A small finish

Frost is on the Pumpkin

Just Nan

stitched with called-for threads on unknown fabric with rainbow blending filament

 

 

 

Yesterday was stitching group day. It was also my first real day off in 2 weeks--I started a new job on February 20th, and have been working that and the two existing jobs every day since.  I have been very stressed out--coming home at midnight means I don't get to sleep til 1AM and then get back up at 6 to start the day means I am running on caffeine and determination. I don't know how long I will keep this job, though. When I took it, I told them one weekend day per week and, low and behold, I am scheduled both weekend days for the upcoming week. I am going to try to resolve it today, but I don't know. . . If it has to be, then I will work until I find something else, or get fed up. I don't mind working, I do mind working 70 hours a week when I explained I couldn't do that.

 

Anyway, I started this project in 2015. This picture shows how quickly I abandoned it:

 





 

 

I think the store didn't have 970 when I went and I couldn't find it in my stash, so I gave up and put it away. And then, yesterday morning, stressed out over this new job, I pulled it out and decided I was finishing it. And I did. It took next to no time. Kay-kay helped pull a few stitches.  I know I will finish it as an ornament, but not sure when it will be appropriate to display it. The snowman kind of throws it into a weird place, since I don't have Halloween snowmen, but I guess I could always start  with this.

 

 

Hoping everyone is having  great weekend so far.  And that this week brings some progress!



January was a very productive month!

I am quite impressed with myself! I'm two weeks into the Stash and Start Restraint Challenge and so far so good. No new starts, no new shopping, even though I did find some kits I would like. I am keeping my head on straight. I can't afford new stuff, and I have so much that needs to be finished. Not the least of which are the 4 afghans in various stages of completion. But that is another story for another day. Look at all these lovely finishes for me this month!

Kitty's Life, Prairie Grove Peddler

recommended threads on Wichelt linen

 

This was a Crazy January 2011 start. I have to say I am really glad to see it done.  Not just because of the Wichelt linen. It was large blocks of color, writing, and long lines with overdyed threads. My favorite combo. And I do like the design. I just . . . I'm glad it's done. And, I mean to make this clear. I know I express a certain amount of loathing for Wichelt linen that borders on obsessive ("I should say so, if you hate it so much, why do you keep buying it?) I think I had this in my stash, but I realize that Wichelt linen is like that super-hot person you liked in high school. You know better, but they look like Paul Rudd and have a motorcycle, and they let you wear the helmet when you climb on up with your fake-Bennetton bag, and you can't help yourself. So you ride home, and court the wrath of your mom, knowing they will just stand you up for your senior prom.  And that is how Wichelt works, it's so pretty, but so skimpy and stiff.  But I keep finding myself looking at it on the bolt. I am trying to use only Zweigart, but I think I just bought some for my CC Dickens ornaments. Oh well . . . .

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin

Whiskerkins, by CM Designs

stitched on Monaco, with the recommended threads

 

I started this last spring.  I love this line of designs. So cute and not that hard to stitch. This ended up a UFO because of the greens she chose. 3815 and 3816. These are not Halloween-y greens, although they do photograph darker. I am happy with the finished project even if it was disconcerting to work with that green. I think this would be so cute as a grouping of pillows across a sofa for Halloween, don't you?

 

freebie, Kissycross

stitched on oatmeal aida, with customized colors

 

I changed this one a lot. I started it this fall, but I put it aside because I did not like the colors the designer chose. They were very light, and I love my foxes red, so changed that out, then realized it's not really fall if the leaves aren't different colors!  So I changed the colors around. I love it!  Oatmeal aida is so nice to do prim autumn designs on. It just feels like a warm and comforting color, and I use it a lot. Over evenweave, but you know me, I stitch on anything!

All Dressed up for Christmas

Vermillion Designs, 2005 JCS Ornament issue

called for DMC and Kreinik 102 #4 on Jobelan

 

 

This is probably my favorite design ever from the JCS ornament issues.  I loved it the second I saw it, even though there are a few errors. One of the symbols shows as a grey and it makes no sense, so I changed it to the darkest gold. I enjoyed stitching this, even though it was a challenge. But it has made me happy during a time I am under a lot of stress. 

The Language of Flowers

UK Cross Stitcher, May 2006

called-for threads on Monaco

 

 

This is another design that ticked all the boxes on first view. Gorgeous colors, delicate design, lovely font. I just enjoyed every second I spent on this. I don't know what I'll do with it, maybe a pillow, but it just enchants me.  

 

 

Not much else worth discussing is going on. We got 3 feet of snow last weekend. The snow was so heavy on my car that the driver's side mirror broke off. Left-brain Gorilla Glued it on til I can call the junkyard and get a replacement shipped, though, really, if the glue holds and the mirror still works, do I really need a new mirror? I mean, do I really want to spend good money on that car? 

 

 

I have been doing really well this month with not spending money. Christmas sort of reinforced to me that things have to change for us to have a better life. I  made a resolution that this would be the year I got myself out of debt, except my job cut off our overtime. I have been bummed out about that, but I realized that that was no reason to stop my efforts to improve our life, so I just have to get a new part time job. And it would be a lot easier if we just stopped shopping and only bought what we needed, got rid of what we didn't need, and appreciated the time we have together. This is quite a shift in my thinking and one I have never been able to keep at this long, but I really feel like this is my time. 2016 is my "fight song"; I don't really care what anyone else believes, cause I still have a lot of fight left in me!

 

So that is that for this month! I hope everyone is having a good week!

 





Photo fun . . . and a recipe.

Told you I finished something!  I have had this rolling around my UFO pile for the last two years. I am so happy it's finished. I've always really liked this design, and decided the Crazy January challenge 2011 was the perfect time to commit to it.  After the designer for Primitive Needle passed away so tragically that same year, I dedicated it to her--I still feel so awful about the way she was taken. But then life took over, and this, along with the rest of the Crazy January starts, fell along the wayside.   But now it's done, and really, when it comes down to it, this is a pretty good message for the way my life has been going lately--we just gotta keep going and hope for the best.

This is my problem child. This was kitted up by my LNS, and I don't have enough floss to finish it. I can pull the DMC from my stash, but the hand-dyed floss is another question. Even if I were to go back to the LNS and complain, the kit is from 2008, and matching the floss would be a problem. I'm just adapting the design as I can. And I am annoyed. This was not a cheap little kit. It's very cute though, so I am hoping I can finish it and not make it look too bad.  Wish me luck.

I don't know if I've posted this before, but I wanted to share a recipe that is part of my family's Easter celebrating . . . glorified rice. My gramma learned this recipe from her grandmother, and I've been trying to research where it came from, because so many of my gramma's recipes were, "til it taste me good", and it's hard to quantify how to make them. It's the one recipe that does not seem to be on the Internet, though, because I can find recipes that are close, but none that are exactly the same. It's not ambrosia, it's not rice pudding, it's glorified rice . . . and it's heavenly. So I wanted to share.

The ingredients: (yes, I use store brand for the most part. I do use name-brand vanilla, Penzey's to be precise. To me, it's the Ferrari of vanillas, but if you don't have it, use your favorite)

4 cups of instant rice, prepared per package instructions.

1 medium can of crushed pineapple, drained

1/2 C of sugar

1/2 t vanilla

medium container of heavy whipping cream

Combine the rice, sugar, and pineapple while the rice is still warm. It melds together a lot better that way.

I have seen recipes that use pineapple juice, not pineapple, and lemon jello, but I can't imagine how that would taste, plus it always makes me amazed that, in the early 1900s, in the hollers of Western Pennsylvania, my great-great-grandmother had access to and money for crushed pineapple. This was truly a special dish if she had that for her family.

When mixed, pour the cream over it and add the vanilla. You can use a little more or a little less depending on your preference. I have adapted it to be less sweet than my gramma's way because Left-brain won't eat it when it's too sweet, and you get enough calories from the cream. It's going to look soupy, but it goes in the fridge to "draw through" and thickens up.

This was a photo I took of the finished product. I love to eat that first bowl while it's still warm and yummy. It just doesn't photograph well. But it tastes, well, divine.



Katie "helped" me make it; she sat on the floor, banging pan lids while the water boiled for the rice. It's not fancy food, not to a modern palate, but it's good, and it's home food to me.

So that's all i have for tonight. I hope your weekend is going well. They are calling for snow on Monday here. Not sure if they're going to be right--the forecasters are started to laugh at their own ineptitude at this point. But Easter means spring is here and it has to warm up sometime.

Weekend works

It was a stormy weekend here in Crazyville. We got remnants of the devastating storms from North Carolina. While we did not get damage here, there was a tornado warning for the greater metropolitan Crazyville area, and I did spend a few minutes downstairs on Saturday evening. I realize I could never be a storm chaser--the second a warning is issued, I freak out. Yesterday was a little nicer. When I left the house for church, there was a rainbow in the sky to the west, the trees and flowers finally are letting loose and coloring up the landscape, and it was a bit warmer. We even got a small concert at church yesterday for Palm Sunday; the City Band of Washington, a bagpipe orchestra, played for the 9:15 service, but we heard them in the parking lot on the way out from early service. I'm a sap anyway, but it was so joyous to hear such beautiful music on a beautiful morning.

I did make some progress this weekend. I FINISHED Plummy Fairy. I'm not happy with her French knot eyeballs and may pick those out and redo them, but I love this finish. Adore it!




5 Crazy January starts are now finishes. Woo hoo!


I worked on this as well. This is something I started in December. I know, I know. What is it? No, it's not a map of the Washington Metro system. It's Autumn, a freebie by Minguistitch.


Yes, it's tricky. Yes, I wish I was stitching a facial detail. But really, anytime you start a new design that has a lot of color changes, there is a moment where you have to wonder how the mass will eventually relate to the picture as a whole. It's getting easier-ish. I am relying heavily on a highlighter to let me know what I've finished. and I think I've done the hardest part. The pink blob to the left top are the goddess' lips and I'll soldier through. I'm enjoying the challenge and moving around so as not to get too frustrated.

Lastly, my kitties.




We have bad light in the master bedroom, which is where we basically hunker down to watch TV when it's too cold to go downstairs--basically October to May. It's workable when I'm working on something in white, but this black has proved to be a challenge. We were working on shifting lamps to provide better light, but I was whining. Left-brain came home on Friday with a clip-on lamp for me. I attached it to the headboard, and got a lot of progress done. All the new parts of the kitten were done in 2-3 hours, serious progress for me!

I hope this week is kind and gentle to us all.

The frog came calling

I meant to post a progress photo yesterday, but the frog came calling, and so I had to unfrog a lot of what I did after I took the photo the other day. I had to undo quite a bit of the kitten's chest, and a lot of the wording on Autumn Leaves. I was so annoyed with myself.

I didn't work on the kitten yesterday at all after I frogged him. It was rainy on and off and he's hard to work on in that kind of light, so I put him away and focused on Autumn Leaves. This is what I have now.




It's coming along. I'm trying to get as much done of each color as I can, as I move the hoop down, so it's a lot of jumping around. I worked on the house last night watching a "The First 48" marathon. I think I'm a pretty fast carpenter, even though the house still has a skylight and we have no doors or windows yet.

It's bright and sunny today, though, so I'll probably try to take advantage of good light and focus on the kitten. He needs some work put into him. Keep that little guy moving forward, I will!

My Spooky SAL for Lisa

I didn't post my progress on this yesterday, as I thought I would be able to. Here it is.




I got started pretty late, but I made a bit of progress. This is "No Scaredy Cats" by Waxing Moon. The cat is Gunmetal, not the color called for in the chart. I didn't have the color, and figured if he was a smoky black, not a black black, no one would really mind. It will help soften when I do the other kitty in Amber, so I am hoping it looks good.

Another reminder for my Betsy PIF. Remember, you have to leave a comment in the PIF post below to be entered. Good luck.

Frosty in all his glory

Here he is. He's cute, if I do say so myself. Maybe not a finish worth waiting 6 years for, but he's a cutie patootie.





I'm hard at work on Icy. Today was a fill-in day, I'm fillin' in trees, and his wings. I worked a little bit on the latest LHN ornament at work yesterday (it was Opening night for our new show at the theatre, and, therefore, not the day to be working on anything intricate like Icy; he is easier to work on when the only distractions are the dog showing me his toy, Left-brain being Left-brained, or the TV), but I didn't have the two colors that are most prominent in the center, so had to wait til I could get home to dig through the giant tub o' thread. I did have them, though, and I have all I need to work on this very cute ornament. I will post a photo when I get enough progress to be proud of.

Day 13: Icky Icky Spooky Spooky

Isn't that a fun thing to say? It's what's written in the chart, which is actually called Icky Spooky, the Hobgoblins. I did manage to make a good start on this yesterday. I worked primarily on Icky's side of the chart, but I didn't get too far on her because her dress is 964, and they didn't have 964 at Michaels when I went. I'm going to check again, but I'll probably end up at Joann's. It's a really fun stitch--the colors are fabulously bright and cheerful, perfect for the January doldrums. I'm using Ray of Light fabric in 28 count. The fabric in the chart picture is not yellow, but it looks that way, and I figured I might as well go with it. I do see that I will have to change out the floss for Spooky's outfit. It photographed a pretty golden yellow, and my skein of Gold Leaf is dreary gold. Why embarrass Spooky with a drab party frock when I can brighten that little dude up? :)

Today's start is Schipperke by Pegasus Originals. I'm a bit intimidated by the chart because of the amount of black it calls for, but I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and so, I'll suck it up. One thing, if I stitch around the twins, I don't have to worry if a stray hair (or 100) get in the project. I actually wouldn't mind that, it's their contribution to their mummy's work.

I still have to kit up the last project. I bought the specialty floss last month, but haven't gone through the boxes to get the regular floss. I'll have to do that today. I'm going to take a leap with this last project and stitch it on a green fabric, not the natural that the project calls for. I thought it would look like grass and there's a line in the poem on the piece about kitty in the grass. I'm usually really pleased with how things turn out when I take a leap of faith--I just worry incessantly til I have floss to fabric and see it will be OK.

Have a great weekend!

Brave Kitties

This is my start on "No Scaredy Cats Allowed," by Waxing Moon.



Not a bad start, considering I didn't get started til late, and I didn't have the Charcoal floss I needed. I kitted this up at Halloween, and the LNS was out of Charcoal, and it just escaped my mind to make sure I had it. I didn't want to just stitch around the part that used the color, nor was it feasible to run to my LNS and pray they got another shipment of Weeks in. I found a very dark skein of Gunmetal in my floss box, so I'm using that. And that spurred a bit of creativity. I collect black cats for Halloween for my Lily and yellow tabby cats for Gus for the rest of the year (yes, Felix gets kinda messed over when it comes to being collected, but they don't make a lot of black and white spotted cat things--I can't collect what they don't make), but a lot of times I see black cats and yellow tabbies together, so . . . since I have both a yellow and a black cat, I'm making one of the kitties into a tabby, for Gus. He'll be the kitty peeking out from behind the ghost, since my Gus is a bit less brave than his sister; he's not scared, he's just shy. I think this will be a sweet personalization and I'm sure Gussie would approve.

Keeping in the Halloween vein, today's start will be Mosey N Me's Icky Spooky. I've had this design for probably 7 years, I just never stitched it, and it probably is my most favorite MNM design. So I'm just ecstatic to get started.

I did work a little bit on Santa's Bunnies last night. Iron Man was on FX, so we watched that. It was an OK movie, good for stitching, because I didn't have to really pay attention to it. Or think about the plot. Left-brain wanted to watch the Patriot the other night, and I told him I could not bear to watch it. The villian in that movie is so good, he just upsets me, so I have to watch something else.

Do you have any good "stitching" movies you like to watch?

Day 11 and a WIP

I am almost ashamed to post this photo because, as little as I got done Monday, I got less done yesterday. I was worried about the snowstorm that came through, and was trying to make sure we had what we needed, and was pretty busy. Plus, it wasn't the easiest start on this one. But I got a few stitches in. As long as I got one stitch in, it's a start. This is his belly (I'm going to assume it's a him--the horse has that bantam rooster quality about him that pony stallions tend to have). This is a Silkweaver solo I got from a stitching friend at Sue Hillis' GTG last spring. I'm excited to see how the design translates on this fabric.



Today's start will be from Mostly Ghostly by Waxing Moon. It's funny how fast this widespread, highly-controlled case of startitus has gone. It's hard to believe I've started 11 projects in a week and a half, and that I only have 4 more projects to choose from. These last ones are the ones that might not be the most well-planned out. I still have to pull floss for one, pull fabric for another. I had to find fabric for today's start in order to actually start it, and I maybe didn't make the best choice, but I'll live with it. I love the little design I chose, "No Scaredy Cats", so I'm sure it will be fine.

I also thought it's time to show my other WIP, an ornament I started Christmas week. It's one I've had kitted up since the summer as part of the Brides' Tree SAL. It's called Santa's Bunnies, and is by Vermillion Stitchery.
It's not an easy project, lots of fractionals and backstitching, but I think it's so pretty. And it's a great size for an ornament, not so big that it has to be draped over the branches of the tree, not hung. I'm hoping to get the stitching done tonight and then the backstitch by the end of the week. I have the fabric to back it already, a pretty woodland wintry print that I thought would go nicely with the bunnies. I think this is going to be my fair entry for the ornament class; it has everything going for it, at least in my opinion. I think it will come down to how well it's finished, but I'm willing to spend money to make sure it's finished in the way it deserves. It's that important to me.

I am starting to pull together my fair entries. I'd like to start taking things over for framing when I get my tax refund back. That way, I'm not running around at the last minute and I can enjoy getting ready for the competition. I think that's the way to go, but I think I need to get some things finished first, right? :)

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable day. The snow came through last night. I think we got 4 inches, but I do believe there is some ice mixed in with it. Left-brain stayed home from work, which is probably for the best. I don't worry about him on the road, it's everyone else that scares me. I'm trying to decide what to make for our dinner now. Never too early to plan for that, is it?

Twas the weekend before Thanksgiving . . .

and all through Crazyville, things were hap'nin! Left-brain went with a friend to a racing event in southern Maryland and they camped, so I was all by myself. I did my best to fill the time!

Saturday morning, I went to see Robbie and Chancey and get some new pictures. It was maybe not the best day to do so, LOL. Poor Chance. She just looks motley. Her thyroid condition makes her look slightly off all the time, anyway, and it doesn't help that she has that little thingy on her eye. It doesn't bother her, and the options to remove it didn't seem very savory, so we left it alone. She also has a pretty gnarly scar across her nose, courtesy of my brother's dog. And it doesn't help that she is greying. I told her it was nothing a bit of Miss Clairol and some plastic surgery wouldn't fix. She is still my girl and I tell her scars are tattoos with more interesting stories.


Robbie's recovering from a fall of hot spots. The vet gave him a really bad haircut to fix one of them. This is much improved from when it was new, but he now has a cowlick on his tiney hiney. He is embarrassed. I told him we'd cover it when he went to see Santa. He appreciates that--he states he has a reputation to uphold.


I managed to get them together for a picture on the back stoop. Pardon the construction dust--there was some badly needed repair work being done. Robbie looks a bit depressed, but he was OK. He just doesn't like being told to hold still.


It was opening weekend at the theatre I work at. All in all, it was not bad. I saw the show Friday night, and it was so good. The sets were magnificent, our cast brought their Broadway credentials into their performance and it was wonderful. I am not ashamed to say, I cried a little at the end because I loved it so much. And I bought myself a locket to wear when our VIPs came for the opening night party on Saturday night. They decorated the theatre for the holidays and turned it into a enchanted fairyland. How could one not be excited coming for a visit.

This is what you see if you drive down the road, projected onto the side of the actual theatre. I am ashamed to say I have worked at the theatre for three years, and only just figured out where they project the gobo from.



These are some of the snowflakes hung in the trees. They will be so beautiful if it snows. I'd like to ask where they got them, but thought better. They looked kinda busy.


Yesterday was our first cookie-baking run of the season. Caesar helped. I put his binky (our old mattress pad) on the kitchen floor and he joined me. It was exhausting work for him--he watched me get the ingredients for oatmeal butterscotch cookies out and immediately lay down.



When confronted about his lack of help, he claimed he was providing moral support, and wagged his tail. It was a pretty lame attempt.


He perked up when I started putting the cookies on the sheet. He asked me if I could let him lick the beaters. I told him absolutely not.


To which I got the "poor pitiful pitbull" face. It's taken years, but I'm immune to this face.


Now, it was not all mayhem, foolishness and canine hijinx. I got a lot of stitching done in between baking.

I held off showing off Spooky Time til I had the charm to finish it. I found little ghost charms on Ebay, and it worked perfectly for this when I put it on the 28 count Monaco


I finished Snowy Pines this morning. It gave me a lot of trouble that I hadn't been anticipating, but I love it. I will try to get it finished this week, so I can start putting up the tree this weekend.


And I started on the Christmas Bells Hanging Pillow from The Sampler Girl's "Kitty Kringle's Pattern Book for Christmas." The Christmas carol is rapidly becoming one of my favorite themes. I'm stitching it with the recommended thread, but on some opalescent aida I had in stash. I was originally going to stitch this for myself and hold off til January, but I am giving this to a friend who is putting up a Christmas tree for the first time in a long time this year. I hope she likes it.



Was it any wonder that the dogs were cutting up? It was a big beautiful full moon last night. We had a few light high clouds, and it was just amazing to sit and watch the moon. Left-brain came home and said he'd watched it the whole drive up.


Hopefully, this week will be a bit quieter. I'm planning on doing much finishing over the next few days. Metro Crazyville will be having the town Christmas parade, and we are going to that on Saturday night--it's my first Christmas parade, and I really want to be more appreciative this year. Left-brain claims he's going to clean out the garage this weekend, so I am sure I will be helping with that. Maybe it won't be so quiet. . .

Just call me a trendsetter

I'll explain in a second. Here are some stitching updates. I am so grateful to have so much stitching time. My work environment changed to working at home unless we want to come into the office and, between the 2 hour commute one way and the cold in the morning, I have been working from home mostly. Not only am I a happier person, and one who is more invested in my home life, since I'm actually THERE, and I'm able to do more around the house, like plan a meal that doesn't involve a drive-thru, and clean, but I have more stitching time. Left-brain is a lot happier too; a lot of the work was falling on his shoulders and that wasn't fair, but we also have time to enjoy each other's company. Even Caesar is happier; I went into the office one day this week, and he was so bummed when he watched me leave.

But my stitching is really picking up. Those four hours extra a day are making such a difference. I love it!

I had not posted a photo of the finished Halloween Costume. The fabric looks greyer in this picture than in regular light; it's a beautiful bright blue. I'm going to finish it simply and hang it on the Halloween tree, which is still out so I can finish this stuff up and hang it. I wouldn't invest in the Weeks if I were stitching this again. It's so little and the expense is really not worth it.




My progress on the Van Tassels' farmhouse. I've been working on the roof, mainly because I'm so nervous about the color difference between the skeins being obvious. I think it's OK. It just looks like a very weathered farmhouse roof.


Last is my progress on Spooky Time, a freebie by Lavendar Wings. This is my trendsetting moment. I pulled this for my Halloween SAL project, and someone on 123 wanted it yesterday. I decided it was time to start it. I had to frog some last night, but it's a fun little band sampler.


I did have to change a bit of how I planned to stitch it, It's charted for hand-dyes, but I am a bear about using those up. I am afraid they won't make them anymore and I won't have them. So I never use from my core stock of colors. I did purchase a single skein of Trick or Treat to do the portions that called for that, as there is no DMC equivalent. I thought I'd have the DMC at home to use. Last night, I pulled it all out and didn't have any of the colors I needed. So I had to use the Weeks. I'm happy I did, to be honest. I love the way the Trick or Treat is turning colors, and Squash is such a welcoming yellow. I can't wait to see how this turns out. I even found a source for the little ghost charm that will go on the finished piece

Return to Sleepy Hollow

After it took so long to do the center section of Sleepy Hollow (two and half years), I wasn't in a hurry to start the side sections, but, last week, while I was on vacation, I decided to start one of them. I picked the Van Tassel's farm side, and I am amazed at how quickly it is stitching up. This is 3 days' progress at most--I stopped working on it Saturday, and just picked it up last night after finishing Halloween Costume--but it is FLYING along.





This is the cheeriest panel of the three, and the large runs of color aren't quite as large as they are on the other two. I do see, however, that I am going to have to do something to the porch jack o' lanterns so that it's obvious they're carved. And I'm a bit worried about how the roof will look since I couldn't match the London fog floss exactly. What I will have to do is work the new skeins in, so that it looks like the difference in color is just part of the effect. I think it will look OK, but I just have to be a bit less trusting of the chart in the future. It said this just needed one skein, and it's obvious to me that it needs more than that. I didn't know I was an extravagant stitcher, but I don't want to run out.

I'm starting to think about Christmas stitching now. I have a friend who is putting up her tree for the first time in a long time this year. I'd like to stitch her an ornament to celebrate the occasion. And I really want to do a freebie from Sanman, Candy Cane seeds, to give to the families to hang on their trees this year. I'd like to have them done in time to give them on the day we go to get the Christmas tree, in early December. So, need to get to stitching. ANNNNDDDD, there is the still the matter of the bazillion ornaments I have stitched and not finished this year, that need finished. Hmmm, what's a girl to do . . . .

Halloween Costume progress

Here is my progress on Halloween Costume. Top Gun was on last night on AMC and so I got quite a bit done. I am stitching it with the requested Weeks threads and trying to use them to show dimensionality. I don't know if it's evident or if I'm just making things difficult for myself. Oh well . . .




This is what it will look like when it's finished. Can you understand why I find this irresistable?

http://freebiegallery.blogspot.com/2009/10/halloween-costume.html

Another finish

I completed All Hallows Evening 2010 today. Very fun and I'm glad I got it finished. I liked it as soon as I saw it.

I am working on Halloween Costume right now. Will try to find a picture of the finish as soon as I can. All those old BOAF freebies are HARD TO FIND. I even found the pretty blue hand-dyed fabric from Dovestitch that I wanted to put it on. Yay for me! This is stitching up fairly quickly, so I may have a finish to show soon.

Halloween has come and gone . . .

Thank you all for visiting my blog and for participating on Sunday's SAL. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed myself. I am slowly relearning what it means to have free time--for over a year, I might have had free time, but it wasn't really free time to relax. There was always wedding stuff swirling around in my head. It was so nice to sit with a glass of iced tea this weekend and stitch, guiltlessly. I could get used to this. I even did a load of laundry, just because!

I do think I am going to turn the SAL into a weekend thing next year. I've started a tradition that I don't work Halloween. It started because I have a major phobia of driving when children are out, but I really want to enjoy the day. So next year, it would be a three day weekend for me. Woo hoo. But I know that others don't do this, so it seems like a weekend long SAL would work out better, and maybe let people see some progress that a day won't give them. I'm working that out.

I have big plans for Halloween next year. I realized our porch is not well-lit, so next year, I am budgeting to rim the yard with jack o lanterns and cute signs. It's going to be a large crafting endeavor, but I'm willing to scale back in other areas. Of course, that's going to require better candy--you can't have a billboard bigger than the store, LOL, but we will work on it. This will happen!

I'm finishing up All Hallows Evening today. I'm still trying to figure out how to finish it--it's too big for an ornament on 28 count. I can't find fabric I like to make it a stand up. Maybe a box? I don't know. I'll have to think about this. I will post a photo when I'm done.

I hope everyone has plenty of good left-over Halloween candy to tide them over. We are enjoying Kit-kats and Reese's today. Yummy!

9PM update

I missed out on the 6PM update because we were inundated with various and sundry characters at that time. We had a fantastic assortment this year. Along with the fairies and football players, we had Harry Potter (or maybe he was Ron, he did have red hair and no scar?), a monarch butterfly, a really fun circus performer, a ladybug, and a 6ft tall Teletubby. I would love to know why he chose to be a Teletubby, but I just laughed. And I'm happy it was just cold, not rainy and not snowy. It's funny to think it was in the 70s last week when we were leaving North Carolina and it snowed tonight in South Central New York. Summer is gone . . .

I just finished dessert--so good. Left-Brain shared his pudding with the dog--he asked me how I knew he was giving it to him. I told him he kept saying, "Pudding, it's just pudding." And Beazer's breath smelled suspiciously of pumpkin. I may buy a few boxes of this mix and keep them around--it's really good.

I did stitch a little while waiting for children. I won't be able to finish this before the end of the evening, but I'll try. I am enjoying the stitching. I actually wish I'd been able to stitch all my planned projects today. It seemed do-able the other day, but at least I have the stuff here to work on them now. I am happy I finished a project today and am well on my way with another one. All in all, it has been a great Halloween!

3PM Update

With a slight delay due to my having to make pudding. Yummy pumpkin spice pudding with French Vanilla whipped cream. Seriously, if I don't stop eating like this, I will gain the weight back I lost on our trip.

This is my progress on AuryTM's All Hallows Evening 2010. This is a fun stitch so far. I am doing it on another Silkweaver Solo. I thought I would go a little more fun on this fabric, and lean a little bit more to the magical side of the holiday. I wish this fabric were sparkly, but maybe I wouldn't have liked it so much. It's stitched with the called-for DMC. Hopefully, I can get this done by the end of the night.

12PM update

This is my finish of The Sampler Girls Ghouls Night Out. Stitched on a Silkweaver Solo with HDF Dragon Smoke. I am not sure this was the best color combination, but I wanted a girly-ish fabric, and then have a simple, prim sort of floss. I will turn this into a pillow to put under the Halloween tree.

Let the wild rumpus start!

I am sorry to have posted so late. Halloween started early with me--I went to the 8AM service this morning. My church is 40 miles away, and I really thought twice about it, but decided I should probably start the day off correctly. Then had to stop at the store for goodies for dinner. I try to make Halloween fun around here, and try to make Left-brain a nice dinner and dessert. We're having pork tenderloin, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, along with pumpkin spice pudding for dessert.

Sooooooo . . . . let the stitching festival begin! I am currently finishing the Sampler Girl's freebie, Ghouls Night Out from last year, and will post when the stitching is complete. I am linking to the blogs for people who had said they were participating. Crossing fingers that they will participate and post on their blogs!

Without further ado . . .



Rachel


Regina


Lizy


Blu

And the 123 board , where myself and others will be updating all day.


If anyone else wants to join in, please feel free to do so! I appreciate all the stitchers and all visitors today. Enjoy your stitching today!

Before I leave for the hour, I wanted to post my honeymoon finishes, ya know, so there would be a picture on this post!

Elizabeth's Designs Dragonfly Morning. It's still missing a button, but the stitching is done. This was kitted up by my LNS.




Plum Street Samplers Autumn Blessings. Such a sweet, fun design!