Updates a plenty

Last week was a bit wonky. A distant relative of DH passed away and so all the preparations of spending a night away from home needed to be done. Since we had a very nice neighbor and her daughters watch the kitties, the house also needed to be straightened.

Why, you ask, do normally independent animals like felines need someone to look after them for one night? Well, the felines that share our home also double as Hoover vacuums, which means we can't just leave the proper amount of food out for the time we'll be away, because before we're even out the door, they've got their snouts into the food and eat until it comes back up. I have memories of cleaning up messes while DH was in the car, engine running, waiting for me so we can leave.

So, not much stitching was done last week, but I do have some updates from the weekend before.

First up is my progress on Santa of the Forest. I have Mr. Bear's face almost all filled in. He really needs a face, and we're almost there:



And I've been working on the Seasonal Arches. Last night was 4 Seasons SAL on FGBB, so here is my progress:

On Summer Arches, I completed the Flag Arch (with some of the red stripes on the flag) and almost all of the arch on the far right, but also realized that the Watermelon Arch is not tall enough. Actually it's the watermelon, and I used the watermelon to make the top of the arch. It needs to be a few rows higher. I just didn't feel like ripping last night.



Here is some progress on Spring Arches from last week. (It's ALMOST done!!!!) I've been in a border kind of mood, so I've been getting the arch borders completed. I finished Momma Bird and the arch on the far right.



I've also started a little side perforated paper project. I bought this leaflet ages ago (and actually, from a lovely store in San Diego while there on business back in the mid-90s), and planned to complete each one during the month previous so each month, I'd have a new one to display. Working on perforated paper is slow for me, so my goal now is just to eventually complete all twelve. January, February, March and October are complete. I started April, so, hopefully, it will be done so I can display it in April. One thing I've found about Dimension designs, they are deceptively simple looking. At first glance, they look like they're quick stitches, but there's really a lot to them, so they take longer than I would originally have thought. Very nice designs, but not a mindless stitch (IMHO).