And Yet More Halloween Stitching!

I'm pleased to say that my morning sickness (or should I say 24 hour sickness - must have been a man that named it 'morning sickness'!) is starting to dissipate and I'm gradually starting to feel like my 'normal' self. Which means, instead of sleeping during DD's naps, I can now get back to stitching, hoorah! I've been trying to stitch as many Halloween ornaments as possible so that I can have a Halloween display this year. As I'm participating in BeckySC's Pumpkin Challenge, most of them are gourd related, two birds with one stone and all that! Berit and I have traded charts on a 'however long it takes' loan basis, so as soon as Prairie Schooler's 'When Witches Go Riding' leaflet arrived on my doorstep, I had to stitch this pumpkin design. I'm so happy with how it turned out. You know sometimes you get a finishing idea in your head, you go ahead and do it and it's nothing like you imagined it to be? Well, thankfully that didn't happen here! It's just how I hoped it would be. That ruching though, wow, it takes me soooooo long to do. In fact, I was watching the Commonwealth Games this afternoon as I did it, and England won 4 Gold medals in the time it took me to complete!


Pumpkin taken from Prairie Schooler's
'When Witches Go Riding' leaflet.
32ct Ivory Linen

The next finish is one I completed last week. I've used Blue Ribbon Designs 'Afraid of the Dark' leaflet several times but have never stitched it in its entirety. Again, I love how this turned out, in fact I think I prefer the back to the front! The ribbon is to die for, I've been looking for a reason to use it for a long time.


Pumpkin taken from Blue Ribbon Designs
'Afraid of the Dark' leaflet
32ct Ivory Linen


Back view of above

I have never tried a circular finish before, and this pumpkin from Prairie Schooler's 'Trick or Treat' leaflet was crying out for it! Unfortunately, it turned out more octagonal than circular, but as it was my first attempt I won't get too despondent and I kinda feel it adds to it's rustic charm!


Pumpkin taken from Prairie Schooler's
'Trick or Treat' Leaflet
32ct Ivory Linen

April and I participated in a private Autumn/Christmas exchange and as April has let me know that my parcel has arrived I can share what I stitched for her. The Pumpkin Keeper finish was another first for me, a diamond shape as opposed to my regular (and safe!) square or rectangular finish.


Pumpkin Keeper (freebie) from The Drawn Thread
32ct Summer Khaki Linen


'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' by Shepherd's Bush
32ct Summer Khaki Linen

I enjoyed stitching them both and I'm pleased that April likes them.

My final photograph is a recent purchase from etsy. I saw a pumpkin pin cushion on Valerie's fantastic blog and I knew that I just HAD to have one! After getting in touch with Valerie, she pointed me in the direction of etsy. The seller that Valerie had used didn't have the fabric I wanted so I eventually found a seller selling similar autumnal merchandise for very reasonable prices. Et voila, below is my bargain purchase!



In the last week or so I've received JCS Halloween 2010 & JCS Christmas 2010 ornament issues (courtesy of Catherine and Karen purchasing duplicate copies - thank you ladies!) Oh my, I wasn't disappointed! I have so many things I want to stitch, I just don't know where to begin first! I still have post-it notes sticking out from last year's issues indicating the pages of the 'must stitches'. Oh well, if I don't purchase next year's issues, perhaps I'll get them all stitched??? What are the odds I wonder?!

Regards,

Christina