Happy Dance - Patchwork Alphabet - Letter K

 Started: 9/25/2017

Finished 9/27/2017

I don't remember when I bought it or if Kyleigh was with me, but I've had this duckling in my stash for quite a while.  Kyleigh has been waiting patiently for me to stitch something on the bib ever since she found it in my stash.  She finally got tired of waiting and decided to take it home with her.  I decided it was time to stitch  something when I rescued it from on top of her suitcase.
After looking through my UK magazines, I settled on this letter K.  It comes from Cross Stitch Crazy #225 and was part of the patchwork alphabet.  It called for backstitching, but Kyleigh was in a hurry to get it and decided it didn't need the backstitching.  I think she likes it!

Happy Dance - Wanda's Hat

Started: 9/21/2017

Finished: 9/22/2017

This is Wanda's Hat from the Mill Hill Autumn Harvest Collection.  It's stitched as called for with the materials in the kit, except that again, I used two strands of floss for the cross stitch instead of the three called for.

It's not a very good scan and looks much better in person.

I had planned on doing a bunch of Halloween ornaments and mounting them to my kitchen window, because they wouldn't be seen from inside the kitchen.  Unfortunately, I've realized that this won't work because I'd have to mount them on the outside of the window which would most likely lead to disappearing ornaments.  So it's back to the drawing board.

Two More Finishes

I'm continuing to alternate Mill Hill kits with the free cover kits from some UK magazines.  Once I put Santa's Secret aside earlier this week, I picked up Buttercup Kitty by Mill Hill which had already been started.

Buttercup Kitty

Started:8/30/2017

Finished: 9/18/2017

This was stitched with the materials in the kit, although I did use two strands for the cross stitching instead of three.  I also used beads for the eyes instead of french knots and I just noticed that she's  missing her whiskers.

I let my granddaughter go through my stash of Mill Hill ornaments and pick one for me to stitch her.  She chose this one and once I find out if she wants a pin, a magnet or an ornament, I'll FFO it and give it to her.

This kit is from 1995 and it's amazing how much the instructions have changed.  Also, all of the beads were done with a half cross stitch, even the petite ones, and there is no treasure.

Once this was completed, I picked out a cover kit to work on.  

Happy Birthday Hedgehog

Started: 9/19/2017

Finished 9/21/2017

This is the free cover kit that came with World of Cross Stitching #258 and I knew immediately that I wanted to stitch it.  It's stitched as charted with the materials in the kit. 

It will be FFO'd and put in my box of unknown purpose.  My daughter is doing a craft boutique in early November and I'm planning to place all of the items still in the box in a basket on her table to see if anyone will buy them.

Next up - Wanda's Hat from Mill Hill

WIP Wednesday - 9/20/2017

My only current WIP this week is Santa's Secret, a Dimensions Gold Petite kit.  I'm now approximately half way done with this project so it's been set aside for awhile.  The Dimensions Kit SAL Facebook group has a SAL a couple of times a month and I will pull it out again for the next one.

Last Week

This Week

WIP Wednesday - 9/13/2017

I only have one WIP to show you this week.  I continued stitching on Santa's Secret. My current goal is to complete it to the halfway point before setting it aside.  

Progress as of 9/6/2017

Progress as of 9/13/2017

The dark shadow through his eyes is from the hoop--I just removed it to do the scan.  There's a lot of backstitching in this piece, but the shading gives you a realistic picture without it.

This is a Dimensions Gold Petite kit and I'm stitching it for the Dimensions Kit SAL on Facebook.

WIP Wednesday - 9/6/2017

I have two currently active WIPs (and many more inactive ones). 

The first is Buttercup Cat from Mill Hill.  When my granddaughter was here at the end of August, she went through my Mill Hill ornament stash and chose this one for Grandma to make for her.

 I set it aside to participate in the Back to School, Back to Stitching SAL in the Dimensions Kit SAL Group that began on September 1st.  

Starting Point

Current Progress

Happy Dance - Popcorn Card

Started: 8/23/2017

Finished: 8/30/2017

This was the free cover kit with Cross Stitch Crazy #233.  It's stitched using the materials in the kit except there are a few unintentional customizations, mostly in the tassel on his hat and the mitten with the bird on it.

Although I've stitched a couple of these lately, I don't really like the finishing since the cards don't perfectly (or sometimes even close to perfectly) line up with the stitching.  I still need to FFO this one.

BTW, this is my 25th finish of the year, most of them being fairly small.