WIP Wednesday - 01/09/2019

I worked on three projects this week, one finish and two new starts.  The first new start was for the Dimensions Year-Long SAL at Cross Stitch Frog Busters.  I didn't finish my project last year so I decided to choose a smaller one this year.  It's Eagles from Dimensions.  I've changed out the fabric and am stitching it on 14-count instead of 18-count.  This one is being set aside for now as I'm trying my rotation again.

The second project I worked on was the Narwahl for Kyleigh's quilt.  She picked this one out herself.

The finish was Mrs. Christmas which was posted here.

WIPocalypse Introduction

I am new to this group and late with my first post!  My name is Cathy and I am a 69 year old wife and mother living in southern California. My husband is an engineer for a local baseball team and I have been retired for four years now.  My previous occupation was as a Software Support Specialist for a local university.  I have one daughter who is married and has one daughter of  her own.

I love to cross stitch and most of my projects come either from my humongous stash or the UK magazines.  When I'm not cross stitching, I'm either reading (mostly murder mysteries and action/adventures) or playing games on the computer.  I also volunteer at my granddaughter's school doing sorting and filing, the local Ronald McDonald House doing data entry and as the Product Coordinator & Treasurer for my granddaughter's Girl Scout Troop, all of which keeps me busy.

My goals for 2019 are:

1) Reduce my WIP piles.  To do this, I've joined YOW (Year of WIPs) and the Extreme Challenge 1 over at Soul Stitching.   I've chosen 24 WIPs for YOW, with the goal of finishing at least 12 of them.  For the Extreme Challenge, we had to add the same number of WIPs as our birth day.  Since I was born on the 6th, I've added another six, making 30 WIPs with the goal being to finish at least 15.  The Advent Animals count as 10 and Frosty Forest will count as nine.

Brooke's Books - Advent Animals

National Park Series - Big Trees

Dimensions - Blow Bubbles

UK Magazine Free Chart - Cute as a Button

Country Cottage Needlework - Frosty Forest (Raccoon Cottage)

Janlynn - Holiday Sentiments

 

Huddles - Dallas Cowboys

Sam Hawkins Fingertip Towels - Lemon & Strawberries

Mill Hill - Winged Monarch

Margaret Sherry - Teacup Kitty

The Art of Disney - Tinkerbell Spring Blossoms

Sunset - Majestic Eagle

Dimensions - Eagles

If this was all I worked on, I'm pretty sure I could finish them all, but of course, I have other plans.

2) Finish the rest of the blocks for Kyleigh's quilt and get it quilted -- I only need a few more blocks so this is definitely doable.

3) Participate in Leslie Teare's Owl SAL, the Christmas Ornie SAL (I still need to choose the projects for this one) and the Dimensions Year-Long SAL at Cross Stitch Frog Busters (I'm using the Eagles project for this one.)

4) Continue stitching for WOCS (World of Charity Stitching) and Q4OC (Quilts for Older Children and Adults)

5) Stitch an undetermined number of Mill Hill kits already in my stash as well as at least one of the Christmas Village buildings.

6) I'm also joining Linda at Stitching with my Furbabies in stitching on 69 projects this year.  That's my age; she's turning 70 so she will be trying for one more than I am.

Am I crazy? Am I being too ambitious?  Probably, but we'll see how it goes as we journey through the year.  I just hope I don't loose my mojo which seems to be an annual occurrence, especially during the summer months.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 69th birthday and I don't know how I got so old so fast!  It was a good day, though. 

First was church.  Janice is the Nursery Coordinator for our church so Kyleigh spends a lot of time in the nursery, although she goes to one of the three services with me.  She can be a big help to her mom and this week she helped entertain two little boys.

After church, Janice, Devin, Kyleigh and I went to visit my friend, Bob who provides our tickets to the Angels games.  Janice was delivering nuts and a thank you card and I gave him a late Christmas present.

We then picked up David and went to lunch to celebrate.  I chose Famous Dave's in Irvine.  We had a really good meal and I received a  free desert.

Just as a comparison, here's the picture taken on my birthday in 2013.

For my birthday, Kyleigh gave me a Diamond Dotz painting that she did herself.

Happy Dance - Mrs. Christmas

Started: 12/27/2018

Finished: 1/5/2019

This is the free cover kit from Cross Stitcher #338 and was designed by Susan Penny.  It's stitched as charted with the materials in the kit.  There are finishing instructions as well as the chart for Santa himself included.

I do plan to finish finish this later this month and will also be stitching Santa at some point.  Hopefully, they'll both hang on my tree next Christmas.

Happy BIrthday, Devin!

Yesterday was Devin's 40th birthday.  He requested a white on white cake with gobs of frosting.  Janice didn't have time to cater to his wishes so she ordered it from a bakery.  Here's what he got:

 Kyleigh insisted on adding the candle.

Since our birthdays are so close together (mine's on the 6th), we usually celebrate together.  Unfortunately, this year Devin chose a place that's not one of my favorites, so we'll celebrate
separately.  Devin's choice was Johnny Reb's, a southern barbecue place that serves things like collard greens, fried okra and other southern specialties along with ribs, chicken, sausage, etc.

On your birthday, they "make" you kiss a pig (either the snout or the butt) for good luck.

You also have to stomp on peanuts spread over the floor while everyone else bangs on their tables.

WIP Wednesday - 1/2/2019

Just one active WIP this week.  This is Mrs. Christmas, the free kit from Cross Stitcher #338.  She was a new start on 12/27/2018.

Happy Dance - Birthday Bear

Started: 12/30/2018

Finished: 1/1/2019

This little guy is one of the 101 Personality Bears.  It's stitched as charted on 14-count white Aida with DMC floss.  

This is for part of the 2019 Stitcher's Challenge at Q4OC with the squares going to Binky South Dakota.   I was assigned the Birthday Bear by the group's owner and her granddaughter and I'm very happy with their choice.