A Long time coming

Wow! Just realized that it's been a couple of months since I wrote on my blog. Guess I've been busy. I've had my work, Eastern Star Meetings, quilt guild meetings, quilt shows and a trip to Oregon for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. Yep, I have been busy and out and about seeing the countryside.

I do have a finish to report. I finally, yes, finally, finished a counted cross stitch project that I've had in progress for almost 6 years. It started as a stitch-a-long with Kustom Krafts and I think I'm the last one to finish. Don't know that for sure, but will post on their Yahoo group after I'm done here. It's gorgeous and while it's not yet framed, I thought I would share with you my readers. So, here's a picture of Raja, a Siberian Tiger.

It has taken me a long time to get him finished. I put in over 350 hours in stitching time as he is 18x14 inches in size and every last inch of that is cross stitched. There is no outlining, no half stitches. There is not one piece of white or ivory in this. The white looking part is a very light tan or a very light yellow. I hope to be able to frame him before December, but I'm not counting on it with all the other projects I need to finish.

Not only did I finish this project, I did it while I was on vacation in Oregon. The other thing I did was a quilt top project with my cousin. The project for that day was a jelly roll race. For those not in the quilting world a jelly roll is 40 pieces of fabric, 2 1/2 inches wide, rolled up, usually from a fabric company's line of fabric. Usually a line will have 30-40 different fabrics depending on the manufacturer. Mine is made from strips that were donated into my stash.

The border is from my cousin's stash. I'm not sure yet how I will quilt it, but since I still have to find the backing for it, I reckon I have time to decide.

My friend Jill, who was on vacation with me in Oregon, also made one. Hers was with bright batiks and came out looking way different. Can't share that as I don't have a photo of it.

Well, now that I've shared a couple of things and updated my blog, I'm off to work on the quilt that I sandwiched earlier today. I figure it's time to get another UFO off the list.