March Smalls SAL

It's time for the March Smalls SAL link up from Mary's Thread! Usually this occurs on the last Friday of the month but I technically didn't have a finish to post 😲 However, I had a lot of down time at work over night and was able to finish my Crash Bandicoot piece for my small video game series!

"Crash Bandicoot Cross Stitch" - Stitchpleaseaus FINISHED!

I look forward to seeing everyone else's entries! Happy Stitching!

Finish Friday & February Smalls SAL

Today I have my first fully finished piece in forever! 

The finished product is:

"Final Fantasy Mog and Chocobo Cross Stitch Pattern KUPO" - CraftyGamerUK FINISHED!

Here is what the moogle and chocobo piece looked like last time:

It may be a small one but it’s a finish and motivation to work on other things! 

A few years ago I bought a bunch of tiny video game related patterns on Etsy and designed a few on my own in hopes of creating a series of small stitchings that represent my all time favorite games. This is number 3 to be finished!

I realize now that I didn't initial/date the first 2 pieces. I'll have to go back and look at when I finished them and add them. Next in the series will either be a Suikoden or a Crash Bandicoot pattern. I haven't decided yet and I'm not sure when that will actually happen anyways!😋

I do need to find where I have my other aida mounted squares so I can keep working on little projects in between my big ones so I stay motivated with finishes. 

Update: I am updating this post to also include information about the Smalls SAL! The Smalls SAL is where you stitch something each month that you consider small to you and post about it on the last Friday of every month. It is currently being hosted by Mary of Mary's Thread so hop on over to see other entries! To be honest I completely forgot that I used to participate in this a couple years ago before my life got hectic and as a matter of fact, the Mario and Vivi pieces in the game series were what I stitched for the Smalls SAL before! So I am going to add my Moogle & Chocobo piece into the same category as well. Now to decide what to stitch for March!

Happy Stitching!

July 2017 Smalls SAL

Yay for another Smalls SAL entry! I actually have 2 this month!

First up is Classic Mario to continue with my video game theme/series that I will be stitching up to add to my nerdy office!

FINISHED! Classic Mario 

He is super tiny but oh so cute! I made the pattern based off a promo picture of him on the Nintendo website a few months ago. I contemplated doubling his size when I realized how small he would end up but then decided against it. I'm also considering possibly adding to him. Maybe have him hitting a ? block and/or jumping over a goomba. I'm definitely not sure but for now cute little Mario is considered a finish!

My second Small piece was a spur of the moment decision. I was adding to/fixing our little gallery wall of photos near the front door and realized I needed something else to balance the pictures. I then decided I would add a W for our last name. I thought about buying the letter and then painting it or something but then the idea popped in my head to stitch the W using the colors from our wedding!

FINISHED! oneofakindbabydesign's "Letter 'W' Cross Stitch"

I found a blue/purple DMC variegated floss that was perfect since our wedding colors were blue/purple/white! Believe it or not it took me a while to find a W pattern on Etsy that I really liked. I love how it came out and how it looks added to our wall! Don't mind the center picture frame....I realized it wasn't straight after I took the picture and then fixed it but never took another after 😆

That's all for my July Smalls SAL post! For August, I do have 2 smalls planned as well. To continue in my video game series, I will stitch the main character from my absolute favorite series, "Suikoden," Tir McDohl. Like Mario, I will stitch the character but may go back and add something to him as well. The second piece will be for Mii's needleminder exchange so that it is ready to go once I know who/where it will be sent to!

June 2017 Smalls SAL

Before the start of this year, I had planned on participating in Stitching Lotus' Smalls SAL for the entire year but thanks to the busy first half of the year, this will be my first entry! Better late than never I guess 😆

My Smalls SAL entry is of one of my favorite video game characters: Vivi from Final Fantasy IX! Vivi was stitched over the course of 2 days (Thurs-Friday). He is 2.5 inches wide and 3.2 inches tall and is super cute! I am happy to have him as the first of a series of game inspired pieces I'd like to stitch!

FINISHED! CraftyGamerUK's FF Vivi Cross Stitch Pattern

I purchased the pattern from Etsy and stitched it on a 6x6 (actually 4x4 stitchable area) square aida cloth that was stretched over a wood frame. The squares I actually found at Michael's in a pack of 3 in 3 different colors so I'm excited to use them for future Smalls projects!

My future entries will more than likely all be video game themed pieces because I have a bunch of small patterns for various things from some of my favorite games! Next I will probably stitch classic Mario!

Smalls SAL - April 2016

It's time for my first Smalls posting and I have 2 small finishes to share!

First is actually an embroidery piece that I was using to test stitching on black cloth. 

Dimensions Needlecrafts "Love on Black" Embroidery Kit FINISHED!

I didn't pay attention when I picked it up that it wasn't cross stitch (doh!) but I did enjoy the easy stitching and will need to find a spot to put it!

Second, I found a little kit that was actually cross stitch to test stitching on black aida. This is a jar topper kit with 4 different patterns. I decided to only do 1 and will save the others for other months.

"My Stash" - Dimensions Crafts Jar Topper Counted Cross Stitch Kit (Set of 4) FINISHED!

This is now the top of my ORTs jar! I felt it needed some love :-P . 

So all in all, I've come to the conclusion that black aida isn't as scary to stitch on as I thought! If you aren't a part of the SAL and would like to join, here's the link to the sign up.

And on to my other stitching adventures:

I have made great progress on "Love is Patient" but have had to take a couple days off from it. It should be finished on my next set of days off from work. Thank goodness!

This past week I also worked on a needlepoint "Polar Pals" stocking for my daughter's first Christmas this year!

Our theme for her room is penguins because they are my husband's favorite animal and I love snowmen so I thought this stocking was perfect! The only thing is that this uses basket weave and continental stitch, which are both new to me so this is taking me forever. Hopefully it'll work out and be nice in the end.

I have decided to take a little break from the "Olde World Map" project. I also have a bunch of other big projects that I want to either continue working on or start as well. I started working on a Puerto Rico piece for my dad about a year ago and need to get back to that. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of it just yet. I also plan on starting on "His Name is Jesus" for my mother-in-law. I just picked up the cloth and floss today so I'll probably begin within the next week or so. I think I will try to rotate focusing on 1 big project a week just to break up the monotony but I'm not sure yet. We'll see how it goes! 

Progression Check-In

It's been almost a week since my last post but I thought I'd go ahead and check in with my progress so far. Plus, I've been up with a fussy baby most of the night so I figured I might as well do something since I'm wide awake :-p.

I looked at the calendar and realized I only 3 weeks to get "Love Is Patient" completely finished and framed. I knew May 11 was close but when I actually looked at the calendar, it sent me into a bit of a panic. Ideally I'd like to have it completed in 2 weeks so last night (since I couldn't sleep) I worked on it a fair amount. 

It may not look like it but I got a bunch of the border shading done and then started the "Love Is Patient" line because I got tired of looking at beige all the time. I officially have less than half of the shading left and then I think the words will go fast after that. 

On the "Olde World Map" front, I also made a little progress. It was pretty busy at work this past week so I didn't get as much done during down time as I usually do. I did manage to add a few more words and the background around them (which I hate stitching because it's practically the same color as the fabric), a few lines here and there of random colors, and a dolphin (my favorite sea animal)! 

Not much but progress is progress!

In 7 days, the Smalls SAL will be due so I need to start on that but it won't take me long at all. I have a really small stitching project planned for that:

The reason I have chosen this tiny project is pretty much only because I found it while perusing around Michael's and it is stitched on black aida. I have heard that dark fabric is hard to stitch on and I wanted to test the waters with something small because I plan on stitching another "Love Is Patient" for my husband & I to hang somewhere in our home but using our wedding colors on black fabric. If this test sample proves to be harder than I thought, then I will rethink about stitching the one for us on black fabric and probably just stick with white!