Sunflowers

I finished the alphabet and top border on my Sunflower sampler.  Hoping the border meets up.

Zoé's 2014 Ornament

I finished Zoé's 2014 Ornament.  I have not personalized it yet because I have not decided on final finishing yet.

Cat Nip Christmas (Mosey 'N Me, JCS Ornaments 2002)
14 ct Red Aida
DMC

A Tablet and a start from stash

The Kindle Fire 6 went on sale last week so I had thought about buying one.  My husband told me to look at Windows tablets and for the same price, I decided on an HP Stream 7 instead.  It is great for an eReader because of its size.  The keyboard is hard to use some times but I have my laptop for heavy duty typing.  I can do so much more on it than I could with an iPad or Kindle or Android Tablet because it's like having a computer.

This is my new start.

SCRAP Grand Opening

SCRAP, the lovely thrift store for craft items recently moved to a new location and they had their "grand opening" last night.  I spent more than I should have but I got some great stuff.

All the magazines and leaflets together were $2

The perforated paper was included with this Whiskey Creek box. 

I found some nice fabric including some 10 ct R&R fabric.

This pile of linen was $4  I think I hit the jackpot.  I haven't sorted through it and labeled it yet

This haul puts me slightly over budget but I just have to stitch and finish a few things to get back on track.

A Bouncy Finish

I put in a bunch of effort and finished up Tigger early this morning.  I added the personalization on the top.

Zoé was very excited about it this morning when she saw it and recognized her name.  Only two more ornaments to go before she's caught up until next Christmas.

The kit calls for three strands of floss so I used a size 24 needle to do the cross stitches.  When I went to do the backstitching, I had issues getting the needle through all that floss (especially since perforated plastic is unyielding.  I switched to a 26 needle which was easy to thread with only one strand of floss and it glided through the backstitching beautifully.  Just a tip. ;)

Stitching Progress

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel on my Tigger Ornament.  Here's a look.

I also got a little bit more done on Yellow Submarine

A Welcome and a bit about Birds

First of all, welcome to all my new followers who have joined me through Grow Your Blog.  It's so great to share experiences with you!

One of my visitors commented that she loves Chickadees (in reference to the Chickadee that I am stitching).  I am also a fan of Chickadees and birds in general.

I can trace my love of birds to my grandmother who was a bird fanatic.  She also did counted cross stitch and most of her stitching involved birds.  Her favorite bird was the hummingbird.

My favorite bird piece of hers in my collection - A Bluebird

I grew up in Wisconsin (which for my international followers is in the upper Midwest portion of the U.S. and gets lots of snow in the winter) so I saw birds all the time.  Growing up, we had a nice grassy backyard with a large Silver Maple, several Blue Spruce trees and a birdbath so we attracted a lot of birds.

The state bird of Wisconsin is the American Robin.  They were everywhere.  After a rainstorm, the air was full of their song.

They are much larger than a European Robin

Here are some other birds I used to enjoy.

The Black-Capped Chickadee, a spunky little bird

The House Wren, a bird you don't see but definitely hear

A bright yellow summer visitor - The American Goldfinch

We had Cardinals all year long.  Their red color was a welcome sight when everything was covered in snow.

My favorite bird, the Nuthatch.  This one is the Red-Breasted variety but I also saw the White-Breasted ones.

Now that I live in Texas, surrounded by prairie grasses and cows, I don't see a lot of these birds anymore.  I see a lot of Mockingbirds (the state bird) and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and the occasional Roadrunner.  I do miss my Wisconsin birds though.