Giveaway, the THIRD! (and TUSAL)

Back to the giveaway givings! Apologies if I'm posting way too much, this once-a-week-thing is a lot for me haha. Thank you to everyone who comments, even if you do not want the patterns. I know these designs don't suit everyone -- and that's okay! I stitch weird things, too. ;)

image found through Google search

I got to use the random number generator again (which was still exciting) and the result this time (drum rolls):

Jo~
Yay! I am pretty sure I have your address already but I need to make sure what I have is the right thing. Though I don't think you've moved. I'm sure it will be a quick little stitch for you~ :D

Now for Week 3: Memorial Week. Since Memorial Day is next Monday, I thought these would be a fitting collection~ These two are from the Across America Series. I'm not sure if they were sold as a kit at some point but they were just patterns when I found them!  Both charts are by Jean Lanning and they are hand-drawn and printed on poster-sized paper, too.  Since they are older charts, the DMC colors may not be right anymore (though the color names are listed as well as the numbers) and the other option they give is something called "Woolmasters" which I have never heard of before!   I'm kind of curious if anyone knows about or used this floss (yarn?) before.

First up is the lovely Jefferson Memorial, complete with a blossoming cherry tree and a serene view of what I assume is the Tidal Basin. Or maybe the Potomac. 

Jefferson Memorial, 140w by 145h

Next is the lovely Monticello, the primary plantation home of Thomas Jefferson!  I suppose I would be comfortable in a house that looks like this although I shudder to think of the time I would have to spend cleaning, the house alone has 33 rooms!  Perhaps not so comfortable.  But just imagine sitting in front of those large windows with stitching in hand!  Or in the dome room.  I'd probably be in the dome.

Monticello, 172w by 92h

Sparkly Fun Rules

1. You must be a minion follower on the Google gadget (top right on my blog). I know many people use feedly, etc. but there's no way of showing that!
2. Comment to enter... and tell me why you want the pattern(s)/kit(s).  This way I get to learn a little more about you~  :D
3. You must contact me within one week of winning. 

This giveaway will close Sunday, May 24th and the winner will be posted on Monday along with the next giveaway.  This too is open to the whole world though maybe only Americans will find these interesting?  Good luck! :D  This giveaway is now closed.

Also because this would be so many posts, I'm sneaking in TUSAL here too.

Goodbye, Muppets!

I'm glad to post this one as it contains the last dregs of Muppet ORTs which feels fantastic.

Gifted Gorgeousness - May Edition

We interrupt my giveaway(s) to bring you May's Gifted Gorgeousness as hosted by Jo! Where we work on gifts from/for others! With or without gifted necessaries!

click to join the fun!

Can you hear it? Maybe only bats can hear it, that excited squeaking.

Muppets.

Are.

Done!

Since the garden is in and things have settled down for now, I was plowing through a letter a day which was magical. Granted, the last few letters weren't all that difficult, around three hours each.  But that's three hours I don't usually have to spend on stitching!  Here are a few more letters I can flaunt:

Sam the Eagle

Statler

Do you think Statler would heckle my work?  :)))

The Swedish Chef

This piece wasn't terribly dirty but I still wanted to wash it because I think it makes the stitches look more full, plus makes the ironing easier.  I stitched what I felt were "questionable" colors on a scrap of Aida (I always keep scraps for this purpose) and washed the scrap first -- safe!  It felt really good to wash the piece, washing away that naughty center mark (remember the first fiasco?).  I also need to go over the piece with a pair of tweezers because holey moley, the cat hairs!

I am considering mounting this piece myself before taking it to be framed.  It's a bit big to be laced (14" x 14") though I did leave plenty of extra fabric (20" x 20"), so I am asking y'all for some help:  What do I do?  Foam core with pins?  Go ahead and lace it?  Leave it to the professionals?  I think Jo (forgive me if it was someone else!) mentioned to outline a piece in a running stitch or something similar to ensure it is mounted straight.

Technical Details

• Muppet Letters by Mike Boon, capitals and (modified) lowercase
• 2 over 2 on white 28-count evenweave, black 4 over 2
• Finished size: 14" x 14" (35,6 x 35,6cm)
• Started: February 2, 2015, Finished: May 13, 2015
• 65 hours, not including pattern making (+10ish?)
• First large attempt at evenweave fabric.

My verdict on evenweave? Undecided. I do like the higher count fabric though I did not think it was any easier or harder to work with. It was much softer than Aida. One thing I noticed and did NOT like is that the warp and weft of the fabric was not even. I realized this when a 6x6 stitched square was taller than it was wide. 6 stitches wide and 5 stitches high wound up being the square I was looking for and required a few adjustments to the pattern on the fly.

It's a little (hah) exciting to have this finished.  It's later than I would've liked but I will console myself with thinking it would've been done earlier if I hadn't screwed up the first piece of fabric.  CONSTANT VIGILANCE.  What do I work on next?!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.......

This post is scheduled for the wee hours of the morning for you crazy people on the other side of the Earth.

Giveaway, the SECOND!

Hooray, I survived my first round of giveaways!  I will guess the little ducks was the hit this time haha.  It is a very cute needlepoint so I'm glad it's going to a new home~ :D

image found through Google search

I entered the entries into a random number generator gadget (don't get me started on how excited I was to use that for the first time :b) and the result isssssss...

Thoeria~

Yay!! Please get back to me with your address and we'll cross our fingers that your postal system has got it together enough to get this before Christmas haha. :D I do hope your daughter enjoys the ducks!

Now for Week 2: A Mill Hill Kit. This is a pretty little kit that I like quite a bit but I'll never get around to it and wouldn't know what to do with it when finished anyway.  It is opened but as far as I can tell, all beads, needles (even the dreaded beading needle), floss and fabric is present.  No guarantees though.  :)  It features a few fancy stitches (Rhodes heart and Smyrna stitch) too.

LE Mill Hill kit "Frosted Heather Rose", 3" x 4" maybe?

Also, I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in this little kit.  It's unopened so it should have all the necessaries.  I'll include the picture but please let me know in your comment whether or not you want it!  If the winner wants it, I'll send it, if not, it's off to the donation box!  :)

Simplicity "Refill" kit, 5" x 7"

Sparkly Fun Rules

1. You must be a minion follower on the Google gadget (top right on my blog). I know many people use feedly, etc. but there's no way of showing that!
2. Comment to enter... and tell me why you want the pattern(s)/kit(s).  This way I get to learn a little more about you~  :D
3. You must contact me within one week of winning. 

This giveaway will close Sunday, May 17th and the winner will be posted on Monday along with the next giveaway.  This giveaway is now closed!  This too is open to the whole world~

Giveaway, the FIRST!

Hi, world! It's (still) May! And it's also my birth month; can you guess whether I am a Taurus or Gemini? :b

I was going through my little stash in an inventory-ing sort of way and decided to be honest with myself. I have some patterns and kits I will never stitch; they were bought when I first picked up cross stitching and my tastes have since wildly changed from "STITCH EVERYTHING" to a slightly more realistic "STITCH EVERYTHING SUPER GEEKY." So, giveaways for my birth month! I'm so excited about this since it's the first time I feel like I can actually give back.  Am I weird?  (shhhhhh...)  I will post a giveaway once a week in May (4, 11, 18, 25).

I must make it clear that these were mostly bought at thrift stores so they will vary from just patterns to unopened kits. There will be one needlepoint and one crewel as well. I will ship anywhere in the world but it will be just the pattern(s)/kit(s), no little extras as much as I'd like to put some in.

So, here we go, diving into Week 1: The Cute Week!  This giveaway is for all three kits featuring cute (well, I think they're cute) designs.  All three are unopened and come with bonus thrift store price tags, haha.  :)

Sparkly Fun Rules

1. You must be a minion follower on the Google gadget (top right on my blog). I know many people use feedly, etc. but there's no way of showing that!
2. Comment to enter... and tell me why you want the pattern(s)/kit(s).  This way I get to learn a little more about you~  :D
3. You must contact me within one week of winning.

enchanted unicorn, ~3" cross stitch

the little ducks, ~6" needlepoint

cherished teddies, ~4" cross stitch

Welp! Good luck to you all~  This giveaway will close on Sunday, May 10th and I will post the winner on May 11th, along with the next giveaway.  This giveaway is now closed!

yay i am so excited

FotM - April Edition

Hello again, world! It's May, one of the Best Months Ever (more a bit later, kekekeke) and I hope you're hanging onto your britches 'cause this year is flying by.

I wish I could wow you all with my stunning progress but alas! Possibly you will be amazed anyway.

before

after

Are you impressed? I hope you're impressed. :b Can you even see the addition?

more leaf!

One evening, I simply could not stand Muppets anymore. I was just so fed up with "having to" work on it. So I put in two little strands on violets and all was right with the world again. It's amazing what little things can pacify a body!

Still present is the little owl needleminder I thought I inadvertently stole from my friend. Here it was meant to be a gift! I now have TWO needleminders which really makes me feel like I'm moving up in the world of stitching. Thank you so much again, Blog Stalker~ :D

Small Muppet update: From last post, I did make more progress. I didn't achieve my goal of four letters but I did get three-and-a-half which is still pretty great for pokey old me. I underestimated how "busy" one of the four letters was going to be. The last few letters are a relatively simple design so they will (hopefully) stitch up quickly. And since it's so close to completion and the veggie garden is planted (for now), my mojo is through the roof! I almost feel hopeful for a victorious GG post in two weeks. GO GO GOOOOO.