Friday 23 December 2016

Merry Christmas...

Wishing all of my very dear bloggy/crafty/cross stitchy friends the very Merriest of Christmases and a safe and Happy New Year.



I would also like to thank you all for your friendship, support, advice, encouragement and kindnesses to me over the past year.  This blog, Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics means a lot to me and has surely helped me resurrect some of my many, many WIPs and UFOs and even attain some Happy Dances and it gives me great pleasure to know that this blog has, just maybe, helped you as well.

All the best for 2017 and I hope to see you all back on this SAL blog in January.


hugs, 


Friday 2 December 2016

Fifth last Friday Frolic for 2016....

Yes, we are on the countdown to the end of the year now ..... only four more Fridays to go to 2017! Woo Hoo!

Happily for me, I had another Happy Dance for FF last night - I am on a real roll with my Christmas stitching, that is for sure!



This is a very sweet Freebie design from Designs by Gloria and Pat on the Candy Cane Stitchers Group on FB, just scroll down to October 18 (although you do need to be a member of the group, I think, to see all of the pics.

I stitched it on 28 ct Ivory linen, using my own choice of floss.

What did everyone else get up to for Friday Frolics last night?

hugs, Kaye

Sunday 27 November 2016

Some Friday Frolicking Happy Dances....

I have two Happy Dances for recent Friday Frolic stitching....

First up is my Witchy Remedy, an WIP/UFO which I picked up two Friday Frolics ago, you can read about it on this post here.  Anway, I kept working on it over the past few weeks and I am pleased to say that I have finished it!

This was my piece for the April 2013 theme on the earlier incarnation of this Hallowe'en Ornie SAL blog - finally finished!  Only Three and a half years late! lol!





Look carefully, at the last pic, can you see the mistake I made, again?  Another one that I intend to keep, as it sort of fits in with the theme of the piece.

Witchy Remedy
Silver Creek Samplers
JCS Halloween Ornie Mag 2011
Fabric: Unknown
Floss: Suggested DMC


My other Finish, is a new design which I started last Friday night and finished on Saturday night - very happy with this!

'Trick or Treat What's to Eat?' from Prairie Schooler Book #188 Trick or Treat.



This was an absolute dream to stitch, I started it on Friday and finished it just before midnight on Saturday night.  So, a very quick stitch for me.

I am so looking forward to next year's themes for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL, I can't wait to get started!  

What did everyone else get up to for Friday Frolics last week?

hugs, Kaye

Saturday 19 November 2016

"Singin' in the Spring" ....

.... is my latest Friday Frolic.....

I did a stash dive and found this sweet stitch languishing in my pile of UFOs/WIPs.


Now, this is where I was up to, and I cannot find anywhere on my main blog (Kitten Stitching) any reference to when I stitched this last (most remiss of me!).

Update: With some "forensic" research and the realisation that I had mislabelled my earlier FF post on this design (I put "Singin' in the Rain" instead of "Singin' in the Spring" Duh!), I discovered that the last time I stitched on this piece was 22nd January, 2016 and that I blogged about it on this blog, not my main one.)

Anyway, this is where I was up to before this week's FF ....



.... and here is what I achieved for FF.....


Isn't that a sweet singin' birdie?

So, that's all for me this week, 

hugs, Kaye


Friday 11 November 2016

An oldie but a goodie....

I dove into my pile of WIPs and UFOs yesterday and found Witchy Remedy by Silver Creek Samplers (from the 2011 JCS ornie mag) sitting there all forlorn and forgotten.  But never fear, I worked hard on it yesterday and great progress was made.  I intend to stitch some more on it shortly and to have a big stitching day tomorrow - maybe there will be a FFF soon?  (Friday Frolic Finish).

I think that I last stitched on it in April, 2013 for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL (in an earlier incantation - thanks Jo for the reminder).  This is what I wrote way back when....

And this is my April Project: 
Witchy Remedy by Silver Creek Samplers


 Floss toss for Witchy Remedy:



.... and this is what Witchy Remedy looks like now....



Sorry, not the greatest of pics.  But I have stitched the green and yellow on the bed and the words/letters "ke a moldy slice".

I will try to take a better picture next time.

hugs, Kaye

Another Friday Frolic from CJ!!


I have been working on this sweet kitty (trust me it is a cat) for the charity groups Quilts for Older Children and Adults.  It is a Alpha Kitty with the letter "H".  You can see a completed Alpha Bear on my blog here.   Plan to finish this one on  weekend trip to South East Oklahoma.  I can't read in the car, but I can stitch.

Enjoy!!

CJ from North Texas, USA!!

Wednesday 9 November 2016

Serendipitous Jo's Forty-Fifth Frolic of the Year

First Friday of the month is Spooky Stitching time.  I really want to press on and complete Ghastly, Ghostly Ghouls by Just Nan.  I'm working on this most evenings and on days when I work full time as it's an easy travel project.


The other main piece is Dragon of the Winter Moon by Dragon Dreams:


Lots of white rayon!

I also finished another cube, H is still not stitched, that's this Friday's project.


Serendipitous Jo's Forty-Fourth Frolic of the Year

The fourth Friday of each month is preparation for detention!  Dentention day in the film The Breakfast Club was Saturday so that's when we do our Alphabet Club posts.

November's letter is P - for Pincushion and Pinstripes in the letter.  The pins are Kreinik with a bead at the top.

stitched on 28 count afghan

I also completed another Christmas Cube:


I'm stitching these out of order to fit in with the Christmas Ornie SAL blog so that's why H is missing.

And here's my spooky shelf showing just a few of my Hallowe'en themed finishes:



Wednesday 26 October 2016

Serendipitous Jo's Forty-Third Frolic of the Year

Last Friday was IHSW but since I finished Elizabeth Shephard I don't have a specific project for the third weekend, I just stitch whatever I've been working on that week.

Which was Byzantine Ornament 3 by Teresa Wentzler:

stitched on 28 count Burgundy linen

I also continued the Ghastly, Ghostly Ghouls by Just Nan:

stitched on 28 count lilac linen

And started finishing my Christmas Cubes by Primitive Hare!  One a week until Christmas:


Tuesday 25 October 2016

Serendipitous Jo's Forty-Second Frolic of the Year

Because I made a little error in counting my Fridays I am treating this one as the Fifth Friday in September and stitching a Teresa Wentzler Ornament!

stitched on 28 count Burgundy linen

I also completed my evening project on Friday, this has been the Hallowe'en Town by Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery:

stitched on 28 count Moondust by Crafty Kitten

And the final Hallowe'en Cube!  yay!



Serendipitous Jo's Forty-First Frolic of the Year

Thanks to last week's mix-up this was actually the First Friday in October and should have been Spooky Stitching but instead I made a start on my Second Friday stitching which is Christmas themed.

Here is the next block in the Primitive Hare's Christmas Cubes series:

stitched on 35 count Country Mocha linen

I also complete another Hallowe'en Cube finish on Sunday:


Only one more to go!


Sunday 16 October 2016

Shock, Horror....

Please don't faint with shock...

but I have finally remembered to not only take a before and after photo on Friday night... but I have even managed to get my behind into gear and post my FF post!!

I won't look to see when I last posted on the FF blog as it will be way to embarrassing to mention! hanging my head in shame ;o(

So onto to my Friday night stitching....

One of my October starts is the "Merry Christmas 2015" sampler from the 2015 Just Cross Stitch Christmas edition.  The designer of this piece is "From the Heart ~ NeedleArt by Wendy".


I am stitching this on a very pale (washed out) pink piece of fabric (Fairy Tales) from Colour Cascades Fabrics.  I am not using the recommended threads - I have switched them all out to what I had in my stash!  The letters are Dinky Dyes (Pilbara), the tree is Dragon Floss (Stem Green)  and the star and tree trunk are DMC colours similar to what was charted.

So that was my Friday Night Frolic... no promises as to when I will remember to post again, so I will just say til next time... Happy Stitching and Frolicing!

Hugs xx

Friday 14 October 2016

Finally I have something to FROLIC about

Thanks to Kaye for hosting this wonderful blog and that I finally have something to post.  This week I picked up a piece I started sometime last year and I am almost finished with it.  It is a little piece called "Good Tidings" is from Little House Needleworks.  I only need to stitch the hands and that should get done tonight.  Woohoo, another "fait accompli" to add to my list.




Once it is completely finished I will post on my blog, Tea-n-Stitches.  Stop by to see what else I have been stitching.


Enjoy!!

CJ

Kaisievic_ Friday 14th update...

Woo hoo!  Much better news on the Friday Frolicking front this week.  As per our very loose rules, I picked up a WIP at random from my Girl's Nest (not hard to do as I am trying to organise everything at the moment, so I keep stumbling over WIPs and UFOs - I have given up counting them - lol!)

Anyway, this week I picked up a Eudora Design Christmas piece....


Share the Spirit 
28 ct green linen (it is actually a much prettier green than the camera shows)
Floss: Victoria Motto Shoppe Christmas Green and Christmas Red

For FF, I stitched the "C" on Christmas, the word "the" and half the holly border at the bottom.  So, I still need to stitch the words "Share" and "Spirit" and a holly border and a half.  I also reversed the colours, as the writing was meant to be green and the border to be a red ribbon with green berries(?????) - I think that my way is much better.

I had hoped to maybe finish it this weekend, however, today (Saturday) is going to be a busy day as I doing a dumpling making class with some girlfriends during the day and then going to a David Bowie tribute concert at Hamer Hall with some other friends tonight, plus I really want to get some more blog posting and reading done this morning.  But maybe tomorrow?

... and to finish on a less happy note, sorry! I think that I have just broken the little toe on my right foot.  All I was doing was stumbling out of my bedroom, half asleep, to go feed the cats and let them outside, when I misjudged the doorway and hit my little toe on the doorjamb - ouch!  It is hurting a lot and I am hobbling around - looks like I might be going out today/tonight with one ugg slipper on, oh such sartorial splendour - lol!

Anyway, enough rambling, I hope that you had a great FF last night,

hugs, Kaye

Thursday 13 October 2016

October 7th Frolicking.....

.... was a bit of a bust!  That was the day I was travelling back to Melbourne from Roma in the afternoon and I had had big plans for getting lots of stitching done on the two flights.  However, the best laid plans of mice and men.... I was actually feeling so, so unwell (a combination of an allergy attack and exhaustion, I think) that I only managed twenty minutes stitching on Jenny Bean before giving into the urge to sleep on the plane.

In fact, I was so unwell, that as I was disembarking from the plane, the QANTAS pilot kindly asked me if I was all right, boy, I must have looked crook - lol!

Anyway, here is my little bit of progress on Jenny Bean for Friday Frolics....




I hope to be a bit more productive today for Friday Frolics....

hugs, Kaye

P.S. I was so exhausted that I could barely get out of bed on Saturday, although I did manage to get more stitching done - lol!

Wednesday 5 October 2016

Serendipitous Jo's Fortieth Frolic of the Year

Well, I messed up my own rotation this month!  Because I was thinking about the Alphabet Club post on Saturday the 1st October, I completely forgot that Friday 30th September was a Fifth Friday and I should have been stitching another Teresa Wentzler Byzantine Ornament.

Instead I started a Hallowe'en piece thinking it was the First Friday.  Never mind, we'll have five Fridays in October instead!

Here's how I got on with the new start, pictured with my ORTs jar:


The design is another Just Nan; Ghastly, Ghostly Ghouls, stitched on 28 count lilac linen.

On Sunday I completed another cube!  They no longer fit in the sideboard in the kitchen but have moved into the living room:


I've tipped the top ones back so you can see the different coloured fabrics I have used for each cube.  It's the same design in orange, purple and black.

Monday 3 October 2016

Serendipitous Jo's Thirty-Ninth Frolic of the Year

As the date of the pre-wedding party was looming I decided to Focus on a Finish with the Sugar Skulls the 39th weekend.  There is a lot more stitching in these than you might think!  Using three strands on perforated paper takes more time too.

Here's how they finished the weekend:


I also made another Hallowe'en Cube:


Friday 23 September 2016

Finally, a Friday Frolic post from moi!

So sorry, all of my dear Fellow Frolickers, I have not posted on this blog since August 14 - how appalling of me!

It is not that I have not stitched on a Friday night since then - I am pretty sure that I have almost every Friday, except for the few where we have gone out.  It is just that each weekend and then the following week would seem to fly by and before I knew it, it was too late to post a FF update, as the next Friday Frolic was underway - lol!

Anyway, enough excuses, back on track today.  Here is what I stitched on yesterday...

Bad Halloween Fairy


My own design using motifs and alphabet from the book underneath, Point de croix couleurs.  This is for the Bad Fairy theme for this month for the Halloween Ornie SAL


Also, a few weeks ago, for FF, I picked up a very old Just Nan WIP, Morning Song.

Before:



After:


And another time, I did a bit more on Too Cold to go out, I can tell you, stitching "Furio" on the right, is quite tricky.



So, that's me, more or less up to date with the Friday Frolics.

hugs, Kaye



Wednesday 21 September 2016

Serendipitous Jo's Thirty-Eighth Frolic of the Year

It was IHSW starting last Friday, and as is traditional I went out for a rare day out and didn't stitch much on the Saturday!  I was also rather busy with my Big Birthday Blog Hop.  Follow the link and check that out if you haven't already done so.

On Friday I continued working on the Sugar Skulls which will be for my niece and her fiance:


These are from Brooke's Books and are available from her Etsy store.

Having finished Ghostly Mandala on the Thursday I continued with a new evening piece - Potions and Brews by Cherished Stitches from the most recent JCS Hallowe'en Special:

stitched on 28 count Moondust from Crafty Kitten

I am only stitching the top part of this design on this fabric, it's coming up huge as it was charted for 36 count.  I don't have enough Moondust for the whole piece and it's lighter than I want anyway.  This is just an excuse to try out some different shades of black and dark grey!

I did finish another Hallowe'en Cube on the Sunday, the one with the purple fabric:


I'm using the same backing fabric in three different colours for these cubes.


Serendipitous Jo's Thirty-Seventh Frolic of the Year

The second Friday of each month is Christmas stitching and this year I'm stitching the Christmas Cubes by The Primitive Hare.  This week was the turn of "I":



and here are the seven I have stitched so far:


And I managed to finish another of her Hallowe'en Cubes:


Saturday 10 September 2016

Getting ready for Halloween:)

Hello Frolicers!

After a stitching break over the summer, I have now found my needle and aida fabric again and decided to join in the fun yesterday. Even though I didn't stitch much in the last couple of months, I still used my birthday money to buy some PS charts since I knew I'd like to stitch more Prairie Schooler once the mojo came back:)

So yesterday I stitched on Cats, Bats & Witches by PS. This is where I was when I picked it up...


...and this is how far I got:


I actually made a counting error in one of the squares, but instead of lots of frogging I decided to adjust the chart. I'm confident that the mistake is almost impossible to spot:) I'm having soo much fun stitching this Halloween chart that I hope I can find the money to send for some more charts with witches and bats from Prairie Schooler whilst they are still available in the online stores...

Have a good weekend!

Annie



Tuesday 6 September 2016

Serendipitous Jo's Thirty-Sixth Frolic of the Year

This year I have been stitching a Just Nan band sampler called Counting Bats for our Hallowe'en Ornie SAL blog.  Each band has matched the monthly theme, until this month which is Bad Fairies.   I have reached the final band which features some wings.  They may be bat wings, they may be spooky fairy wings but I doubt it!

stitched on 32 count lilac linen

And here is the finished piece:

It's very hard to get a good photo of it because it's so long and thin!  But you've seen all the individual bands throughout the year, so look back for close-ups.

Just in case the jury decide those aren't bad fairy wings, I thought I ought to have a back-up plan.  I looked everywhere for Bad Fairies and mostly found full-coverage pieces or Nora Corbett's Trick or Treat Fairy (which I have in my stash).  I wanted something little.  I found some nice Maleficent designs in that pixel style but I'm not really a Disney person.

So I decided to adapt an existing fairy by Lucie Heaton and make her Bad!

That's actually the same fabric as Counting Bats is stitched on but it looks more blue here.

Here's the original design so you can see the changes:


I used the silks from Counting Bats for her dress, tights, shoes, hair and hat.  DMC for her bat wings and Kreinik for her wand.  I sketched her on graph paper to get the wings right.

I didn't finish a cube this week.  Hubby shut himself in the living room to watch the Grand Prix in peace and my stuff was all in there!  I'll have to double-up another week.