July's TUSAL Photo

Last Wednesday, I happened to read on someones blog that it was time to post a picture for the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long. Once again, I had forgotten all about doing that and thought I'd go take a photo of my orts jar as soon as I was finished with the super important work I had left to do online. (Farm Town, much?) And, then I completely forgot all about the TUSAL and my jar of threads. Until now. So here you go.


After a craptastic episode this morning with a huge-ass spider in my bed and a bunch of deaf relatives who I can't count on for much of anything, I decided to hang my orts jar -- from my walker, of course -- instead of hanging myself. :P

How about a link to a giveaway over at Craft Gossip to cheer us all up? The prize is a super-cute mini-cross stitch kit from Miss Woolly, which I am sure will perk up whoever is lucky enough to win it. Go to Needlework News to enter the giveaway. You have until 8 AM CST on July 31st so go leave some comments now.

And, if you'd like to join the Totally Useless SAL, check out this post on Dragon My Needle and read all about it.

Needed: Animal Craft Patterns And Projects

UPDATE: I've decided not to do the Blogathon but I'm still going to put together a post with some links to animal patterns soon.

Since this is a craft blog, I'm planning on posting links to craft patterns that feature animals during next weekend's Blogathon. I'm going to go through all my saved and blogged links but I'm sure you all know of some great projects I can share. Anything to do with embroidery, cross stitch, knitting, crochet, felt, and fabric would be great. Free or...uh...non-free.

If you know of any animal patterns, could you please send me a link at nahnahnah@aol.com?

If you have made something with an animal pattern and want to show it off, send pictures.

If you sell animal patterns in your Etsy, send a link to your store.

Thank you!!

Blogathon 2009

Happy Friday, people! I've been working on a cross stitch and a felt pillow this week but neither one is done so I have nothing to share for Finished for Friday over at Lit and Laundry, so instead, I will tell you about the Blogathon.

The Blogathon is an online event where participants update their blogs every thirty minutes for 24 hours straight to raise money for charity. Bloggers collect pledges from sponsors before the Blogathon and when it's all over, sponsors send their donations directly to the charity.

This year the Blogathon is being held on July 25th. Sorry for the short notice but it's not too late to sign up. For more information, check out the website and the FAQ pages. Or you can ask me about it. I've done the Blogathon four times since it started. And, since I just decided to do join in this year, I won't start hitting you guys up for money until tomorrow. :)

Two Cute Embroidery Patterns

Since I'm supposed to stay off of my foot, I haven't yet figured out how to transfer an embroidery design on to some fabric so I can stitch it up. I can't see myself standing on one foot at a window and tracing a design on to my material nor can I see standing at the ironing board...wait a second. I've been doing dishes while resting my knee on my desk chair for support. I'm sure I could iron in the same position. It only takes a couple of minutes to transfer a design so I wouldn't have to stand there for that long, right?

Yay for blogging! If I hadn't decided to link to a couple of cute embroidery designs just now, I wouldn't have discovered a way to transfer some patterns in my current unable-to-put-both-feet-on-the-ground-at-the-same-time state.

Over at Babalisme, there's a super cute tabby cat pattern and a sweet little girls' dresses one at A Print A Day. I love both of these. [Both links via Sweet Tidings.]

Have a great weekend, y'all! I'll be embroidering my little heart out. And, if I fall while at the ironing board and break my hip, you guys will come and vist me, right?

Finished For Friday -- Cross Stitch Pincushions

For today's Finished for Friday, I'm sharing my latest cross stitch finishes. Remember that biscornu that I sewed together incorrectly and ended up with a pincushion instead? Technically, a biscornu is a pincushion but biscornus have eight sides (or more) and my pincushion only had four. Well, I also stitched up a biscornu using the same charts since my original plan was to make one. Here they are side by side:




I used a varigated floss, DMC 57, for everything but the strawberry stems. I really like how it goes from light to dark. Both of these are stitched on 14 ct Fiddler's or Fiddler's Lite.



You can find the charts for the biscornu by clicking the last two photos in this entry on Les loisirs d'une Sablaise.

Finished for Friday is hosted every week by Lit and Laundry and it's a fun way to show off what you've been working on for the past week.

Vote For Chone Figgins

Click the button to vote for Angel Chone Wiggins to help him get enough votes to play in the All Star game. Or vote for another player. I don't care. I just like adding widgets.

The Not Finished For Friday Post

Next week, I will have something to share for Finished for Friday. I just need to track down where I found the pattern for an embroidered dog that I finished before my surgery. This was my second attempt at stitching it and I do believe Version #2 is jinxed. Every time I take pictures of it, I find a hair on it (I know it's not the same as one in my salad but still, ew) or a piece of thread or a mystery spot or two that wasn't there last time. So, I'll be showing it off next week. Unless it spontaneously combusts one night and burns down the house.

Speaking of embroidery, do you like kitties? And anthropomorphic silverware? And Santa? Well, check out the vintage patterns over at Green Jello.

And, in more embroidery news, when you get a chance, go take a look at Martha's ABC blocks (that's the main page of her blog so just keep scrolling down to see more). I promise you will swoon over them. I tend to drool.

Hope everybody has a safe and super fun 4th of July!!


(That's about the only semi-patriotic picture of one of my dogs that I could find in my stash. I have no idea why I added a green background to it or how I even put that hat on her.)