Kitty Litter

So, this is the final post showing off my collection of finished works.   I found Kitty Litter on my trusty eBay account and was intrigued by it because of the amount of half-cross stitching required.  In this one, the entire background of the picture is stitched.  I did a rough count of the number of stitches she would requires -- a whopping 60,000+!  


Kitty Litter took over 18 months to finish - the longest time it's ever taken me to finish a project. It was started on   I am very proud of her.  

Kitty Litter

As I mentioned, this is the final post regarding my finished projects.  What will follow will by my WIP (works in progress).  Over the past 2 months, I have found a wonderful community of cross stitchers here.  It was on this forum that I discovered an entire new world of cross stitching.  Stay tuned!

Frederick the Literate

After Barnyard Kitties,  I was ready for more action.  I was ready for a bigger project.  I continued with the kits, because back then that was all I knew about.  Kits were (are) my comfort zone.  After the usual browsing on eBay, I found the next project.  It would be another black Aida cloth, but the design was larger, more colours, and downright cute!

Frederick the Literate.  This lovely feline fell asleep among the book stack.  If you look closely, all the books are word plays.  For example, "Tale of Two Cities"is renamed "Tale of Two Kitties"; a volume of books has the names, "Great Cat-sup Recipes", "Great Mouse Traps", and "Great Fish Baits".




Frederick was a lot of fun to stitch. I always start in the centre, so see the books evolve one by one, his cute face and body lying hidden beneath the books brought me hours of peaceful stitching and thought.




I began Frederick on April 30, 2007 and completed him just 4 days before the birth of my daughter, on November 20, 2008.  I still remember, quite vividly, walking down the street in a blizzard one Saturday afternoon a few weeks later to pick up the final framed picture.  It was the first time I had left the house, by myself, after having had my daughter just a few weeks earlier.   Here he is, on the wall at home.

Frederick the Literate, on the wall

Next up ... Kitty Litter!  Stay tuned!

Barnyard Kitties

Having completed Tired Kitty, I was ready to tackle another big project.  I had only ever worked on Aida white or cream cloth.  It was time to branch out and try something a bit harder – black Aida cloth.  Another addition to my repertoire would be doing a substantial portion of the design in half cross –stitch. 

Barnyard Kitties was calling my name.  These 6 kittens were among the cutest I’d seen and seeing their beautiful little faces peering out from the barnyard door still makes me smile.

Black Aida cloth is a little challenging to work with.  I quickly learned it was important to have something white on my lap as I stitched, or better yet, a bright light.  It makes seeing the squares a lot easier.

This was also the first project that I kept track of my start/finish dates.  Once framed, I write the start and finish dates on the back.  Work on Barnyard Kitties began on May 13, 2006 and the final stitch was laid on December 30, 2006. 

Barnyard Kitties