Happy Dance - Festive Kitten

Started: 9/17/2019

Finished: 9/19/2019

This was a free chart from a World of Cross Stitching magazine, but I don't know which issue.  I believe it was part of a booklet called Festive Friends.

It's stitched on Silver Dusted 14-count Aida as charted except for the backstitching which is the partial stitch kind and was modified to use mostly whole stitches.  I also changed all the colors as it was charted for the provided Madeira threads in red and green that I no longer had.  The scarf and lettering were done with Etoile threads 816 and 699.  The square is much brighter in person.

This has already been sent to Q4OC to be made into a Christmas Ornament and used for a fundraiser for a no-kill animal sanctuary.

End of Rotation - Fox Magic Doll

It took me over two weeks to get in 10 hours on the Fox Magic Doll that I'm stitching for Q40C, but I finally did it. 

As of 6/15/2019

 

The color is truer in the first picture.  This is being stitched on white 14-count Aida with the called for DMC.  The backstitch has been modified some, because it's the fussy kind that uses partial stitches. 

It will be going to Q4OC for Love Quilts Brazil when completed.

Next Project in Rotation: Patchwork Teddy Bear (part of an Amanda Gregory nursery design)

Goal: 10 hours

Happy Dance - Black Cat - No It's not for Halloween

Started: 9/4/2019

Finished: 9/16/2019

This is a Christmas ornament that I stitched for Jeneen, the owner of Quilts for Older Children and Adults Facebook group.  She had hurt her wrist and asked for a volunteer to stitch it for her.  It's going to a No-Kill Animal Shelter for a fundraiser. 

She sent me the chart and the only information on it was 2017 Axebe. It's stitched on 14-count gold dusted Aida as charted with the called for DMC threads.  It's much brighter in person.

I've finally got the hang of timing my stitching and it took approximately 12 1/2 hours to stitch, most of it using black floss.  Although it took almost two weeks, I didn't stitch on it everyday--life keeps getting in the way of my stitching!

Happy Dance - All American Santa

Started in 2019: 8/19/2019

Finished: 9/3/2019

This is All American Santa, a kit from Charlotte's Collectibles.  I used all the called for materials and it's stitched on 14-count white plastic canvas with DMC floss.

This was a UFO, but I don't remember when I started it.  It was on my list of UFO's to finish this year though.   This is where I left it the last time I worked on it.

 Unfortunately, I think the reason I stopped stitching on was because it needed some frogging.  Once I completed the frogging, it looked like this.

If you remember my last happy dance post, I said my next project would be a birthday present.  Unfortunately, it was not fun, took away my stitching mojo and is still not complete.  I decided to move on to something else.  Hopefully, I'll still get it done in time for Christmas.

Next Project: Black Cat Christmas Ornament

Goal: Finish

I'm also going back to stitching on both a large and small project each day.  The goal for the smaller project will probably be a finish, but the goal for the larger project will most likely be a number of hours.

Next Large Project: Magic Doll - Fox

Goal: 5 hours

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They Grow So Fast

Back in June, I posted pictures of our new kitten.  Here are two of them.  He was about eight or nine
weeks old in these pictures
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He fits very well in the space where I keep the floss for my current project.  Last night I took another picture.  He doesn't fit so well now, but he still likes to cuddle there.  He's now almost six months old.

He also loves plastic for some reason and loves to play with the trash bags I'm keeping my giveaways in.  Sometimes he curls up and falls asleep on them and sometimes he likes to investigate what's in them and sometimes he even pulls stuff out to play with.

He also does something that I've never seen a cat do before--he plays fetch.  He will bring me something to toss for him and keep bringing it back over and over.  I usually wear out before he does.

Girl Scout Bronze Award

First, I want to apologize for not posting in almost a month.  First of all, I hardly stitched anything during the month of August and had no additional finishes.  I also went into another funk which kept me from doing much of anything.  I'm better now and stitching again so there will be some posting going on.

Now, onto the reason for this post.  My granddaughter just completed her last year of Junior Girl Scouts and my daughter is the leader.

The highest award a Junior can earn is the Bronze Award which is earned as a troop and is meant to meet a need of some kind.  The girls decided to create quiet books out of felt and give them to the church so that they could be used by the younger children who didn't want to go into the nursery. 

On Sunday, they presented six of the books to the church and the church posted the following pictures on the church Facebook site.

 

The Facebook post included the following:

"Thank you to Girl Scout troop 4082 for presenting to the children's ministry handmade Quiet Books the girls made. The books will be stored in the nursery on a book tree. Young children can borrow the books and use them while sitting in church with their families. This project earned the girls the Bronze Award, which is the highest award that a Girl Scout Junior can achieve. Congratulations girls and thanks for the gift!"

Here are some examples of the pages they did.  Everything is tethered so that the pieces won't get lost while in the church.

 

 

The books were put in canvas bags and can be checked out in the nursery.

After the presentation, the girls met to have refreshments and receive their bronze awards in front of their families and a few friends.

 

 

Kyleigh's cousins were visiting from Oregon and were able to attend the presentation with Kyleigh's dad and other grandparents before heading home.

And finally, just because this is probably the last time she'll wear her vest, here's a look at the back.  You can sort of see the front in the picture above.  She's been a busy girl and had a lot of fun the past two years as a Junior and will be continuing as a Cadette this year.

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