Sugar Plum Fairies #1 and #2

Started: 2/8/2023

Finished: 2/9/2023

Total Stitching Time: 2 hours and 32 minutes

 

Started: 2/9/2023

Finished: 2/9/2023

Total Stitching Time: 1 hour and 37 minutes

These fairies were part of the free cover kit that came with Cross Stitch Crazy #222 and were designed by Lucie Heaton.

They're stitched as charted with the provided DMC floss on sparkly white 14-count Aida, which was also included in the kit.  However, I did swap out the kit floss for DMC in my stash as I don't like the short lengths of floss provided in the kit.

They're supposed to be made into gift tags (finishing material were included in the kit), but I'm planning to stitch all eight and send them to Canada Stitches Work Group to be made into a quilt for the Ronald McDonald House in Red Deer.

Next up: Reindeer Kitten

 

Sugar Plum Fairy #4

 

Started: 2/7/2023

Finished: 2/8/2023

Total Stitching Time: 2 hours and 54 minutes

This was part of the free cover kit that came with Cross Stitch Crazy #222 and was designed by Lucie Heaton.

It's stitched as charted with the provided DMC floss on sparkly white 14-count Aida, both of which were included in the kit.  However, I did swap out the kit floss for DMC in my stash as I don't like the short lengths of floss provided in the kit.

They're supposed to be made into gift tags (finishing material were included in the kit), but I'm planning to stitch all eight and send them to Canada Stitches Work Group to be made into a quilt for the Ronald McDonald House in Red Deer.

Next up: Sugar Plum Fairy #1

Happy Dance - Sugar Plum Fairy #6

 

Started: Date Unknown

Finished: 1/29/2023

Stitching Time This Month: 57 minutes

This is one of a set of eight Sugar Plum Fairy tags from the cover kit that came with Cross Stitch Crazy #222 and was designed by Lucie Heaton.

It's stitched as charted with the provided floss on 14-count sparkly white Aida which was also provided in the kit, 

I'm planning to stitch all eight and send them to Canada Stitches Work Group to be made into a quilt for the Ronald McDonald House in Red Deer.

Next up: Witzy and Bauble

Happy Dance - Mitten Mouse

 

 

Started: 2/7/2022

Finished: 2/14/2022

Total Stitching Time: 11 hours and 34 minutes

Mitten Mouse is another Furry Tales design by Lucie Heaton, found in the World of Cross Stitching #301.  You'll notice the mouse's coloring is different from my earlier mice.  That's because this is Flossie Mouse, a newish addition to the Furry Tales Line.  

She's stitched as charted with the called for DMC on light pink Aida.

She will be made into a pillow ornament and given to the Ronald McDonald House in Orange, CA at Christmastime.

Some Recent Finishes

I've been very lax about posting my finishes (and about some of the SAL's as well) so this post will catch you up on all the finishes that have occurred in February, March and so far in April that haven't been posted yet.

Started: 2/11/2021

Finished: 2/21/2021

Total Stitching Time: 9 hours 13 minutes

This is Day 2 of  the 12 Days of Christmas by Ursula Michael.  It's stitched on 14-count white Aida as charted with the called for DMC.

Started: 2/11/2021

Finished: 3/16/2021

Total Stitching Time: 7 hours 3 minutes

Thanksgiving Mouse is the Furry Tales mouse that I chose to represent November on my Furry Tales quilt.  It's by Lucie Heaton and can be found in the World of Cross Stitching #247.  It's stitched on 14-count white Aida as charted with the called for DMC.  It will be going to WOCS (World of Charity Stitching) once I've finished December's square.

 

Started: 3/30/2021

Finished: 4/10/2021

Total Stitching Time: 23 hours 45 minutes

Hello Sunshine is from Cross Stitch Wonders and the chart was sent to me by the group, Canada Stitches Work Group that provides quilts and Christmas ornaments to children and families that stay at the Ronald McDonald House in Red Deer, Alberta.

It's also stitched on white 14-count Aida as charted with the called for DMC and will be mailed to their coordinator shortly.

Started: 12/20/2020

Finished: 4/13/2021

Total Stitching Time: 7 hours 1 minute

Christmas Lizzie Mouse is representing December on my Furry Tales quilt.  She was designed by Lucie Heaton and can be found in the  World of Cross Stitching #261.  She is also one of my 2020 Christmasitis starts.

She's stitched on white 14-count Aida as charted with the called for DMC.  I have noticed that some of the mice call for backstitching in 844 and others in 3799, but I've backstitched all of them in 3799.  

She will be going to WOCS with the rest of the Furry Tales squares to be made into a quilt for either a child or an elderly resident of a nursing home.

Started: 4/14/2021

Finished: 4/18/2021

Total Stitching Time: 7 hours 59 minutes

 

This is Day 3 of  the 12 Days of Christmas by Ursula Michael.  It's stitched on 14-count white Aida as charted with the called for DMC.

 

Started: 5/5/2020

Finished: 4/20/2021

Total Stitching Time: 6 hours 8 minutes

Frosty is a Mill Hill Charmed Mitten that was started for Stitch Maynia last year.  It's stitched with the materials in the kit except that I'm leaving off both the bow and the gold heart charm.  Once fully finished, it will go to the Ronald McDonald House in Red Deer, Alberta Canada.

 

Weekly Update - 2/11/2021

This was a pretty good week for stitching.  I stitched everyday and finished two of my projects.

My first finished project was the Halloween Mouse from Lucie Heaton.  This was found in an older World of Cross Stitching Magazine and is the October square for the female Furry Tales quilt.  It's stitched on 14-count white Aida as charted with the called for DMC.

 Started: 1/31/2021

Finished: 2/7/2021

Total Stitching Time: 7 hours 5 minutes

My second finish was Santa Jingles, one of the Mill Hill Santas that I started back in May.  I used the kit materials, but I had a mishap with the beads and had to borrow some of the cream ones from another kit.  It's also missing the jingle bells on the hat since I've somehow managed to misplace them.

Started: 5/7/2020

Finished: 2/11/2021

Total Stitching Time: 9 hours 32 minutes

I also worked on my Blackwork USA and completed the outline of page one and parts of three more states.  I'm really enjoying this one.

As of 1/21/2021

As of 2/11/2021

For next week, I'm planning to work on Day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas, start and finish the Thanksgiving Mouse and work on another Christmasitis Start.

 

Weekly Update - 1/28/2021

This past week hasn't been good for stitching.  I'd been averaging about 15-16 hours a week, but this week I managed less than five.  However, I did finish two of the projects I'd wanted to.  The first finish was the First Day of my 12 Days of Christmas project from Imaginating (Ursula Michael).

Started: 12/21/2021

Finished: 1/26/2021

Total Stitching Time: 13 hours 39 minutes

I had to frog the pear, the leaves and most of the border so this took a lot longer to stitch than it should have.  I hope the next months go more quickly.  It's stitched on white 14-count Aida as charted with the called for DMC.  I'm using this for both the 12 Days of Christmas SAL on Facebook and the Christmas Ornie SAL.  It was also a 2020 Christmasitis start.

My second finish was  Back to School Mouse from Lucie Heaton.  I purchased this one from her website.

Started: 1/18/2021

Finished: 1/26/2021

Total Stitching Time: 6 hours 38 minutes

I originally started this one back in October, but didn't get very far before I discovered several mistakes.  When I went to pull it out again this month, I couldn't find it so I started over and it went much better this time.

It's stitched on white 14-count Aida as charted with the called for DMC except that I couldn't find my 3325 so I substituted 995 and 996 for the 3325 and 3755 in the dress.

This is the September Mouse for my year of female Furry Tales and will be going to WOCS when they are all finished.

I also stitched a bit on Santa Jingles' beard, but not enough to take a picture.

Next week, I plan to hopefully finish Santa Jingles and start and also hopefully finish the Halloween Mouse for October. 

Happy Dance - USA Mouse

Started: 7/1/2020

Finished: 7/7/2020

Stitching Time: 7 hours 44 minutes

This is another Furry Tales Mouse designed by Lucie Heaton and found in World of Cross Stitching #269.  It's stitched as charted on white 14-count Aida with the called for DMC.  Again, the frog visited and it took quite a bit of time to stitch her skirt.

The USA Mouse is the July mouse for my year long stitch of monthly themed Furry Tales and will be sent to WOCS (World of Charity Stitching) to be made into a quilt.

Next Up: William's Winter Stocking Cap

Happy Dance - Bride Mouse

Started: 6/5/2020

Finished: 6/11/2020

Stitching Time: 7 hours 12 minutes

This is another Furry Tales Mouse designed by Lucie Heaton and found in World of Cross Stitching #280.  It's stitched as charted on white 14-count Aida with the called for DMC.

The Bride Mouse is the June mouse for my year long stitch of monthly themed Furry Tales and will be sent to WOCS (World of Charity Stitching) to be made into a quilt.

Next Up: Holly Jolly Peppermint Wreath

Happy Dance - Cinco de Mayo Mouse

Started: 5/11/2020

Finished: 5/22/2020

Stitching Time: 9 hours 29 minutes

This is another Furry Tales Mouse designed by Lucie Heaton and found in World of Cross Stitching #254.  It's stitched mostly as charted on white 14-count Aida with the called for DMC, except that I couldn't find the 704 called for so I used 703 which is a slightly darker shade of green.  

This project took quite a bit longer than the other mice since I had to do a lot of frogging, including ripping out her right arm and ear and noise maker.

Cinco de Mayo Mouse is the May mouse for my year long stitch of monthly themed Furry Tales and will be sent to WOCS (World of Charity Stitching) to be made into a quilt.

Next Up: Derpy Hooves (My Little Pony)
 

Happy Dance - Easter Lizzie

Started: 4/5/2020

Finished: 4/9/2020

Stitching Time: 6 hours 43 minutes

While most of the Furry Tales patterns I get from the World of Cross Stitching magazines, this one I had to purchase from Lucie Heaton's website, because I didn't have any Easter designs.

It's stitched on white 14-count Aida as charted.  Her dress was supposed to be yellow and the sleeves blue, but I couldn't find the called for blue floss so I changed both the dress and sleeve color.

This is the fourth in the series I'm stitching for WOCS (World of Charity Stitching).

Happy Dance - Cheerleader

 

Started: 3/29/2020

Finished: 4/3/2020

Stitching Time: 5 hours 46 minutes

This piece came from Cross Stitch Crazy #256 and was designed by Lucie Heaton per a request for a cheerleader wearing red and black.  It's stitched on 14-count white Aida, but I changed the colors and modified the charting to match Kyleigh's POM uniform.  It's not perfect, but it'll have to do.

This is the reason I chose this design for Kyleigh's quilt.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of her without the sleeves, but they are separate. 

Finally, this is the last square needed for her quilt.  I gave her all of the squares except this one for her birthday so she can start thinking about the layout.  I did show her this one and she was very excited to see how I changed it.  

Next Up: Easter Lizzie

Happy Dance and Peppermint Purple Update

Started: 3/24/2020

Finished: 3/26/2020

Stitching Time: 2 1/2 hours

This Irish Fairy is from an old issue of Cross Stitch Crazy and was designed by Lucie Heaton for her Challenge Lucie column.  

It's stitched on white 14-count Aida as charted with the called for floss except that I substituted 744 for the 726 called for again, because I still can't find my 726.  (My daughter brought me a skein along with our groceries last night.)

This is another square for Kyleigh's quilt.  I chose this one because she's part Irish on her father's side and her name is spelled the Gaelic way.

Next Up: Violin

I also finished this week's block for the Peppermint Purple SAL.  Believe it or not, this is the 13th week of 2020 so this is the 13th block.  This time I used DMC Variations #4245 and it only took 40 minutes to stitch.

I also want to thank Jo (Serendipitous Stitching) who pointed out that I'd missed several stitches in block 12 and then sent me a picture with the errors circled so that they were easy to find and fix.  Here's the corrected block:

And here's the whole SAL so far:

Happy Dance - Musical Carrot

Started: 3/23/2020

Finished: 3/24/2020

Stitching Time: 2 hours 58 minutes

This happy little guy was designed by Lucie Heaton in the Challenge Lucie section of Cross Stitch Crazy #261.

It's stitched as charted with the called for DMC floss on 14-count white Aida.

I chose this design for Kyleigh's quilt, partly because he looks so cute and when I first tried to teach Kyleigh to cross stitch, she wanted to stitch a carrot, why, I don't know.

Next Up: Irish Fairy 

Happy Dance - Valentine Mouse

Started: 2/6/2020

Finished: 2/9/2020

Stitching Time: 7 hours 28 minutes

Furry Tales are designed by Lucie Heaton and a different one appears each month in the World of Cross Stitching.  This one was in #238.

It's stitched on 14-count white Aida as charted with the called for DMC.

This is the mouse for February that I will send to WOCS to be made into a quilt when all the months are completed.  I'm currently looking for a suitable girl mouse to use for April.

Next Up: Let's Learn from Our Cat (Finish)

Happy Dance - Ladybug Alphabet - K

Started: 1/31/2020

Finished: 1/31/2020

Stitching Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

The Ladybug Alphabet was designed by Lucy Heaton and is in issue #265 of Cross Stitch Crazy.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to stitch it for Kyleigh's quilt since she's always been fascinated with ladybugs.

It's stitched on 14-count white Aida as charted with the called for colors and was a fairly easy stitch.

Next Up: Let's Learn from Our Cat (10 hours)

Happy Dance - Happy New Year Mouse

Started: 1/1/2020

Finished: 1/3/2020

6 hrs. 43 minutes

Furry Tales are small mice doing human things designed by Lucie Heaton and appear monthly in the World of Cross Stitching magazine.  This one was in issue #276.  

It's stitched on 14-count white Aida as charted with the called for colors.  The yellow is Anchor and the rest are DMC.

The plan right now is to stitch one a month and send them to WOCS to be made into a quilt.  I have one for March and one for August(?) already stitched.

Next Up: Mill Hill Charmed Santa Face - St. Nicholas

 

Happy Dance - Flip Flops

Started: 7/15/2019

Finished: 7/17/2019

This is is free chart from Lucie Heaton; I received it in her newsletter sent last Friday.  

It's stitched on white 14-count Aida.  I made one intentional change in that I removed two columns from between the two flip flops because they looked to be too far apart to me.

I also made an unintentional change in the floss used.  I read the color chart wrong and used 444 for the background, but it was supposed to be used for the shading.  I chose to use 725 for the shading instead of the 727 called for, because 727 was a lighter shade.

This project is for Kyleigh's quilt.  I chose this because she wears flip flops a lot.  She saw the chart and said she used to have a pair just like this.

Next Up:  Tree Shopping (Mill Hill)

Goal: Finish

Wednesday Update - 5/15/2019

I had a really good stitchy week this time and got quite a bit done on all of the projects I worked on.  I stitched on three projects each day which hasn't happened in quite a while. My mindset has changed  to I only have to do one stitch for it to count.  I've never done only one stitch though and usually managed to stitch for about a half hour to an hour on each project.  .

I had two finishes this week  My first finish was the April Owl from Leslie Teare's free Owl SAL on Facebook.  It's stitched on 14-count Lite Oatmeal Aida with the called for DMC.  The leaves were supposed to be striped, but it felt too busy to me, so I changed them to be solid colors using the green floss in the umbrella.  This will be sent to WOCS with the rest of the owls when completed.

Started: 4/18/2019  Finished: 5/9/2019

My second finish was Dashing through the Snow by Lucie Heaton in the 2018 JCS Ornament Issue. This is my April ornament for the JCS Ornament SAL on Facebook.  This isn't the chart chosen by the group, but I had trouble enlarging that chart so I chose this one as a wildcard instead.  It's stitched on 14-count gold dusted Aida as charted, except that I used all different colors.  It was charted to be all in red and white on a pale blue fabric.

Started: 5/7/2019  Finished: 5/12/2019

I continued stitching on my Monogamous Monthly chart, Tinkerbell from the Art of Disney. Since I didn't want to take it off the Q-Snaps just to take a picture, I'm only showing the current week's stitching instead of the whole project.  The color is truer in the second picture.

As of 5/87/2019

As of 5/15/2019

I also started two more projects that should, hopefully be finished next week.   After finishing my April Owl, I immediately started on the May Owl.  I really like this one.

May Owl - Leslie Teare

And immediately after finishing Dashing through the Snow, I started my May ornament for  the JCS Ornament SAL  This is Red Borders by Elizabeth's Needlework Designs from the 2018 JCS Ornament Issue.  It's being stitched on 14-count gold dusted Aida with DMC 4518.

Happy Dance - Karaoke Dragon

Started: 7/19/2018

Finished: 7/24/2018

This is from the Challenge Lucie section of Cross Stitch Crazy #243.  

It's stitched on 14-count white Aida as charted with the called for DMC.

It will be going on Kyleigh's quilt.  Yes, I'm still working on it, because the squares are small--all the designs are less than 3" x 3"--and I keep finding more I want to make.  One of  these days, I'll have to do an inventory and see just how many more I need.

I chose this one because Kyleigh loves to sing and has twice performed in her school's talent show.

I was  working on this at the Angels' game last Saturday and Kyleigh saw it.  She asked if she could have when I finished it, because she thought it was cute.  She didn't realize that it's for her quilt.