From Mini Cat to Sea Horse

Just a quick update before I sit down to watch the results show of "So You Think You Can Dance". Wonder who's going home tonight? For the girls I think it will be Alexandra, the men - I really don't know.

Would you believe I haven't touched 'Frederick' since last weekend? I was all set to work on him while watching The Netherlands play their matches during World Championship Soccer. I truly believed, or at least hoped, they would go far. What a disappointment when they lost from Portugal on Sunday. Suddenly all my animo for soccer was gone (I wonder why) and with it my excuse to stitch during the day, so no Frederick. Hopefully I'll get at him again this weekend as I'm anxious to see what he's going to look like.

Did manage to complete my 'Mini Cat Sampler' needlebook and since it's my first attempt I'm not displeased at all. It was stitched with DMC #99 variegated floss on some left-over Aida and really looks much prettier than this scanned image. I really didn't know what to sew inside for the needles and finally settled on felt. Good choice? I don't know, but I'll be keeping this one for myself so it's no big deal if I chose the wrong material. If I make a needlebook for a gift I'll check first to see if felt is acceptable or what would be a better alternative.

And here is the start of my square for Erica's 'Love Quilt'. I have changed the colors somewhat as these appealed to me more. The pattern shows a much brighter orange for the sea star (too bright for me) and where I have started a blue border the pattern had red. I tried both the bright orange and the red and then frogged them because I didn't like the look. This border is the original outer edge of the pattern but in order to make the square approximately 8" x 8" I'm putting another outer border. That's where I'll stitch the fish, once again in adjusted colors. Probably I'll also add the title 'Sea View'.

That's all for tonight. Hope everyone has a great weekend.