Counted cross stitch

It's been a long time since I worked on a cross-stitch project. I have half-finished one that is a birth announcement for my now 10 or 11 year old niece, but I can't seem to find it! (Not that that's a shock since most of my belongings are still in storage, but since I started it after my move across country it is a bit of a mystery!)

I've been looking for a small project that won't take up too much space (as I don't have a lot to spare) and will satisfy my need to craft. A year, maybe two, ago I picked up this cute little kit. It's sat on my shelf in the other room ever since, but about a month ago, I really was craving to start something.

I love that it's so portable and I can bring it outside when I take the dog out in the morning. It's also giving me a great sense of completion which boosts my delicate confidence.

Oops

I have been remiss and it wasn't long before the pup reprimanded me for not including her on the "Pets on Quilts" post.  I tried to explain that she hasn't been with us long enough (just three months) to be included, but she was having none of it.  So, I am including a couple of photos of Miss Maddie "helping" me in the sewing room.

Here she is patiently waiting outside the sewing room.  She's taken to laying on the sheet that I use to cover my machines and projects when I'm not working on them to keep the kitty hair off.  In the beginning, she stole the cat bed next to the fabric closet.  See below.

She's WAY too big for that nonsense now. :o)  I can't go anywhere without my shadow, but it's sweet when she waits outside the room while I sew.

Change of plans

The original plan was to complete the quilt I began in the twelfth grade.  So, I opened the box and found:

OK, this is what I thought it was.  I can do this.  However, the next things out of the box were:

Um... OK. Precut...some already sewn together.  Now keep in mind that this had to have occurred about 20 years ago which means that it was before rotary cutters and acrylic rulers which also means that nothing is exactly square and/or the same size. Instead of dealing with it right then, I moved on to another project which I should be able to show you in a few days.  I have ideas on how to adjust/fix the 12th grade project, but not willing to tackle it just yet.

The other adjustment I had to make was we adopted this cutie two Mondays ago and for the first ten days, I was alone with her.  M is four months old and we think a German Shepherd/Boxer mix.  She doesn't like to be alone, is still learning to be house-broken, and developing a relationship with our geriatric cats (10 and 11 years old) so spending time in the sewing room has been a bit of a challenge.  But isn't she adorable??