TUSALs, Biscornu, Needlebook and SABLE

Lots and lots of pictures!
Not only am I late with March's TUSAL, I'm shamefully late with the TUSAL for February!

 This is February's picture
and this is March's:

I guess I need to explain that I'm using a large empty medicine bottle next to my stitching spot, and transferring the contents to my TUSAL jar when it gets full - which seems to happen roughly monthly.

Michelle received the February biscornu from me for the Please Pass The Biscornu exchange.  I used a freebie chart from Louison, a very talented lady!  I added clear beads for sparkle where they seemed to want to go.

Michelle's picture is so much more attractive than mine - click on the link above to visit her blog and see it, if you wish.

Remember the other needle book I mentioned angel stitching for Tiny Treasures Exchange, Too?
It has been received, so I can share pictures now.

I evidently forgot to take a picture of the inside :-(.  I took the color scheme from the fabric that lines the needle book.  Rats!  I'll have to check my stash and see if I have a bit of the fabric left to take a photo.

SABLE - Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.  Even though I've drastically reduced my SEX (take your mind out of the gutter - that stands for Stash Enhancement Experience!), the kindness of another crafter has increased my stash!  A sweet lady I work with was showing me an altered album (beautiful!) she was working on.  I remarked that although it was tempting, I refuse to start another hobby, because my various stashes are already overflowing my craft room.   A few days later, she brought me box of goodies!

Here, in no particular order, are some of the goodies:

Lots of books!

Some really cool grommets!

Charts

  Including this by Mosey and Me

This reminds me of Sloss Furnace, in nearby Birmingham, Alabama

I see a Butterfly Fairy being stitched in the near future. - That's Lavender and Lace # 42 - Fairy Grandmother.
If you've stuck with me to the end  congratulations on your endurance!
Thank-you for visiting today!

TUSAL 2010-01

It may be late, but here it is! For the TUSAL, I chose an empty Yankee Candle jar to use this year - and at the rate that I'm generating orts, it may still not be big enough! I can't show most of my stitching (I've been working on exchanges), but I can show you Fa La La by Plum Pudding Needleart:
I stitched this on a mystery 11 count aida, using four threads. It's an oatmeal color, shot thru with gold threads, and I thought the snowman would show up nicely. It didn't really, so I added some back stitching to define it. I wish you could see the sparkliness of the gold threads - it adds a lot of appeal. I may yet go back and add some gold beads to the pine needles. This turned out BIG (about 5" x 5"), so I'm going to keep the finishing simple - backed with some coordinating fabric and probably use cording on the edges, with maybe a couple a tassels at the bottom corners. This little ornie probably accounts for half the orts in my TUSAL jar - stitching with four threads generates a lot of waste!

I've the finishing to do on the Scissor Pocket / Case for TTE, Too, and I want to finish it this evening so I can get it in the mail tomorrow. Then hopefully I will get stitching on a biscornu for Please Pass the Biscornu, and before the end of the month, get started on my first PIF. Whew- lots of stitching to do!

Thanks for visiting today.

TUSAL, At Last

Here it is - a week late, but, as you can see, quite full. All those lovely red, green, black and gold orts at the top are because I was inspired by Carol, and her ornament a week self-challenge. So I printed out a couple of dozen of the charts I have been collecting for years, planning to stitch one ornament a week. But once I started stitching - I couldn't stop!

This one is trimmed and the backing fabric cut - but not yet sewn. I had this filed under cross stitch quilt squares, but don't have the author's name.

I know this was a recent freebie - but at the moment I can't recall the site and my printout doesn't say.
This was actually the second one of this chart that I stitched - altho I started it first - I wasn't paying close enough attention and started stitching the flowers in green instead of the called for red - so I stopped and started again correctly, finished it (and gave it away), and then picked this one up and finished stitching it with the red and green switched - and liked it!
I adore this little penguin - altho I just noticed I didn't stitch his eyebrows (isn't wonderful how you notice these things in photos?). I didn't stitch the white on his belly and his eyes since he is stitched on white - a case of the "lazies".
Just a simple candy cane - but I think it's rather pretty.
An alphabet tree - I've done several of these in the past, altho this is the first time I've stitched this particular chart.
And all I've got done on my little Christmas tortoise is the outside backstitching - something different that I'm trying for the first time that I saw suggested here. He should be called Slow as Christmas, don't you think?

I've stitched all of these on 14 count aida, cause I have lots of it in my stash. WalMart used to carry an inexpensive brand, and I bought lots of it when they were clearancing the cross stitch supplies.

I'm sorry that I can't provide links to the freebie ones above. Some of them are no longer available, some I don't have author info on and on two of them, the websites no longer exist. When I first started saving freebie charts that I found on various sites, I had no idea that 10 or more years later I would have thousands of charts (printed and saved to disk) and that I wouldn't remember where I found one particular chart. Nowadays I make the effort to include the website in the saved chart's name, if the author of the freebie hasn't included it on the chart. And I'm trying to remember to put my info on the freebie charts I design.

Thanks for visiting today.

Whew - I'm Back!

After a very frustrating time of trying to resolve the issues on my home network - I think it is all finally working!

I haven't forgotten my giveaways - I'll hopefully post about that tomorrow.

First, some overdue acknowledgements:
I was thrilled to win Day 9 of the 13 Days of Halloween Giveaway over on Missy's blog. Her presentation was charming:

And look at all the goodies! Can you see the bat stickpin in the second photo? Mega cute!


















Thank-you, Missy. I love it all!






Then, I was lucky enough to win a copy of Simon's Cat from Daffycat. Besides being beautifully wrapped in the ladybug paper you see in the photo, she included a heart charm - I have a project in mind for it! Sharon, thanks a million - I'll let you know what the grands think of the book - I know I'll enjoy it.




Monique received the Needle Book that I stitched for her for the Tiny Treasures Needle Book Exchange, so I can post a picture of that.


The design was a freebie months ago on Danybrod's site - I thought it adorable.



Here's a before photo of the EMS Rose Sampler SAL that I stopped working on last year:


And an update tonight of the progress I've made over the last ten days or so:

I'm stitching this in hand - and so it looks fantastically wrinkled right now! This is one of the projects in the basket by my comfy chair that I want to finish before the end of the year.

And last, but not least - my TUSAL update:

Better late than never! I am having to push down on the orts as I place them in the jar, but I think it will last until the end of the year (I hope!).

I have a gazillion blog posts to catch up with, and mega-dozens of emails, so that will be all for tonight.

Thank-you for visiting my blog today.

ETA: Blogger is driving me crazy with the way it handles photos - and it's a very short trip!

TUSAL October

It's the new moon - and that means it's time for a TUSAL update. As you can see, my jar is getting pretty full. Let's see, the purpley-blue is from - no, can't tell you about that one - it's for an exchange. How about the pink - nope, that's for an exchange too. The green and dark shell pinks - oops, another exchange. Seems that all I've done in the past month has been exchange stitching!

Wait, I have one I can share. I had a hard time sleeping the other night, and wanted to do a little cross stitching - but not something that would keep me from heading to bed when I got sleepy. This filled the bill: I'm Wicked - a freebie from Stitches 'N Stones Cross Stitch. It's stitched on 14 count dark blue aida with DMC Color Variations floss, and I plan to finish it as a little door knocker. It would have taken no time at all to stitch, but I ended up frogging the W twice!
It was nowhere on my stitching schedule (every moment is scheduled between now and Christmas - how about you?), but since it wasn't scheduled stitching time (insomnia doesn't count!), I don't feel even a twinge of guilt.

I'm really proud that I've been sticking to my stash diet - everything I've been stitching has come straight out of my stash. But I am going have to break down and buy a few skeins of floss - I'm running low on some I'll need for Christmas stitching. And, since this is Post # 91 - I'm looking at de-stashing some things for my 100th post give-away, but I may need to purchase a few things to round out my prizes.

Last weekend was my 2nd DGS's birthday. Like all 9-year-olds, he's Transformers mad. I thought the cake was u-g-g-l-y, but he loved the whatch-ma-callit Transformer on the top (sorry - I can't remember this one's name).
I don't know why all kids like to make hand signs for pics - it's a kid thing!

That's my warm and cuddly pink fleece robe thrown over the chair in the TUSAL picture - we have the first freeze warning of the season for tonight, so I'm keeping snuggly things handy!

That's 'bout all the news this time around.

Thanks for visiting today!

TUSAL and a Near Finish

Hmm - I seem to have used quite a bit of white this month. You can just barely see the greens, pinks and lavenders that I know I also used in the past month.
I've been working on getting some projects finished this evening - and almost forgot about TUSAL! Here are the Quaker Snowman ornaments that are nearly finished: They are intended to be Christmas presents for some co-workers. I think they need something more and I'm trying to decide - beads or cording or what?
Other projects can be spied if you look closely - and my secret is out - I'm a messy finisher - lots of scraps and everything scattered everywhere around me as I work!

Thanks for coming by today, and if you have a suggestion on the finish - please let me know.

TUSAL Update 23 August 2009

Not a lot added this month. Mama was back in the hospital (her third admission this year - please keep her in your prayers) and altho I did get a lot of stitching done, many of my orts didn't make it home.
It does look like I will have to start pushing things down soon if I want to keep the same container. So far, it has naturally settled enough, but I have lots of Christmas stitching I want to do.
How is your TUSAL coming along?

Edited to add - yes, I changed the settings for my blog - what do you think?

Late TUSAL - With an Excellent Excuse

OK, I know I'm a week late with my TUSAL update - but I have a really excellent excuse: July 22, when it was due - I was at the birth of my fifth grandchild! He is my fourth grandson and weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz and was 21 inches long. Can anyone say gorgeous grandbaby? Don't you just love how babies sleep in the "I surrender" position? I could just eat him up!

Mom, babe and big sister (my only granddaughter!) are all doing well.

OK, without further ado, here is my TUSAL update:I had to do a fair amount of frogging on my little Snowman Love, which was very frustrating because it's my own creation!

Sharon asked "Are you a skimpy stitcher, using every scrap and bit. Or are you a floozy and spread wasted inches far and wide?" I'm a floozy, beyond doubt. As if you couldn't tell from the state of my orts!

I've officially started my Christmas stitching - maybe I can actually get at least a third of what I want to stitch done this year. I'm planning lots of homemade gifts this year - how about you?

TUSAL and WIP

Hey, I actually remembered to take a photo of my ort jar for the TUSAL! I began collecting on 1 January of this year, but with one thing and another, did not take monthly pictures (until now!).
I've made no attempt to push the contents down, altho I expect I will have to before the year is out.
All the white orts on top are from my current WIP, Papillons enchanteurs, which was offered as a freebie on 16 February on Club Point de Croix. Gosh, I have collected so many wonderful freebies from them. You do have to join the site, but membership is free, and a new graph is posted each day and remains free for five days! Do check them out. BTW, here is a pic of my WIP on Papillons enchanteurs: Two of my favorite motifs: butterflies and roses. How could I resist? Sorry the picture is so dark - I snapped the photo just a few minutes ago.
I'm stitching it in DMC B5200 on 28 count natural linen. Just a few more stitches and I'll have to figure out how to frame it. I haven't measured it yet, but I suspect it will need an oddball size frame, which might just require going out to the shop and firing up my compound miter saw to make a custom frame (I haven't done any woodworking in months, because of my eye problems and surgeries, so this should be fun!).
Let's see, what else is going on?
I finished reading Death Angel by Linda Howard, and also finished Dead Heat by Dick Francis and Felix Francis. Both were very quick reads. I don't have anything else new in the house to read until my order arrives from Amazon, which I think is due on the 24th.
Oh yes, I bought a bread machine. I've never used one before, so this should be interesting. I decided to get one and try it, 'cause I love homemade bread, but the last two loaves I made a couple of weeks ago crippled me for several days with the arthritis/bursitis (whatever) in my shoulder. Anyone have any experience with a bread machine? I could certainly use the advice.
It's getting late, so I must say
Good Night.