Greetings From Waco Texas

At the end of September, my sister and I left California with our two dogs and drove to Waco, Texas.  This is where I live now.  (My mom & dad arrived by plane a couple days after we got there.)  More on this move later.

While unpacking boxes, I found my old TUSAL jar.  I don't think I added any threads to it since early 2016.  That's when I first packed up some stuff (including my TUSAL jar) that then went into storage and stayed there until it was finally moved to Texas in late September along with everything else I own. (More on this experience if I feel like venting later on.)

In between packing some stuff up in early 2016 and actually moving to a new house in TX, I lived in an apartment for awhile.  I had floss, needles and hoops with me, and did a little stitching.  I saved my thread ends in a little plastic bag.  Tonight I moved them to a new TUSAL jar.  (I love love love Oui yogurt jars!)

Wow.  That picture sucks.

If you want to know more about the Totally Useless Stitch-a-long, go to this post on It's Daffycat.  It's from 2016 but it will explain everything. 

I have to go to bed.  More later.

2015 TUSAL

Yay!  The 2015 Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long is once again underway thanks to Sharon at It's Daffy Cat.  

What is the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long aka TUSAL, you ask.

Basically, you'll save your orts (that piece of floss you're left with when you're done stitching that's too short to do anything with) in a jar, and every time there is full moon, you'll post a photo of the jar on your blog.  More info here.  Thank you, Sharon,for hosting the TUSAL once again!

The first full moon was January 20 so here is my orts jar (I'm never on time) along with a Valentine bag I started making the other night:

(More on the heart in my next post.  Hopefully, I'll blog again before the year is over.)  (And, I know there is no cross stitching involved but I used embroidery floss to sew the hearts together so in the orts jar it goes.)  (And, yes, I know the red heart is not centered on the pink heart.)

I believe there was only ONE year where I actually posted a picture of my jar every time there was a full moon.  In 2014, I posted pics of my orts jar three times. I'm shooting for four times in 2015.  Go, me!  Really, I'm hoping the TUSAL will get me to not only blog more often but also make more stuff this year.

This was my jar at the end of 2014.  Those are threads from the past few years.  

I'm starting with a new jar for 2015.  

Edited to add:  I have no idea why some of this post is highlighted in white.  I did not do that. Also, I can't get the font to change.

March 30 TUSAL Update

March 30 was the New Moon and as usual, I forgot to post a photo of my orts jar for the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long aka TUSAL so here it is now.  For info on the TUSAL, go here. 

The cat is Katie Kitty from Brooke Nolan's Advent Animals SAL.  She isn't finished in that picture but she is now.  I've forbidden myself from starting any new projects but as soon as I saw this on Facebook (thanks, Sarah H!), I knew I had to do it.  Besides, Katie Kitty was quick to stitch -- it only took three nights to do and that was because I did part of her jacket twice.  The charts for the SAL will be free, with one released per month, and it will last until October 2015.

You can get the chart for Katie Kitty at the bottom of this page at Brooke's Books Publishing. You can see pics of the first three animals here on Liz's Tales of a Thread Spinner blog. They are so cute!  You can use Liz's Dragonflylotus Designs Handspun Threads for the SAL and the chart also has the DMC colors listed.  I used DMC.  I didn't have any blue fabric so I stuck a small piece of white Aida in a Tupperwear full of Rit dye and some water and ended up with what you see above.  Except in real life, it is REALLY BRIGHT BLUE.  

March TUSAL Update

The New Moon was on March 1st and I totally forgot to post a picture of my orts jar for the Totally Useless Stitch-a-long, aka TUSAL, but here's my jar as of 3/9/14.  (Usually, I collect orts in a small jar all year long but I didn't do much crafting in 2013 so those are from last year too.  It looks like a lot but I know the majority of them are from threads I ripped out because I changed my mind about the color or the stitching looked horrible or I screwed up the count on a cross stitch.    

For more info on the TUSAL, please check this post at It's Daffycat.

My orts jar is sitting on a dish towel I'm embroidering with an Easter egg.  I saw this Easter Egg SAL from Needle Knowledge linked on Craft Gossip and decided to stitch the egg on a dish towel, but there's a tutorial to make your egg into a puffy ornament here.  (I'll have to try that some day.)

There's a second New Moon this month on March 30th.  I'm hoping to post a photo of my orts jar by April 15th.  :P

The TUSAL Update

Since I'm back to blogging, I decided I would join the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long (or TUSAL) again.  The TUSAL is a fun way to show off your orts.  What are orts?  Here's an explanation I just stole from Sharon at It's Daffycat:

What is an ORT? ORT or ort ~ Capitalized, it stands for Old Ratty Threads. These are the cast-off thread ends a needleworker cuts away. These ends are often saved in clear jars as a decorative object. The word, "ort" does appear in the dictionary, meaning: a bit of something left over; usually concerning food. 

Sharon hosts the TUSAL and you can read all about it here (and also sign up in the comments) but pretty much all you have to do is collect your orts in a container and share a photo of the container whenever there's a new moon.  Since there is no new moon in February this year, there will be no TUSAL update this month but here's a picture of my orts jar from yesterday 2/16/14.  Since I didn't do the TUSAL in 2013, these are probably all my orts from last year.

The next new moon is March 1 and then on March 30 is another one so there will be two TUSAL updates next month.

The TUSAL 2013

Sharon over at It's Daffycat is once again hosting the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long aka TUSAL.  I didn't participate much last year so I really want to do it in 2013.

What is the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long?  It's not an actual stitch-a-long where everybody cross stitches or embroiders something.  With this one, you just save all your orts or thread ends in some kind of container (like a glass jar) and share a photo of it every time there's a new moon.  That's usually once a month but there's always at least one month that has has two new moons so you would have to post two photos that month.

Why do this?  Well, why not?  And, if you have to ask, you probably need more fun in your life.  You can read all about the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long aka the TUSAL here.

Thew new moon this month was on the 11th so here is the state of my current orts jar.  

It's practically empty because I've only stitched one thing in 2013.  Just a little blanket stitching on my Scottie pillow.  [insert photo of Scottie pillow here...yeah., I forgot to take one today]  But I plan to cross stitch, embroider and hand sew a BAZILLION things this year so my jar will fill up fast.  (Everyone should have a dream.)  

This was what my jar looked like at the end of 2012.  

At the end of the year, I dump all the threads ends into a larger jar and start with an empty one for the new year.

And, in case you're wondering, yes, most of my pictures are taken on my bed.

Come join us for the TUSAL 2013.  You know you want to.

June TUSAL Report

Since I can once again upload & download pictures, I can get back to doing the TUSAL aka the Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long.   And, since today is the New Moon, here's my orts jar hanging out with a stuffed pig I got years ago.

If you want more info on the TUSAL, please read this post at It's Daffycat.  Thank you, Sharon, for hosting the TUSAL!

Just Call Me Einstein

It only took three months but it dawned on me the other night that I could use my sister's laptop to upload photos from my camera.  So that's what I just did.  Now I need to go take pictures of a few things and I can get back to blogging.  Yay!

Most of the pictures on my camera were of my orts jar.  This is the only one that did not suck.  So here's my orts jar as of February 2012.  (The stuffed dog came from a local antique store.)

And, here's Lucy.

And, here's Pumpkin.

Yay blogging!  Yay pictures!  Yay Susan's laptop! (I'm a little excited.)

January 2012 TUSAL Update

There's a new moon today so time for my first TUSAL report of the year.  Not a great picture, I know.

What's a TUSAL, you ask.  TUSAL stands for Totally Useless Stitch-a-long and it's hosted by Sharon at It's Daffycat.  Despite the name, there isn't any actual stitching going on.  It's more of bizarre hoarding situation.  (No, not really.)  What you do is toss your floss ends (you may know them as ORTs or thread clippings) into a jar and every time there's a new moon, you share a picture of the jar on your blog.  You can find out more about the 2012 TUSAL over here.

I started with an empty jar for 2012 so all the ORTs in my jar are from this year.  I've been working on a cross stitch called Ready for the Morning Ride plus I decided to re-do some of one called Little Blue Bungalow because I wasn't thrilled with the colors I used so there's lots of leftovers from ripping out stitches in that jar. 

My Final TUSAL Report

Time for my final TUSAL ort report of 2011!  Woohoo!  I can't believe I actually stuck with it this time.  This is the third year I started the Totally-Useless-Stitch-A-Long (aka the TUSAL) and the first time I made it all the way to the end.  In 2010, I didn't even make it past January.  But this year, I posted pictures of my orts jar all year long. Pardon me while I run outside to see if pigs are flying.

Thank you to Sharon over at It's Daffycat for hosting the 2011 TUSAL!!

If saving your thread ends, adding them to a clear jar of some kind and sharing a picture of that jar on your blog on the new moon (usually once a month but sometimes there are two new moons in one month) sounds like fun to you, consider joining the 2012 TUSAL.  All the details are here on It's Daffycat. 

By the way, I find it very odd that my jar is nearly full yet I haven't finished many cross stitch or embroidery projects this year.  I have a bunch that are half-done or nearly done but hardly any finishes. 

And, as much as I would like to claim I did, I did not make that hedgehog.  It came with a book, The Hat by Jan Brett, that my sister got me a few years ago when I was going through my hedgehog phase.

November Ort Report AKA TUSAL Update

Hello from the kitchen table!  I am so not used to this and still not sure if I like it but here I am on a laptop in the kitchen.  And there's Mark Harmon on the TV across the room.  An episode of "NCIS" that I've probably already seen 15 times.  Now, let's see if I can find the picture I took of my orts jar.

Eureka! 

For those of you who just tuned in, an orts jar is where I save my floss ends.  You know the pieces of embroidery thread that are too short to use anymore.  I throw them in the jar and then every month around the time of the new moon, I post a picture of my orts jar for the 2011 Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long aka TUSAL.  And that's the one for November.  Only one more photo to go for the year.  I've been using the same jar all year and the thing I can't figure out is why my jar is nearly full yet I have so few completed cross stitch and embroidery projects.  Obviously, the neighbors are sneaking in at night and dumping their orts in my jar.

Want to join the 2012 TUSAL?  This isn't a contest.  It's just a fun thing to do on your blog.  I've started it three times and twice I never got past posting a February picture.  I'm amazed I've just about made it through the entire year this time.  When I thought I couldn't use my old camera with this lap top, I was bummed I wouldn't be able to post any TUSAL pictures for the last few months of 2011.  Anyway, Sharon over at It's Daffycat is the host of the TUSAL and she is now taking sign-ups for 2012.  Check out this post for all the details.  Please join -- it's fun! 

October TUSAL Update

Yeah, I know it's November 12 so it's a little late to post a TUSAL picture for October but I just found out that plugging my old camera into my sister's laptop will prompt Windows to automatically download a driver so the camera works with the computer. Who knew? Apparently, not HP.   Anyway, here's a not-so-good picture of the current state of my orts jar.  Complete with a scratched up desk.

To find out more about the TUSAL aka the Totally-Useless-Stitch-A-Long, check out It's Daffy Cat.  Sharon will soon be taking sign-ups for TUSAL 2012.

It's dark and rainy here today but now that I know I can still use my camera, I'll get some pictures of what I'm working on as soon as it the sun comes out again.

The September ORT Report

I totally forgot there was a new moon the other day and I didn't want another day to go by without a picture of my orts jar for the TUSAL so here ya go:

The black and white thing in the background is Lucy, asleep on my desk, and the "spooky" is the embroidery I'm working on right now.  It's for the September SAL on Feeling Stitchy. Obviously, I did not do much stitching on it.

I'm going rogue and skipping linking to anything tonight so if this post confuses you, go Google "TUSAL" and/or "It's Daffycat" and all will be explained.  Maybe.

Good night!

Nothing To Do With Duran Duran

So, it's time for another new moon (on Monday) and that means I need to share another picture of my orts jar for the TUSAL aka the Totally Useless Stitch-a-long. 

Next to my orts jar, are a couple of embroideries that recently did.  They are part of a set so I still have three more to do.  (I'll tell you more about them in my next post.)

Thanks to Sharon over at It's Daffycat for hosting the TUSAL!

New Moon On Saturday

Did you know there are two new moons in July?  Tonight is the second one so that means it is time for another TUSAL update. 

What is a TUSAL?  TUSAL stands for Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long and for this stitch-a-long, all you need to do is throw your leftover floss (aka thread ends) into a jar or container and share a picture of it every month on the date of the new moon. Or around the date of the new moon, if you're like me and never on time.

I planned to be on time today and even took pictures of my jar this morning.  And then I forgot all about posting one of the pictures until now.  At least it is still July 30th on the West Coast.

Thanks to Sharon at It's Daffycat for hosting the TUSAL 2011.

That teddy bear cross stitch is my latest project.  I finished the stitching a little while after I took this picture except for a few  X's around the eyes that I'll do after I find a similar shade of floss since I don't have the one recommended in the chart.  It's a freebie from a French blog and I'll post a link to it as soon as I track it down again.

July TUSAL Report

Of course I missed posting a Totally Useless Stitch-a-long aka TUSALupdate once again.  This month, the new moon was on the first so I'm a few days late.  But did you know July has two new moons?  (Thank you, Sharon, for that bit of info.)  My goal is to post my next update on time on July 30th.  So hell can freeze over.

I just took four pictures of my ORTs jar and here's the best one.  This is the current state of my jar of thread ends.

Thanks to Sharon at It's Daffycat for hosting the TUSAL 2011!

Last night I finished a WIP (it's a felt pincushion that I totally forgot about), and have also been working on a cross stitch that will most likely grow up to be an Xmas ornament.  I recently told myself that no new projects will be started until I finish a few I've already started and have actually been sticking to that.  I'll wait until there's more daylight to take some pictures of them. 

June TUSAL Update

This is my TUSAL jar as of this afternoon.  I've been working on a cross stitch so I finally had some thread to add to my jar, plus I found some leftover floss on a few homemade cardboard thread holders that I no longer needed so I threw that in there too.

I really thought I was finished with the Little Blue Bungalow cross stitch but I was looking at some pictures of it and noticed I didn't stitch the centers of the flowers so it's still a WIP for now.

The chart is a freebie from Blue Ribbon Designs and you can find it on the Weeks Dye Works Free Designer Charts page.  (It's the very last one on the page.)  Since I only have a brown and black WDW floss, I picked out my own DMC colors, which is always a big deal for me.   I'm not sure if I'm happy with what I chose.  I could blame it on the bad lighting in the photo but it is hard to see some of the colors on that fabric (Fiddlers 18 ct) in person too so I may re-do the parts I don't like.

Update:  I just looked at the finish of the original version and decided I hate mine.  Ok, I don't hate it but I am not happy with the floss colors I used.  Some of those blues are too light and you can barely see the white and pink flowers.  I may just start this one over from scratch and use some different colors..

May TUSAL Update

Last night I posted this picture on Facebook and then forgot all about putting it here for the May TUSAL update. In case you're just tuning in, TUSAL stands for Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long, which isn't a real stitch-a-long but one where we post a monthly photo of our ORTs jar.  At the end of the year, some lucky participant will be rewarded with fabulous prizes. And, if that doesn't make you want to start saving your thread ends and tossing them into a glass jar (or bowl or Ziploc bag like I did last month), I don't know what will).  Unfortunately, it's too late to join the 2011 TUSAL but there's always next year.

So there's my ORTs jar along with a cross stitch I'm working on and some yo-yos I've recently made.  I'll post the link to the x-stitch chart next time I blog.   And at the rate I'm going, that might not be until June.

Thanks to Sharon for hosting the 2011 TUSAL.

April TUSAL Report

It's time for a New Moon so I have another picture of my TUSAL jar to share.  But, first, this is what I had to deal with when I sat on my bed to take pictures.

We had to clear out of the house for five days this past week while the new floor was being installed and I forgot to take my TUSAL jar with me so I collected my orts in a Ziploc bag.  I think the embroidery I did while sitting in a motel room was the most I have done all month.



And, there's my jar with the new threads added.



Thanks to Sharon at It's Daffycat for hosting the Totally-Useless-Stitch-a-Long this year!

March TUSAL Update

Time for the March TUSAL update.

This afternoon, I tossed my ORTs jar on the bed while Lucy and Ethel Pumpkin* were playing and snapped a few pictures.  If you look closely, you can see a few threads in the bottom of the jar. The poor thing is not getting much action due to a lack of stitching on my part.

And yes, that is a different jar.  For the third month in a row.  After I knew there would be plumbers and work men in my bedroom to fix that leaky pipe behind my closet wall and they would see several jelly jars full of threads on my book shelf and think I was insane, I decided to combine the contents from all the jars into the large canning jar that I picked up last month at the thrift store and just use the one above for 2011.  They can still think I'm insane, just not as much. 

By the way, they plugged up the holes in the walls and re-painted them and they look fantastic.  You can't even tell it was patched, or whatever the term is.  Not sure when they will be here to install the new floor but we're halfway done now.

*My sister and I had Lucy at a new vet and when we mentioned we also had a dog named Pumpkin at home, he said we must be huge Peanuts fans.  At first, neither of us knew what he was talking about.  Probably because Linus and his Great Pumpkin story was never one of our favorites.

And, in semi-related news, this is hilarious:




P. S.  Thanks to Sheila for the reminder it was time for a TUSAL update.