Embroidered Mandala

And kitty's! 

What could be more natural than embroidery and kitty-cats, they go hand in hand don't they?

Hi Everyone!

This is the 4th of 11 embroideries in the Spring Fling Tea Towel Swap I've been participating in, a peaceful, blue mandala for the one and only Victoria Crowder Payne.

Instead of a tea towel, Victoria has cut a very special piece of cloth in the shape of an apron which she will finish once all of the embroidery is complete.

This is her apron cloth so far, you can see my mandala in the upper left, Erin's gorgeous phoenix in the upper center, and Bascom's beautiful hare in the upper left.  In the lower right corner you can see Jack's wonderful little sweeper man, inspired by the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show. I can't wait to see this project once it's finished, there's so much goodness going on in this swap. I love my stitchy friends!!

Ready for some kitty lovin'? 

A couple of nights ago just after the heat wave broke, Sean had the dogs out for a walk and I happened to look out on the patio to find the kitty's relaxing on the warm concrete. I joined them, camera in hand and snapped a few pictures, they came out beautifully so I thought I'd show off my gorgeous cats. What a difference you see in your photos when you get down on their level. You guys don't might, right? 

(feel free to click the photos to enbiggen and gaze upon the kitty's)

My handsome old man, Egypt. He's just turned 18 years old. I've had him almost 1/2 of my life. He's my special guy.

Would you look how regal he is? Such a dignified kitteh. 

And of course, the Queen Chynee. My Chyna Cat Sunflower. Actually, she's Sean's Chyna Cat Sunflower, given to him by my mom on his 30th birthday, a tiny fur ball in the midst of a riot of hot pink tissue in a disco-gold gift bag. Can you imagine this rubenesque grand dame as a babe? You wouldn't recognize her, she was pure white with two small freckles on her nose which over the years grew into a heart. She just turned 11 years old this spring. She's a prissy thing. Fickle and proud. She doesn't like being held, affection is given on her terms and her terms alone, but when she gives it to you, she gives it in spades. Like a proper Queen.

So, what've you been up to, friends? Anything good? 

Tell me your summer plans!

oxo,

Lisa

p.s. Have you guys seen the July stitch-a-long on Feeling Stitchy? There are several cute patterns to choose from, so take your pick! I'm getting a late start, I just transferred my pattern tonight, time to get stitchin'!

Here, Kitty~kitty...

A couple of weeks ago I gave a shout out about the dogs in our crazy family, but what about the kitties? We can't leave them out, now can we? Not to worry, I had something up my sleeves. Isn't it amazing how much stuff you can hide in your sleeves?

We are owned by two kittehs, first there's Egypt. Oldest and wisest, the ruler of animals of the Leggett Clan. He'll be 16 years old in March. (Kinda scary to think that in the time that I've had him, I could also have had a child who would be getting his drivers license soon! Yikes!) Then there's Chyna. Full name; Chyna Cat Sunflower. Named after one of my favorite Grateful Dead songs. Otherwise known around these parts as "The Fat One". Ahh, poor Chyna. She can't help her fatness. She's super cute and minky soft. She makes an excellent leg warmer. She'll be 10 years old in April.

These are a couple of really old pictures of them doing what they do best... lounging. Not much has changed, except that now they have a fancy, fluffy, tepee to hide inside of, instead of shoe boxes on the desk. To be honest, I think they prefer the shoe boxes.

 Egypt is in the yellow box, Chyna is in the blue...

Ignoring me and my camera. As usual.

Here's a more recent picture of Egypt, taken just last week. It's as if he knew I was stitching something for him, or rather, in his likeness. I normally don't let him sit on my lap while I'm stitching, flying needles and all that. But this night he would not budge. So I decorated him with floss.

Seemed only fair. He was not amused. maybe purple just isn't his color. He split shortly after I snapped his picture and doted on him.

Aaanyway, there's a point to all this rambling about kitties. I stitched one, or rather, I stitched Egypt... sorta.

I can't remember where I first ran across this pattern, but I was instantly in love! It's by Gina Matarazzo, and can be found in her Etsy shop.

Note the chewed up flowers... bad kitty.

It's true, sometimes my kitties are bad. But they still have their halo's and angel wings hidden somewhere and I love them just the same.

This is a pretty good sized piece, I'd guess close to 8x10". Eventually I'm going to make a quilted pillow with it. I think I'll use some of the same fabrics I made my first quilt with. I have a few scraps, and I still love these colors as much as ever. I think they'll coordinate well with this stitchy.

Are your kitties bad? Tell me your horror stories, I love cat tales!

Hope you all are doing well, and aren't being kept too cooped up or tormented with this crazy weather most of the US and Australia are being dealt. Snow and rain and wind, oh my! Stay warm and safe my friends!

I've been kind of quiet lately, more of a lurker than a commenter, but I've still been reading your blogs, I never get tired of it seeing what you guys are up to.

oxo,

Lisa