of floss or finishing supplies. I'm at a total blank of what to put on top for decoration. The red beads are an idea. I think once I get everything on it, it's naked on the back, I'll figure something out. It may take a trip with me to Hobby Lobby or Joanne's.

That was all my FFOing for a while.

Road trip, again. Closer this time though. This is where we went..

Training camp at the University of Phoenix stadium, home of the NFL Arizona Cardinals! I know, calm down, lol. 

It has a retractable roof that is opened when the weather is nice, mainly in the late fall into winter. It was not nice today, being 109 degrees. Whew! It was good to get inside from the parking lot.

There was a nice crowd and the temps were wonderful. We may never get to see a real game but it was great to sit there and take it all in. Entry was free and so was parking. 

That will be it! I feel like I'm forgetting something..I hate that. I'm sure it'll come to me when I'm sleeping! I'm going to get back to Trick or Treat and watching the 2nd season of Outlander. 

Take care everyone. Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it! 

A recent storm.. 

UFO's in a western town

Quick, what song does my title sound like?! It's something something in a western town. A group from the 80's (90's?), Brits, and a little hint-they were boys and a place where you would buy a pet! Give me the name of the song and group. If there's a bunch of you, I'll draw a name and I'll send you a little something! Leave a working email too if it's not on your profile.

I thought I would get on here and show what I've been stitching on lately and road trip pictures.

This is the scene outside my front door. The monsoons have arrived and it has rained for 11 days straight here. Well, it stops and then after daytime heating, it's storming. Needless to say, the fire restrictions have been lifted. Yesterday's storm was pretty frightening though. It lightning and thundered and rained for 90 minutes and as I type I can hear a thunder boom. Places flooded, I had two rivers going by my house on either side. I'm thankful whoever built this house kind of built it up so we're on a slight hill. The lightning was hitting within 2 miles, sometimes within 1 mile. I sat here with my head inside my shoulders. I hope we don't get a repeat.

I've been flitting from stitching this and that. First, here is my 4th of July SAL FB project, Dear House by La D Da..

Before, all I had was the middle section of the brown flower and a portion of the chimney. On 35 or 36ct vintage examplar linen by Lakeside. That fabric is becoming my favorite. The SAL was you stitched a patriotic piece or one with red, white, or blue. So the floss is Midnight by GAST, a beautiful dark blue. The verse says-'Dear house, you are really very small Just big enough for love That's all'. Cute saying. I didn't stop stitching after the 4th, just kept going. It's a slow piece but it'll be pretty after it's done.

The next thing I stitched is Merry Hart by PSS...

I'm stitching this with a few ladies on a PSS FB group for #plumstreetsunday. Any Plum Street you have, stitch it on Sunday. Above is two Sundays worth of stitching. It's not a lot! I'm doing this on 36ct Platinum Edinburgh, coffee dyed a bit.

And lookie here! Frosty Forest by CCN! I decided it's too nice to be in the UFO bin.

The 4th block on the right is going in. I have to remind myself that I like stitching houses. Sorry for the wrinkles. I'm back to a block a month so I'll be picking Forest back up to finish that one for the month.

Here's another one from the UFO bin..Trick or Treat from the 2012 Halloween issue from JCS..

That is where I stopped couple years ago. I brushed it off and will be stitching on this when I'm done here typing. I'm using all called for fabric and floss. I'm a little worried about running out of the overdyes since these are older flosses. The dye lots are so different. I feel like some Halloween stitching. Hard to believe July is almost over. 

Okey doke, road trip! We went to Tombstone couple Saturday's ago, the 7th. It's a 4 hour drive straight down I-17 into Phoenix, then over to I-10 down to Tucson. We left early to avoid the hottest part of the day but it still reached 99 in Tombstone. Motel room wasn't ready when we got there so we went to the Boothill Graveyard..

The main characters of the OK Corral shootout against the Earps and Doc Holiday. The wooden markers have to be changed out every so often but they are buried there. There was money on a lot of the sites; probably to play a round of poker in the sky!

One of the more photographed graves. He was an agent for Wells Fargo and died in a shootout.

Playing cards was a dangerous occupation if you cheated!

This is an Ocotillo cactus..

They grow tall and the canes after they're dead are used for fences. We saw several of these 'fences'! 

I couldn't take a lot of pictures. My darn iPad kept overheating and then a full storage message kept popping up. So a few more pictures with my cell. 

Here is one of the characters who greeted us after wandering the cemetery. He was announcing a shootout show in one of the buildings. A lot of these people dress in the style back then and the women were just beautiful in those old west style clothing. My daughter and I wanted to dress up and get photographed but we were working with a budget!

We didn't ride in any of these coaches. It was hot so we wandered around in all the stores and mercantiles lining this road for shade and cold drinks.

There was one place I really wanted to check out and that was the Birdcage Threatre. My daughter didn't send me the good picture she took. They also charged for a tour through the building. We didn't take it, just stood in the front part. Still there after all these years, the inside looks how it did in the late 1800s. There's a poster that is still on the wall and it has the knife slits and bullet holes in it from angry miners and cowboys. The Birdcage was a poker place, theater, and bordello. Here's that poster of Fatima..

I know you can't see it but there's a knife cut down between her knees at the front and a bullet hole where her belly button is. The guy inside showed us all the bullet holes still stuck in the wood. 

And from our motel window, the rain starting up a little ways from us...

I have always wanted to see Tombstone and now it's off my bucket list. For some reason, I don't mind the 5, yes 5 hour drive to Las Vegas and Tombstone was only 4 hours away but it was a hard trip. I think it was because it was so hot. Halfway there, we stopped for drinks and snacks and it was 103 at 11 or noontime. I'll go back in the winter next time!

Oh yeah, the reason we went was for the ghost hunt! Interesting. Held inside the home of a Chinese woman. These old west towns had Chinese labor who worked on the railroad or in the mines. This woman had her own business. So my daughter got a dowsing rod and I chose a EMM, electromagnetic meter. Spirits are said to give off that energy if they're close by. We didn't get anything but when I held the dowsing rod and walked around, the right rod kept moving left. The left rod was steady but the right side kept moving so that was kind of cool! 

Leaving Tombstone though was interesting. We ran into a border patrol checkpoint! A bit scary. He asked us if we were US citizens and we said yes, and he waved us on. Tombstone is not very far from the Mexico border.

Alrighty, that is it. The lightning and thunder is firing up again. I'm just going to stitch on whatever yells the loudest but I do want to spend some time on Trick or Treat. Don't forget to play the little contest. If you're around my age, 54, you'll recognize it I think! 

Take care!

Cock a doodle doo!

Hi all! Hope the weekend was a good one. Saturday was good, went to the big rodeo parade my daughter and I. Sunday I wanted to die. I don't know what I ate that made me so sick. I was in my pajamas all day, moved from my bed to the couch. Around 5 last night, I could finally sit up without having to run to the bathroom. I had toast this morning after going 24 hours without food. Wow. That's the sickest I've ever been, food poisoning or stomach bug. I ate from chik fil A in the afternoon Saturday and may not ever again! Last time I ate from a fast food place and got sick, I didn't eat there again for 5 or 6 years. It was chicken then too. I don't know if chik fil A was the culprit though.

That is why I'm posting today. I have 3 finishes! First is the Tribal Rooster by White Willow Stitching..

The fabric is 32ct Wren by PTP. I hope it's not blurry on your side. I just love it! I used up the entire two skeins I bought for this. Primitive Rainbow by Barbaral Creations on etsy, a Hungarian or Romanian dyer. I started running out of the blue and green and yellow parts of the floss because I had been cutting my floss to get certain colors here and there. I had to floss dive to find colors to match those colors. There's one shape that shows up darker from the substitute floss but I bet you can't tell which one it is. I had this project kitted up for more than 2 years so it's nice to have it stitched up. I'm not sure how I'll finish it but I'm leaning heavily toward a pillow.

I decided that I'll stitch another Tribal Rooster but using this silk floss this time..

It's a pretty color and I'll need one more skein. I'll also use a higher count fabric, like 36.

Next finish is Christmas Bird..

So cute and a quick stitch. On 32ct vintage country mocha with some GAST and DMC floss. Two symbols on the graph are almost identical so I messed up the 1 stitch inside the red square flowers. On the bottom they are a different color than the two on the top and on the right. Oh well. Not sure how I'll finish it.

Last but not least is Black Pumpkin by SubRosa..

I'm not sure of the fabric. It might be Abecedarian, maybe by R & R. Black DMC used. I'll make this up as a pincushion that is on the cover of the chart which can be seen on the last post. Then mount it on something painted black. A quick stitch. This will be an exchange gift for the Halloween Harvest exchange. Terri will get us our partners tomorrow. I'm already ahead! I may stitch up a few other things to go with Black Pumpkin. Pineberry Lane has a freebie with 3 little designs on it, a strawberry, and 2 pincushions. The strawberry and one of the little pincushions with a strawberry bush on it I'll stitch in black. 

What will I stitch on now? I don't know but I might get back to Cobblestone Crossing. On the 4th, I joined a one day SAL on FB to stitch on something patriotic or with blue, red or white on it. I'm doing Dear House by La D Da, a UFO..

I think the floss is Blackboard, it has a very dark blue tone to it. Poor thing hasn't seen the light of day in a couple years.

Sometime ago, I finished a Stacy Nash drum design of a tombstone angel. Couple weeks ago, after reading and rereading the instructions of how to construct a drum finish, it was go time. Aargh, it's a total fail..

I wished that I had practiced on just plain fabric than use this finish as my guinea pig. I still have the chart and fabric for this but I'm just bummed. The strawberry is black velvet and I'm not happy with it either. I machine sewed the top and bottom fabrics together and I think maybe I should hand sew next time. Turning it right side out, it crinkled up the fabric and so I tried to iron it out..People, don't try this at home. So you see what happened when I tried to iron it, creases everywhere. I stuffed it with sawdust which I thought was nice, pretty messy though. Vonna/Twisted Stitcher had just put out a tutorial on a drum finishing which uses mat board for top and bottom but I wanted to stick pins into mine and I like them better, just like the prim designers make theirs. Wah, wah. Back to the drawing board!

That's it! I have to get ready for work.

Thanks for stopping in. I want to wish a big Welcome to the new followers on both Bloglovin' and Blogger/Google. I don't even know who runs these blogs anymore! Anyway, welcome and I hope you stick around for awhile. Happy Independence Day to us Americans and happy stitching to those elsewhere!

Rain, glorious rain!

We in Arizona get so happy when it rains! The former Tropical Storm Bud broke up near Cabo and sent moisture our way and it's been raining on and off since this morning. It's nice and cool outside, being 93-95 degrees this past week. Perfect weather to stitch and watch Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law).

Hope you are all doing well and getting some stitching in. I have a new start (what?!), and progress to show, and finishes.

First is this Maynia start that I had misplaced..

Cobblestone Crossing. The designer is on etsy and she has other really nice patterns. I think this is 32ct PTP Heritage or is it Legacy? Can't remember but I love it. Using DMC floss. So it might be too early to ask but what are your opinions on leaving the border off? I would still add the date but I'm not sure about that border. I think if I get more stitched I'll be able to make a decision. We'll see. Here's a better picture..

Let's look at my finishes. Here's the latest Souvenir de Paris finish, words left off because of laziness!

Cloudy day, dark pictures. I used evenweave, a beige color, with a Ship's Manor silk. This will be a flat ornament.

Next finish is Stink Stank Stunk, a freebie by Daffycat/Sharon. Six of them for flat ornaments. 

I love that fabric! It's 30ct Grasshopper. It might be a Weeks. That color is perfect. At first I wanted round ornaments but decided rectangular may look better. All I need is a Grinch Christmas fabric and trim and I'm all set. 

I think I have finished 4 or 5 Maynia starts, woohoo.

Progress! Take a look at the Tribal Rooster before..

And after..

For the most part, I have all the tail feathers done. I jumped on over to the head, got bored with the tail feathers. The rest of it is easier with smaller areas to stitch than the big parts in the tail feathers. It's a lot of fun stitching this. 

Here's Christmas Bird from before..

And after..

I'm at the halfway point. The breast of the bird is GAST Tomato, kind of orange/red. At first I wasn't too sure of a tomato color on a Christmas piece but I'm liking it now. The fabric is 32ct vintage mocha I think. The back side is clear with no mottling like this side above. It's a favorite fabric of mine.

I also have a new start..

This may or may not be for the Halloween/Fall exchange coming up in August! I'm pretty sure that's when Terri announces it for Halloween. I'm just getting a jump start! On 35 or 36ct mystery fabric, I started this last night. I will finish it just like that on top of a round paper mâché box that I'll paint black. I have several SubRosa patterns that should be stitched but haven't gotten around to. Shame on me!

So not a very long post this time around. I'll get back to Black Pumpkin after I'm done here.

I have several plans for stitching coming up. In July, there is a Christmas in July event coming up. I don't know if it's to just stitch ornaments or a Christmas design in general, or what group it's being run from. It might be an Instagram thing of which I've failed miserably! In September, there is a SAL for the BBD Tis the Season, you know the one with the gorgeous cardinal in red on the left? I have the pattern and the fabric called for. I know I'm doing that. Also Linda/Stitching with My Furbabies is having a birthday in September and has some plans for starts and/or finishes. I might do the 30 or 31 new starts for September! Haha, I know. The road to ...... is paved with good intentions! It sounds like fun though. I should be in the middle of stitching for Terri's exchange about then too. 

I guess that's it. My daughter and I are going on a road trip in July down to Tombstone, a 4 hour drive Southeast of here. You all have heard of Tombstone I'm sure. The OK Corral shoot out, Boothill Cemetery. We're going on a ghost hunt in an old building that was called China Mary's, a former bordello, house of ill repute, home of soiled doves! The worst time to go on a trip through the desert but we'll leave early to avoid most of the heat and the same coming back. I'm very excited and I hope we catch something floating around in this building!  

Take care!