Some Simple Designs

This simple checkerboard pumpkin will make a nice addition to my Halloween tree.The small squares and the four points of the crosses are meant to be stitched in ecru and the center of each cross in black.  I jazzed it up a bit with Kreinik braid and some beads.

Still in a Halloween mood, I adapted another design from the JCS Oct 2016 issue for a huck towel for my kitchen.  I will stitch a companion towel tomorrow using another design from the same issue.

More Ink Circles Celtic Beasties

Skull and Snake.  I really like the banded effect on the snake that came about when stitching with WDW Halloween.  Incidentally, the floss was a gift from a stitching buddy from eons past.

Yin Yang Cats.  For this, I used GAST Barn Grey, Buckeye Scarlet, Cinders, Daffodil and Raven as well as DMC Blanc.

And I'll be stitching another Celtic Cross, only this time without the macabre touches, as a St. Patrick's Day ornament.  I have started the border in a Threadworx green and will be stitching the cross in GASY Barn Grey, Banker's Grey and a bit of Kreinik braid.

Some Stitching

I have stitched a few more of the Ink Circle Halloween ornaments:

No Heads Positive.  I used a Catherine Jordan green over dyed for the border and CC Dulce de Leche for the snakes.

No Heads Negative.  This is stitched in two Catherine Jordan green over dyed  cotton flosses.

Two Heads.  I chose to stitch the snakes in different colors though the model showed them in the same over dyed floss.

The Skull.  I used DMC white and black for the skull.  But for the snake, I used WDW Halloween.  The designer's notes called for an over dye that had long enough lengths of clearly contrasting colors to give a banded effect.  It's a little finicky since I have to keep switching from vertical to diagonal to horizontal rows to maintain the bands.

A Very Little Progress

It seems like I've been working on this band forever.  Still, I have a cat, a pumpkin, an owl and a leaf to stitch.  I'll try to finish this band today.

And the next band is even more motif heavy ... and spans four pages of chart, an irritation with this chart that I have mentioned in a previous post.

Small Progress

The taller tree in this photo has been frustrating me for the last few days.  The symbol is a pale grey left parentheses, barely visible on the glossy page.  I've been stitching a branch at a time before moving on to something else in disgust.  I finally started work on the house. When that's done, I'll try counting the remaining branches from the roof line.  The dazzle effect that followed my cataract surgery has left me unable to read faint print unless I hold the paper right under my nose.

But I did manage to stitch the primitive Sheep Heart from a recent JCS using True Palette silks and Rainbow Gallery Tweed instead of the charted flosses.

Wagons, Ho!

Several days ago, April [SNOW] showers brought stitching progress,  Okay, there was only 1/2 inch accumulation  but that was reason enough to hunker down in the stitching chair with a large mug of tea, a shawl and my needle.  I finished stitching the ground of the cemetery band.  And, two days ago,  I finished stitching the farm wagon.   Yesterday I stitched some stars and some trees.  Today, I'll start on the house.

Today the sun is shining brightly and temps are in the 60s.  A few days ago we had snow.  Go figure! 

Primitive Needle's Witch's Hollow Continued

Normally, when stitching a multi page chart, I stitch a page at a time.  I make an exception to this rule when a page plays fast and loose with the natural dividing points in a design. This chart is divided into bands that overlap pages.  Not only that, but the first band is actually two bands bisected vertically and slightly off center by a tall tower.  The witch's tower is charted mostly on page one   but with just a bit on pages two, three and four.  For some reason I find this very irritating.  I need to stitch this motif in its entirety, not piecemeal. 

Consequently, I have been shuffling pages quite a bit,  First it was pages 1 and 2 to stitch the owl.  I soon noticed how perfectly symmetrical the owl's wings were and was able to simply stitch a mirror image of the left wing for the right wing.  There was no need to refer to the chart for that.  But then came the tower band with page 1 stopping mid-moon, mid-star, mid-bat, mid-witch  and lacking the bottom 15 or so rows of stitching  This irked me!  [By the by, don't you love the verb "irk"?  It is so very expressive.]    So, after a great deal of flipping about,  what you see in this photo is all of pages one and two, the top rows of page 3,  and a fair bit of page 4, 

I am probably the only stitcher on the planet who would prefer large charts to be printed like those old-fashioned folding road maps that we used before GPS.

Primitive Needle's Witch's Hollow

I finished the owl at the top of the piece in spite of some confusing symbols placed side by side: ( for Seaweed and ) for Light  Khaki.  Usually, I fall for the whole tromp d'oeill thing and end up doing some serious frogging when this sort of thing occurs.  But, happily, this time I saw the problem immediately and avoided mistakes.  I do wish all designers everywhere would make it a priority to avoid using deceptively similar symbols in a single chart.   I am wary ever since I fell into a symbol trap while stitching Brightneedle's Ghosts and Ghoulies over one and it has been languishing ever since.  I have yet to face the onerous  task of frogging the error.

Anyway, back to Witch's Hollow.  I made a whole bunch of substitutions using GAST and Crescent Colors to fill in the gaps in what I thought was a substantial WDW stash.  It entailed about a half hour staring at color charts on line and then making judgment calls about stash in hand.   In some cases, I'll be replacing one missing WDW color with several of the other brands, e.g., WDW charcoal will be replaced by GAST Onyx for the Bats but by GAST Raven and Soot and CC Blackbird for other motifs further on down the page.  The same goes for some of the shades of grey.  It just seems silly not to use what I have.  The whole point of building such an extensive stash while working was to avoid expense once on the reduced income of retirement.

I am going to have a lot of fun with this piece.  I enjoy Halloween themes and love the style of Primitive Needle.  The designer's untimely death was a sad loss.

Assessing January Goals, Setting February Goals

It's been a good start.  In addition to meeting two of my goals I started and finished three additional projects: Homespun Elegance. Birds and Bees. Samplers and Such. ABC Sampler, Mystery Sampler, French Style.  I also started and am nearly finished with Whispered by the Wind's Scherzo.

January Goals

• Complete at least five Sewing Finishes  Four complete and one nearly so.

I assembled and trimmed two Town Square ornaments: The Creamery and Sandi's Sweet Shop.

And I made a small pin pillow from Homespun Elegance's An Elegance of Owls, trimming it with some soot colored chenille.

And I turned the Samplers and Such ABC sampler into a jar lid, overlaying two different braids to trim the edges of the lid.

• 
  

• I started om A is for Acorn, making another pin pillow, though this one will be stuffed with ground walnut shells.  I have yet to decide on a trim,  I'll have to do a liile stash diving. 
• Continue work on Making Waves  NO.
• Continue work on Slow Down Sampler.  FINISHED.
• Continue work on The Jacobean Elegance Afghan  NO.

FEBRUARY GOALS

Complete at least 5 sewing or assembly finishes.

Continue work on Jacobean Elegance Afghan.

Start the next Workbasket Quaker animal.

Get back to Work on Making Waves.
Finish Scherzo.

Weekly WIP Status Report

It's been two weels since I got the list down to 10.  But then, as you might expect, startitis kicked in.  I really wanted to start CEC's Sleepy Hollow but I didn't have a suitable linen and have to order the suggested linen as well as some of the suggested WDW floss.  But Something Wicked This Way Comes caught my eye and that became the 11th item.  I also started  the last of the Praurue Schooler Year Rounds, the December Santa, to bring the list up to an even dozen.

La-D-Da Something Wicked

PS December Year Round

The Goblin Markert

• The Jacobean Elegance afghan - with 15 more squares to be stitched.
• Making Waves needlepoint project - with more than 3/4s of the bargello rows and more than 2/3s of the eyelet area to be stitched.
• My own design, Fertile Circles needle book, the back panel needs finishing.
• My own design, Beach Find Pansies, to be completed and incorporated into an embellished crazy quilt square

• The Victoria Sampler Mystic Smalls class project - I need to stitch the needle book and the biscornu
• Another needlepoint project, Rice Pudding, using many variations of the rice stitch.
• Yet another needlepoint project, an Owl, again a project using lots of specialty stitches.
• Piper's Christmas stocking  adapted from a Dimensions kit.
• HAED's The Tangle Fairy, barely started
• The Goblin Market: About two thirds done by 10-31.  I finished the columns and the canopy pf the booth and the vulture and started work on the roof.

• La-D-Da's Something Wicked This Way Comes.  Stitched on 28 ct Silkweaver Autumn Sunrise linen using Belle Soie Old Black Crow and Perfect Palette Cauldron, Dry Martini and Envy silks instead of the revommended NPI silks.  DONE

• Prairie Schooler's December Year Round. Stitched on 36 ct raw linen using Belle Soie Cinnamon Srick, Collard Greens, Oatmeal Scone, Old Black Crow and Sister Scarlet instead of the charted DMC.  DONE.

So, now the list is back down to 10 projects again.

Erratic, As Predicted

It's here!  May is a season of sacraments, First Communion and Confirmation, and registration and final exams and progress reports.  So please excuse me if I post a little less frequently, respond to comments more tersely and get to the post office less often.

Here is a photo of a finish of Homespun Elegance's Owl's Night Out.  This was a really quick little stitch, just three days.  I am a little confused about one of the motifs.  Usually when I can't tell what something is on the chart, stitching it reveals the answer.  But this time I still can't tell what that gold double cross on the left is.  The skeleton key on the right is obvious enough but the double cross???

And, after several months of avoidance, I am back to The English Band Sampler.  All I managed was to finish the eyelet stitches on one of the blue squares on Band 6.  Today, I hope to do a bit more of this fiddly work.  The goal this month is to finish the entire sampler this month.  Well, it's still early in the month, so I have a shot at this goal.



I survived the two First Communion rehearsals; I am better with the older children.  Gently correcting the same little boy in the front pew [Anthony, please don't sit cross legged in the pew; Anthony, please don't play with kneelers; Anthony, you need to keep facing the altar .... Anthony .... Anthony] tends to wear me down.  Judging by the killer looks Anthony was giving me, I am betting he was none too pleased with me either.  On Saturday, I am sure Anthony will be fine and even if he isn't, what was it Jesus said?  "Let the little children come unto Me."  Sometimes, we DREs forget that First Communion is a liturgy to which all are welcome and fall into the trap of thinking of it as performance and a video op.

Random Thoughts on a Monday

About My Stitching: 

This weekend I got to finish a piece started to fill in  an empty space on the linen I used for my Pineberry Lane pin pillows, A is for Autumn from Elizabeth Designs.  I used the recommended DMC, and GAST fibers with only two substitutions to keep this a "stitch from stash" project.   I didn't have the CC Barrel Cactus but I did have a lovely Catherine Jordan over dyed cotton in a medium olive to a light olive to a golden olive colorway left over from a CATS class that she gave and I didn't have the charted purple for the Rhodes stitched grapes, so I have substituted GAST Hyacinth.

I also worked on my May goals and accomplished a few of them.  I got my monthly Town Square ornament stitched.  This month, it was The Toy Store.  I believe I have mentioned that a number of these charts are outline only affairs resembling nothing so much as a child's coloring book.  I don't care for that look and whenever I stitch one, I modify the chart to suit my preference for solidly stitched designs.  I used the recommended GAST and WDW but added GAST Pineapple Sherbert to fill in the facade of the building.  I had to change the roof line a bit as well as the windows and doors.  Instead of simply outlining the white picket fence, I stitched in a sort of modified bargello in order to get the pointed tops on the pickets.  All in all, it was an interesting exercise in re-making the chart to my liking.

Then, I moved on to my designated new start for May, Homespun Elegance's Owl's Night Out.  Again, I was able to kit this up with only one substitution, CC Poblano Peppers for CC Guacamole, to keep this a "stitch from stash" project.  So far this year, the only stitching purchases I have had to make have been two skeins of DMC.  I am feeling so very frugal.  This is what all the earlier stash building was for: now that my husband is retired and our income is reduced, I can still enjoy my stitching.  This piece is another I am stitching on the Silkweaver Golden Promise 28ct linen.

 
About my Giveaway:  The winner is Pam from Iowa.  I couldn't resist her explanation that she liked the way the people are charted in primitives.  I shall contact her by e-mail later today.

About My Gardening:  Rain, rain, go away.  I can't garden in mud and muck.

About the Weather:  I am sick of the fluctuations between 40 degree days and  70 degree days.  I thought Spring had finally arrived three weeks ago when I sighted my first motorcyclist, which is the real harbinger of Spring 'round these parts.  Oddly enough, I saw my first robin three days after the first biker.  In any case, I was expecting days where the weather advanced at a dignified pace from 40 to 50 to 60 to 70 until Summer brought the real heat.  Instead, we are alternately shivering and sweating through Spring.  But mostly I am sneezing uncomfortably through Spring.  I have the distinct impression that 2014, which started with a vile winter, will continue to disappoint throughout the remaining seasons.  I am dreading Summer, which at the best of times is a torturous mix of high humidity and higher temps in the NY metro area.  If the current trend of foul conditions continues, Summer will probably be twice as insufferable this year.

One More Halloween Stitch

I started this piece on Halloween ... there's that seasonal stitching disorder thing happening again!  I finished it yesterday.  It was  a quick and easy stitch though I fear it'll be too large for an ornament at 75x75 stitched over 2 on 36ct.  Maybe a small pin pillow or pin keep or a flat fold stand up.  I did make a very few changes in the colors so as to use stash and replaced the basket with a cauldron which I thought more appropriate for the collecting of toadstools.  But otherwise, I was pretty faithful to the designer's intent.  As I noted in a previous post, this chart is a Primitive Needle design, all the more precious since Lisa's untimely death means there will no longer be any designs quite like this in the future.  I have stitched five or six piece's by Lisa and still have two more of her charts in my stash.  Lisa left a legacy of great quirky and primitive designs that bring joy to many a stitcher.  She is missed.

Here's another shot of the fabric, showing all the ornaments I have stitched on it.  There is probably enough room for two small ornaments or one large one.  Soooo ... this may not be the last Halloween stitch for 2013.  I do have a few more small charts that would do well on this fabric.  It all depends on how much time I have for stitching during the remainder of the year.

A New Start: It has been so long since I worked on one of the Town Square SAL ornaments ... not since August ... so much for doing one a month!  But I will try to get at least two more done before the year is out.  This month it is The Frame Shop.  This will make the 21st ornament for my Town Square Christmas tree, only 21 more to go for a complete set.  As you can see, I finished the roof line and have started outlining the windows of the upper story.



Just a Random Thought: I enjoy statistics so I tend to track my page views and audience and such through the statistics menu of blogger.  And what boggles the mind is that lately the post with the consistently highest page views is the post about "What I Kept"  from the door prizes of the October Stitcher's Hideaway I attended recently.   Now, granted, that post contains a link to an earlier post on pricing trends in the stitching industry but even so ... 390 page views ???!!!???  Lately, most of my posts merit a modest 75-100 page views.  I really don't get why this one merits so much more attention ... especially since the linked post about pricing trends made barely a ripple when first posted several years ago.

By The Light of the Moon

This is where I stand with this Primitive Needle piece which I started on Halloween.  I have switched out some of the colors for ones I have on hand so that this can be a stitch-from-stash project.  I did change the owl to white in honor of Harry Potter's Hedwig.  But, for the most part, I have honored Lisa's original intent by using very similar colors to what she had selected. My toad stool collecting witch still needs a head, a hat and some feet but I will probably have a finish by tomorrow evening.  I also need to stitch the basket and a few more toadstools and swirling autumn leaves.

This particular Primitive Needle design was a complimentary chart.  I found mine on a e-newsletter from a shop called Heart's Desire several years ago.

A Few October Smalls

I know these weren't on my monthly goals but I seem to have caught a touch of Seasonal Stitching Disorder from Sue Donnelly at the recent Stitcher's Hideaway.  Now, ordinarily, I have no problem stitching Christmas items in February, Easter designs in November or a St. Patrick's Day project in July, but somehow this month I had to stitch something appropriate to October.  I don't know why.  Just a whim, I guess!

This first piece is a small Columbus Day design, shared with me by a stitching friend, Peggy Bowe, who designed it for a feisty little old Italian woman who declared that a certain seasonal series Peg had stitched for her was incomplete because it didn't include a Columbus Day piece.  Being as accommodating as she is talented, Peg designed and stitched one.  She has since shared it with friends she knows to be of Italian descent.  I'll be very happy to be able to add this to my basket of smalls once I finish it as a small pin pillow.  Happily enough, I actually started stitching this on Columbus Day.

And the second piece will serve as my annual Halloween piece for 2013.  It is a challenge piece from Plum Street Samplers but I didn't participate in the challenge having missed the deadline.  I used some 14ct banding in eggshell trimmed in a muted green that has been kicking around in my stash for a while.  I paired the banding with Perfect Palette & Needlepoint Inc Silks Inc. left over from a Primitive Needle Project.  And instead of stitching the number 13 or 31, I attached a small sterling witch charm in the semi-circle.  I also replaced some of the stitches in the border with beads.  I will finish it as a small Treat bag that I will use for one of my grandchildren next year.

After all, I couldn't let October pass completely by without stitching something autumnal!

A Lengthy & Overdue Post

In one of the last of my pre-disappearance posts, back in April, I said I'd post photos on Wednesday ... I  just didn't say which Wednesday.  In religion class, I would call that a lie of omission..  Now, I don't lie as a general rule.  But, somehow, life made a liar out of me.  May is always a very busy month in Religious Education: end of semester and quarter tests and progress reports, First Communion, Confirmation, Registration for next September, developing the calendar and volunteer roster for next September, the last catechist meeting of the year, regional and archdiocesan end-of-year meetings, updating permanent record cards, textbook inventory and orders.  To say the least, I was slammed at work.  And then, in June, there are all the end-of-year celebrations which I tend to consider worse than work: the parish's afternoon reception for volunteers, the parish team end-of-year dinner, the archdiocesan Communion Breakfast.  There's also plenty of clean-up and catch-up work leftover from May: making appointments for testing all the children whose parents thought Little League was more important than finals, continuing with registration, dealing with parents disappointed with their children's final progress report, dealing with parents who can't quite understand why they are closed out of the classes they "need" when they waited till the fifth week of registration to come in and why shouldn't their little darlings jump to the head of the Tuesday waiting list instead of being placed in a Thursday class where there is adequate room.  It's a fun month and probably the month with the highest number of complaints.  It's also the month when I consider a career change nearly every year.  But somehow I get through it with my sense of ministry and mission intact.  But, I don't think I have ever gone a whole month without blogging since I began writing this one.  Not only have I gone two whole months without barely a post or two ... I have been doing very little stitching, which explains why I had so little about which to blog!  Mostly I have been reading and vegging out.  I guess it's to be expected that as I get closer to retirement age that it takes me longer to spring back from a school year.  And it surely doesn't help that the Social Security Administration keeps moving the finish line.  I expected to retire with full benefits at 65 and now I'll have to wait till 66.5.   Hell, I remember  attending the World's Fair back in '63 in NYC where the folks at the GE Pavilion had promised that by the time the millennium rolled around, we would all be working from our homes on networked computers and we would be enjoying shorter work days and more leisure time.  Promises! Promises!

But, finally, I do have a few photos to show you of two off-goal projects ... with so little stitching time available to me, I just went haywire and worked on a few quick stitches/easy new starts.

The first is a bookmark started long ago, before I started lining my bookmarks, simply fringing them.  I  designed this one as I went along, using bands of my favorite specialty stitches.  I may go ahead and line this one after the fact, anyway.

And a small freebie sampler [from Plum Street Sampler, I think] that I changed up a bit, replacing the alphabet with the greeting "Happy Halloween".  I'll finish this piece either as a trick or treat bag for one of my grandchildren or as a small throw pillow.





Not much to show for two entire months ... just two tiny projects, one of which was already started.

But I hope to get back into my usual stitching routines in the coming months.  July is a much more reasonable month at work: ongoing registration slows to a trickle, the summer building maintenance walk-through is a thing of the past, the supplies inventory is done.  All that's left is  preparing the 2013-14 Catechist Binders, updating catechist files and some summer home study evaluations.  Mostly just paperwork.  And a more sanity inducing schedule of 9-5, Mon-Thurs.  I may even get ahead of the game, writing and developing some special Family Catechesis Events for November and March.  And then, in August, four glorious weeks of vacation before the whole thing starts up again in September.  There's a certain comfort in the cyclic nature of my work, since I can count on breathers after mad rushes.

ALL HALLOW'S EVE Stitchery

 As I had promised a few days ago, I am showing my Halloween finishes just as I have shown my Autumn finishes ... or at least as many as I have photographed.  Halloween is one of my favorite holidays - perhaps because I work with children and continue to see it through their eyes.

This first is a Homespun Elegance design, a companion piece to The Stitcher, clearly entitled Witches Stitch Too.    I have stitched both pieces and will eventually finish them as pillows.

This is Miribilia's Halloween Faerie.  Though I love the finished piece, I was not thrilled while stitching it. The charted colors just didn't seem quite Halloween-ish enough.  I am very glad I stuck with the kitted materials though because it really did come together beautifully in the end.  Just an aside: I seldom buy kits because I like to keep my options open as to fabric and fiber.  But this kit was worth the investment.

This is one of the entries in the Shepherd's Bush Be Attitudes monthly series, stitched large on a 10ct fabric.  Ultimately, I'll stitch it into a Halloween Trick or Treat bag for my grand-daughter.  But she is still in the "I love pink - I am a little princess" stage, so I'll wait a bit on this one.  She's only three and I think a trick or treat bag like this would make her cry.

This is one of my favorite ornaments from the various JCS Halloween issues.  Called Full Moon, it is actually an excerpt from a larger piece, Sleepy Hollow, from Ink Circles which I also have in my stash to be stitched someday.  In any case this is just one of two versions I have stitched: the second was on a purple linen and was given away in an exchange.

This is Blue Ribbon Designs's Perched on a Pumpkin, yet another of the JCS Halloween issue goodies.  I love owls and pumpkins, so what's not to like?

This is Winifred Witch from M Designs, also a JCS Halloween issue ornament,  I knew I had to stitch this one as soon as I saw it.  In spite of the green skin tones this is one pretty witch.

Another Ink Circles contribution to the JCS Halloween issues, this is Fleur de Boo: a geometric in Halloween colors with Sharon Crescents Belle Soie.  I think I liked this one just because it was so unexpected.  And of course, any excuse to stitch with Belle Soie is a good one.  I am constantly expanding my collection of Belle Soie silks so that I can convert charts using cottons to my favorite silks. I don't have a complete set by any means but I am working toward that goal.

This little clothespin witch doll was another of those rare kits in my stash.  It was an "extra" in an exchange and was a really fun stitch.  I had it in my office one Halloween and ended up giving it away to one of the children who admired it.  I still have the chart and some more black linen and have always intended to stitch it again someday.

Jane Greenoff's Blackwork Owl:  Owls and witches seem to go together, at least since the Harry Potter stories ... so this little blackwork owl is one more ornament for my Halloween tree.

This is Elizabeth Design's Spooky Tree, from the first JCS Halloween issue.  I trimmed it as suggected with raffia.

Homespun Elegance is one of my favorite designers and I love her Olde Brass charms ... they really add a je ne sais croix to her design, Boo Pumpkin.  I also like her practice of stacking motifs for more visual punch.

This is the Prairie Schooler Night Owl ornament from an early JCS Halloween issue.  I love this little guy but he gave me fits for some reason.  I kept counting my stitches incorrectly.  I own another version of this same chart, stitched one over one, and received as an exchange.  I couldn't help but marvel at the perfection of the one over one version when I had had such trouble with the 2 over 2.  And it is a very straightforward chart.  I have stitched many more difficult and complex projects than this with no trouble at all.  I still can't figure out why it gave me such trouble.

From the very first JCS Halloween Tree issue, this is The Sweetheart Tree's entry, Pumpkin on Gingham. It is another of those painlessly repeatable designs that I have used  for exchanges and gifts and will do so as long as I have some of that gingham linen in my stash.

La-D-Da's Trick or Treat featuring witches boots and stockings was another must stitch but for a different reason than usual.  I had this great blue and yellow cording that I wanted to use so I adjusted the color of the stockings to match.

I am not sure what sheep have to do with Halloween but this ewe in a witch's hat beside a pumpkin stack is irresistible.  It was a gift  and is Shepherd Bush's Boo Sheep.

This simple little beauty was designed by Sue Donnelly and was part of the loot in the swag bag of one of her Mystic Stitcher's Hideaways that I attended.  Sue always includes a little gift kit of her own design.  She is not only a very organized provider of great stitching retreat experiences; she is an extremely creative and gifted designer as well!

This childhood taunt keeps showing up in Halloween ornament designs: I am not particularly crazy about this version but it was a quick and easy stitch.  The designer is Cherry Wood Designs.

I really enjoyed this very quick little stitch.  It came from the same leaflet as the tall skinny witch with a pumpkin that you see several photos below.

This is a Glory Bee design.  If I remember correctly [I no longer have the chart] this was one of three designs meant to be stitched in a row.  I used a higher count fabric and stitched them as Halloween ornaments.  I also embellished them with some beads in the borders to give them a little more glitz  and glamour as ornaments.

I know I stitched all three of these Glory Bee designs, but these are the only two I have on hand, so I must have given the other, Treat Time, featuring candy corn, away long ago

This is another Glory Bee ornament, this one from a JCS Halloween issue.  I may be slow on the uptake every now and then but I honestly didn't get the visual pun of the skeleton key until I e-mailed the designer about it.  As the kids would say, "Duh!"

This is another of my favorite Halloween ornament designs, Starry Pumpkin, a complimentary chart from Homespun Elegance, I have stitched it at least half a dozen times for gifts and exchanges.  Shown here are two versions.  The photo directly above is one version of the Homespun Elegance Star Pumpkin ... only without the star charm.   This round example was given away at a retreat as part of an exchange grab bag.

But the one with the bright orange cording and the Olde Brass charm is the one I kept for myself.

This tall skinny witch was one of two designs in the leaflet [see the Salem 1692 design above].  I think she is very sweet in her own endearingly primitive fashion.

And here are some of the ornaments displayed on my entry hall table along with a few of my owl figurines.  

For over 25 years, I have worked in a Catholic parish, either as a teacher in the parochial school or as the Coordinator of the Religious Education Program for children attending public schools.  We never throw anything away in Catholic schools!  While browsing in the school library one day, I found an ancient volume with this very old-fashioned Halloween poem that reminded me of my own school days in the 50s.  So I stitched it into a classroom door banner.  Many of you will recognize the Black Cat Motif  and vining from Prairie Schooler's Designer Series Halloween chart and the Homespun Elegance Starry Pumpkin motif at the bottom.  I had a lot of fun stitching this piece on my lunch hours in the faculty lounge.  But I remember one of my colleagues questioning how I could just stitch the verse on blank linen.  I was surprised and replied that if I could write with pencil and paper, why shouldn't I be able to do the same thing with needle and thread?  I couldn't understand why she thought it would be so difficult!

This is a Monster Bubbles chart, again from the JCS  Halloween issues.  It is a witty and clever design and much funnier in real life.  It is hard to see in the photo, but those loops of ribbon are actually the over-the-top hair do of a skull sipping from the martini glass.  The satiric take on Madonna's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun was simply irresistible.  This was another of those charts that I knew I just had to stitch the moment I saw it.

This is Primitive Needle's Halloween Revelry, a chart which appeared in JCS Sept. 2009.  I was attracted by the offbeat and quirky design.  I believe this is the first Primitive Needle piece I stitched.  Of course, I have gone on to stitch many of her designs since that time.  Her untimely death in the terrible flash floods that hit her area a  few years ago was a terrible tragedy.  

All I cam tell you about this piece is that it is a freebie that a stitched a very long time ago.

Brightneedle's Esmeralda's House was one of the cleverest and quirkiest pieces I have ever stitched.  Every room has a bunch of little surprises.  It's like one of those Where is Waldo? books ... lots and lots of visual stimulation.  I took a class with one of the Brightneedle ladies and was able to get this chart autographed.

And this is another one of my favorites: Not Forgotten Farms, The Giving Sisters.  It reminds me of the old woodcut illustrations found in 19th and 18th century books.  My only quibble is with the green faces.  I tried all sorts of different flesh tones but ultimately frogged them all and went with the charted green.

This trick or treat bag uses Raise the Roofs' Boo Whoo as its centerpiece.  Instead of stitching it over two on 40ct to come up with an ornament , I stitched it over two on 28ct for this larger version.  I think it made a really adorable Halloween accessory for little Liam.

Another Trick or Treat Bag for the grandkids: this one featuring Homespun Elegance's Mr. Jack-o-Lantern.  It reminds me of another piece I stitched long ago and made into a classroom banner for my niece, Raise the Roof's Sweet Tooth, which I somehow never got around to photographing.

And yet another Trick or Treat bag: if I remember correctly this is a Glory Bee design.  But I am not about to swear to it.

And I have even brought the Halloween theme to my love of tea.  I wish I had a teapot just like this stitched one with some pumpkin mugs to match.  Wouldn't that be fun!  This is a chart from Silver Needle;s Secret Needle Night and is one of Mona Best's designs.






There are still quite a few Halloween pieces that I have stitched but that I have never photographed.  It happens to be a favorite theme of my daughter's as well and I gave her many pieces before I got in the habit of photographing them.  And I can't even begin to estimate the Autumn and Halloween charts I still have in my stash.  Perhaps doing just such an inventory could be material for another post.  I'll have to think about that.