Here is my new start - Live Out Loud from Cross Country Stitching Feb 2012.  I am stitching this on one long piece of fabric and I already have 4 other designs in this series stitched.  I think I can fit one more after this one.  Then I will try and get a picture of the whole thing.  I would like to finish it as a bell pull or banner.

 It is time for my Orts.  Here they are.  I don't empty my jar out each month I just keep adding to it.  I will need to tamp them down so I can get more in.  All of this winter weather has helped me to stitch more.

 A view from the top.  Bright colors from my new start.

 And I live in one of the areas getting hit with another snow storm.  My car was covered in ice last night when I went to bed and now snow.  It is still snowing and supposed to snow all day.  Probably a good 3 inches so far.

 Another view of the snow.  The old snow had gone done some so at least I will be able to shovel this snow on top of my existing piles.  I will wait til later this afternoon to go out and shovel.

And here is my finished Sunflower Swirl.  Started 12/30/13 and finished 2/25/14.  My first finish of 2014.  I decided this slot in my rotation should be for smaller projects so I can see more finishes. 

Its time again to post our Orts for the TUSAL.  I have been stitching away this month and feel I am making good progress on all of my projects.  It helps that it has been soo cold out that I am forced to stay inside and stitch.  Lol

 I have been working on my Cat cushion this past week.  There is so much blue background that I have started to do 1 strand blue and then 1 strand of whatever color I am working on.  It really seems to be helping to get thru the background quickly.

 I am late for TUSAL.  Here are my orts.  All of my projects have seen some stitching since the last TUSAL. 

The weather is supposed to be in the 60's today.  I hope to take a walk in the park this afternoon.  I have 129 miles completed towards my goal of 250 by June 1.  This Friday I am off and my sister and I have a 13 mile hike planned.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate.  Supposed to be cool again which is ok as long as it doesn't rain.

 I know I am a day early for the TUSAL (totally useless stitch along) but I don't get on the computer much during the week.  And Yahoo put my pictures in the order it wanted.  Oh well here are my orts from the last new moon.  Lots from Little Fairies at Play and Amish Star.

 I also put together this jigsaw puzzle.  It took a while as it does not have the traditional square border. My daughter and son-in-law gave me this for Christmas.  I love all of the colors.  I also has alot of little details in it.

 Another view of my orts.  I will squish them down so I can put this months in.

And here is my progress on Amish Star.  3 stars done.  I am stitching it on 14ct black with 3 strands of floss.  I think I have enough fabric to make a total of 6 and then I will begin the assembly.

Last week was a busy week with something going on almost every night.  I did buy my first tv and my son-in-law hooked it up for me.  I was using a borrowed 19 inch tube tv.  I now have a HD 40 inch LED set.  Wow what a difference!  Friday night we went to my brother's house to celebrate all of the March birthdays.  My two kids, dad, two nieces and several others.  It was a fun time.  Then Saturday my sister and I cooked a birthday lunch for my dad.  Some of our favorite foods from childhood - tongue in bbq sauce, 3 bean salad, mashed potatoes and apple crisp with ice cream for desert.   Lunch out at the pizza place today as that is my son's pick for his birthday meal and then back to watching what I eat.

 I started a new project last Sunday - Cat Cushion from The World of Cross Stitching #159.  It is different from the other pieces I am working on.  I think the colors attracted me to this piece.

 It is time again for the TUSAL - Totally Useless Stitch Along hosted by Daffycat at http://itsdaffycat.blogspot.com/ 

I did get some stitching done this month.  There are clippings from finishing off the scarf for my son and alot of orts from Little Fairies at Play and from my new start - Cat Cushion.  So I feel that I have made good stitching progress  since the last new moon in January.

And here is my progress on Cat Cushion after a week of stitching.  Stitching on 18ct white and it is on my scroll rods.

I won't get much stitching done today as I am going to the movies with a friend and then my daughter and son in law will be here for dinner.  I am going to show them how to do their taxes.

 From December 31st to today I have not stitched at all!  I was working on finishing the scarf I am knitting for my son.  It is done now but I need to find out how to finish it off the needles.  Then I will post a picture of it.  I can't wait to get back to my stitching.  I was also busy with the final events leading up to my daughter's wedding.  Here are some pictures.

 My new son-in-law, Adam.

 My son Andy was an usher.  Always nice to see your children dressed up.

 My daughter Sarah.

The wedding was yesterday 1/12/12 and we had been worried about a snow storm or ice.  The weather was in the high 50's which is really warm for this time of year in Indiana.  My mother, who died 8 years ago, always told us about her wedding on Jan 31st and how warm it was.  Well my daughter had heard this story many times.  Last Monday she said her hand had started to itch.  My mother's hand always itched right before something good was going to happen to her.  As we watched the weather forecast all week, it kept getting better and better.  It was so nice out yesterday they took quite a few pictures outside.

I still have one more week that will not be my normal routine, I am headed for Rochester NY again on Friday.  Hoping the weather cooperates and I can get there and back safely.  I will be taking my stitching along with some books to read on the plane.

TUSAL

 I now only have 3 projects in my rotation.  So I have been stitching on In the Garden and Little Fairies at Play.  There are lots of greens from Little Fairies and Oranges from In the Garden.

I don't plan on starting any new projects until after the first of the year.  I have my daughter's wedding on 1/12/13 and then travel to Rochester NY for work for four days.  After that I hope to start a few new projects.  Until then I will be planning my new starts and kitting them up.  I want to finish another page of Little Faires at Play before the end of the year.  I still have a ways to go on the second page.

 I have finally finished Autumn Angel by Joan Elliott.  Started 6/5/11 and finished 11/18/12.

 And I am a little late for TUSAL.  Here are my orts.  Only the threads from backstitching Autumn Angel and from the beading.

I am now working on finishing up the scarf I am knitting for my son.

TUSAL

 This week I was off on Tuesday.  It was a beautiful day so I went walking along the River Greenway trail system.  This is the first caterpillar I have seen this year.  By his markings we will have a hard winter to begin with, then mild and finishing up with a hard winter.  Hoping the mild portion of the winter occurs in the beginning of January for my daughters wedding.

 More pictures from my walk.  It was in the high 60's and breezy.

 I saw this turtle sunning himself.  Right after I took his picture he plopped back into the river.

 I am a day early for the TUSAL.  Here are my orts.

 Keep pushing them down after each full moon.

More progress on my son's scarf.  I did stitch some on Autumn Angel but not enough to notice any progress.  I am so close to a finish yet can't seem to work on it.    I was bad and ordered another chart from HAED during their Columbus day sale.  It should be here this week and I will post a picture when I get it.  If I lose my stitching mojo how will I ever complete all of the projects I want to stitch?

A Finish and TUSAL

 I finally finished Butterfly Fairy Day   I started this on on 11/13/09 and finished it up Friday night 9/14/12.  This was my first time stitching a large project on evenweave. I did get off a stitch somewhere in the beginning but by the end of the project I was having no problem stitching on this fabric. I have the fabric for the companion piece - Butterfly Fairy Night.  I am not sure I am going to add it to my rotation right away.  I might wait awhile and see if any of my other projects jump ahead of it.

 It is time for TUSAL again.  Here are my orts.  Most of the new threads are from backstitching Butterfly Fairy Day and Autumn Angel which is also in the home stretch.

I have moved on to the next project in my rotation - In the Garden.  But just couldn't get into it last night.  Hope to have more stitchy motivation today.

Weather was perfect yesterday.  I had a cookout at my Dad's house for my family.  A good time was had by all.  This week I will spend two days with my sister hiking at Turkey Run State Park, our annual trip together.  So I need to spend some extra time at work getting things done.  Hoping the beautiful weather will last.

 Here are my orts.  All of the lovely greens and purples on top are from ripping out the counting mistake on Amish Star. 

My jar is getting fuller.  I keep tamping them down after each month's report.  I got absolutely no stitching done this past week. I started out cleaning, taking down the border paper and then repainting my son's room.  Here it is all finished.  The color he picked is called pumpkin and looks a little darker than this in person.

My daughter and her boyfriend moved back home on Monday.  So alot of the progress I made in emptying out the garage and house has been lost to their boxes of stuff.  The boyfriend's futon is in Andy's room.  The boyfriend is not sleeping here, just hanging out and eating with us.  They are getting married in January so I will need to get another futon or bed for Andy when they move into their own place.  They both start jobs on Monday.  My daughter is working with me for a two month assignment.

I hope to stitch on Little Fairies at Play this week.  I need to make some progress on this one.

 I worked on Autumn Angel by Joan Elliott this week.  I only have some gold stitches in the dress, some background leaves, backstitching and beads and it will be done!  Sounds quick and easy but it will probably be at least 2 more rotations before it is finished.

 Late posting my TUSAL.  On top are the yellow/greens from Autumn Angel.  Then there are alot of greens from Little Fairies at Play and some bright purples from Amish Star.  Time to tamp down the jar so I can put more in.

Still walking daily.  I have logged 56 miles since the 4th of July.  I stepped on a nail yesterday and now my foot is sore.  Usually I go for a long walk on Sunday's but I think I will rest my foot and just do my short walk.  Tempatures are supposed to be in the 90's again starting today and for most of the week.

TUSAL

I have been stitching away.  Looks like I have alot of green and gold orts this time around. 

 Here are my orts.  Lots of golds from Autumn Angel and light blues from Butterfly Fairy.

And here is my progress on Butterfly Fairy Day.  Finished another corner and started on the bottom right corner.

My baby birds have all flown away.  I have discovered chipmunks living in my garage.  I need to evict them this week.

I attended the Spring Festival fundraiser for the youth group at my brother's church.  I had lunch and watched a talent show.  All of my nieces and nephews took part (9 of them).  They are not shy.

Today I need to take my son to the art museum as he has a report to do.

 Progress on In The Garden as of 4/21/12.  I love the colors in this one.

 Here are my orts for the TUSAL.  Need to tamp them down to start off the new month.

 I had a new start Saturday while traveling by bus to Louisville KY for Thunder over Louisville.  It is Bee Busy from Cross Country Stitching April 2012.  Not alot done but a start.

And here is a picture of some of the fireworks at Thunder Over Louisville.  They were awesome.  It is the largest fireworks show in the US.  During the day there was also an air show.  The stealth bomber flew by and a Harrier did a demonstration just to name a few of the planes that flew in the air show.  Weather was chilly but we had a good time.