Invisible Magi

I've gotten a bit more work done on my Magi - this is the little kit that goes with me in my purse for the occasional spare moment of time. I had one invisible Magi done:

Now I have two invisible Magi! :D

I also started the wedding/anniversary project I posted about last time:

The green is already never-ending :D I was hoping to get the first cluster of leaves done before its 'time-in-rotation' was done, but it just kept going on and running into more leaves. So this is it. On to Spike and Fred!

Some Work on a UFO, plus other stuff.

One of my March goals was to get at least 100 stitches done on a UFO.

I have LOTS of UFO's, from when I first started stitching - I would only work on one thing at a time, but I'd get bored and put it away for months (and usually lose it). Then when I got interested again, I'd buy something new. They are almost all kits.

Anyway, this is the one I chose. 'Pray Without Ceasing' by Janlynn. It's supposed to be for my mum - you know, someday.

Here's what I had done:

I remember putting it away because 1.I had made a mistake and couldn't figure it out.. and 2. the chart was really difficult for me at the time. So when I got it out this time, I had to hunt the mistake, rip it out, and then I decided to stitch all the 951 on the baby's face. So I got a bit more than 100 stitches done, counting what I ripped out and redid. Here's my small bit of progress:

Doesn't it look like the baby's ear is on backwards? Weird! But there will be darker skin tones around the light stitching.

By the way, I still think this chart is kinda tough. The skin bits almost look computer-generated.

But for now, I am happy and back it goes in the UFO drawer. Next month I'm going to work on a differnt one. Then when I get my next big project completed, I'm going to ressurect one of those UFO's completely. I haven't decided which.

I also have to start something new. This is totally against my plan for this year, BUT - I was going through patterns with my mum, asking her opinion on a wedding sampler to stitch for my brother (he got married on Thanksgiving last year) and we came across this kit I've had, unopened, for several years.

Now, this is totally NOT my brother's type of thing, and I doubt it would be my sister-in-law's either.

However, my mum feels that my aunt and uncle would love it ~ and this year is their 35th wedding anniversary. So my mum said she'd pay me to stitch it. O_O

It's 16x12 inches, so I'm starting it now. And maybe it'll be done for Christmas like she wants it... I'm not the best at sticking with things!!!

Oddly enough, this is also a Janlynn kit, but the chart is MUCH easier!

I told my mum she doesn't have to pay me, of course - I was just so surprised that she offered!

I still need to find a sampler for my brother, though :D

I've also been sewing more aprons - I had a big order.

The mauve one on the top, far left, is my favorite - it's very subdued and pretty in real life. I made two, but the other has mauve pockets. The blue jean one was made out of an old jumper of my sister's. Cute, yeah? It says 'Love' in that heart, and the straps and made from the polka-dot butterfly fabric. The person who wanted a blue-jean apron didn't want a pocket. The ones made of the same fabrics are different sizes or have different styles of pockets.

I had fun making these.

March Goals and a Finish

I finished 'Cold Hands, Warm Heart'!

I went a couple hours past Feb 28th, but oh, well. I stitched the birds in the blue and white the pattern called for, didn't like it, took them out and did them in pink and blue. I think they're adorable :D

Pattern: Cold Hands, Warm Heart by Barbara Ana

Size: 6 x 6 inches

Fabric: Blue aida

I'll try to get a better picture tomorrow, with daylight. The camera flash and scanner both burn out the white. It shows up much better in real life.

So, February goals:

1. Start Mighty Samurai (done)

2. Work on Chang WuFei (done)

3. Work on Fred (only a couple stitches)

4. Finish Cold Hands, Warm Heart (done at 2am March 1st)

5. Maybe work on Achoo! if Fred's goal is met (didn't happen)

and March goals:

1. Work on Fred

2. Work on 'Achoo!'

3. Finish 'Retro January Kat'

4. Work on Spike or WuFei

5. Choose a UFO to get at least one 10x10 block of stitches completed

Almost Finished!

Thanks for the nice compliments on the last post; here's a bit more progress!

I'm nearly done with Cold Hands, Warm Heart! I scanned this early this morning, so I actually have more done now, too. I finished filling in the little heart on the snowman and got some more of the big heart done. I want to finish this by Saturday. The only thing that might slow me down is that I can't decide about one part of the design - there are two little birds on either side of the red heart at the bottom - one blue with white and one white with blue.

I'm not sure I want them to be blue and white. I'm thinking of blue and pink for one and some completly different combination for the other. I dunno.

Here's my progress on my Retro January Kat. Cute, no? His eyes will be green beads.

And my other project I'm working on a little, Chang WuFei. I made this pattern myself; he's a character from the anime Gundam Wing. I laid out the pattern to show how much I still have to do. Nothing on a HAED, but good practice for one, yes? :D

Little Bits of Progress

Here are a few lil' bits and pieces of things I've been working on:

My snowman now has a face! (and part of a body)

and I've done a little bit more of the background on my Retro Kat.


I've also got my Samurai up to having a hand, and I've been working on Chang WuFei, but mostly just the white, off-white, and pale yellow going down the outside of his arm. Not worth a picture yet. Maybe next post. I want to reach his elbow with the light part before I switch back to Fred and Achoo!'s rotation slots. So far I've reached his the edge of his shoulder.

I also never actually posted my February goals, so here they are:
1. Start Mighty Samurai
2. Work on Chang WuFei
3. Work on Fred
4. Finish Cold Hands, Warm Heart
5. Maybe work on Achoo! if Fred's goal is met

The Weather Outside...

Is frightful!





See how lovely my back porch looks? And we're supposed to get another 6-8 inches before 8pm. It's snowing pretty hard right now, so it may happen!


I gotta admit, it makes the mountains look pretty:

Not that they don't anyway :D

I'm kinda glad to be snowed in; I haven't had time to stitch for a week! I started Mighty Samurai, true, but did I get much done?

That would be a 'no'.

I got a little more done on 'Cold Hands', but also nothing to goggle at - behold my mighty progress!

That snowman really needs a face...

One thing I did do, was finish the puzzle. My mum came by to visit, and she luffs puzzles, too, so we got it done in only 2 days! It went from the outline, to this:

and then this:

While we sat and talked and drank way too much coffee. We actually got further than this, but I forgot to take another picture. Then, the next morning before work, I finished it:
Now to decide which one to do next - and if I'm really up to another puzzle! We worked on this one so non-stop that I was seeing the pieces when I closed my eyes... XD

More of Fred

Here's what Frederick the Literate looked like at the beginning of his rotation slot:

and here's how he looks now:

For me, that's a pretty big chunk done! I think I liked working 'Owlbert' best (yeah, I named him) He was mostly blends, which I don't usually like, but he was just cute!
Next rotation (in February), I want to do the book next to Owlbert, finish the bottom shelf over to Owlbert, and then backstitch what I have done. Then Fred will be officially 50% finished!


And I started another project!
But it's not a stitching project. It's been a long time since I worked a jigsaw puzzle, but I really like doing them. Very calming after a stressful day, almost as good as cross stitch! I got several as gifts over the holidays, so I thought I'd start one - then I counted the unopened boxes - some gifts, some I bought over the past year or two - and I have fourteen puzzles I've never done! So I decided to see how many I could get done before Spring. I'm way out of practice, so it's slow work so far. Especially on my first choice, a puzzle of Oxtounge Falls. I think that's in Ontario. Anyway, it's mostly water, so yikes! Here it is with the edge pieces put together:

It's a 750 piece puzzle, so I have a loooooong way to go.

I also changed my blog colors, as you probably noticed. I got tired of dark. It's Winter, I wanna see green!