Fair and Square exchange

My partner, Jenn, received the squares I stitched for Round 23 of the Fair and Square exchange. I had such fun stitching these, and I'm happy I can show them now! Here they are:

Designer: Brenda Keyes of The Sampler Company
Pattern: one block from Sampler Musings
Fabric: 32 ct. light mocha
Threads: DMC as charted, except for the crab. I chose what I thought was a "crabbier" color than the original.
Note: the signature square also contains a fish motif from Hillside Samplings.

For some reason, as I was nearing the middle of the first square, I panicked because I thought the mailing deadline for this was April 4. It was April 18, which explains why nobody had noted they mailed their round. I am NEVER first to mail, that should have clued me in! At any rate, I ended up staying up all night on the 3rd to finish up, and left off the simple border that framed the pattern.

I think they turned out very cute. Jenn says she likes them, so that is what really counts!

EDIT: (Just in case anybody is reading!)The Fair and Square exchange is accepting new members. You can check out the rules here, then go here for instructions on how to join. It would be great to have more active members! One of the things I love about this exchange is that it is a "stitched piece only" exchange. Putting together packages of goodies is fun, but it can get expensive and a little competitive feeling for me. This is simple, and it is so wonderful to have stitched pieces from all over the world!

TUSAL

I can't believe a month has gone by already. I do have a small bit of stitching, but can't show it yet, as it's for the Fair and Square exchange.

On to my progress with the TUSAL. Here is the product of my stitching this past month. Truth be told, I feel like it's more the product of frogging! That's a story I'll tell when I post pics of my Fair & Square round.

As you can see, I am finally gathering a good amount of orts! Nice evidence that something is being accomplished. Please excuse my ironing board background. We are in the middle of moving and all of my pretty fat quarters are in storage.

Daffycat is the host of the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long (TUSAL). This year's list is closed, but Daffy's blog is fun to read, and you can find links to tons of other inspirational stitching bloggers there, too.