Hi-Di-Ho, Halloween Lovers!

Happy belated Halloween! Hope everyone enjoyed the festivities and all the holiday related stitching. I wanted so much to share a some of my Halloween stitching before the holiday but couldn't seem to find the time to put my pictures and thoughts together at the same time. So I hope you don't mind a little leftover show and tell in no particular order.

This grouping was on our entertainment center in the living room. From left to right: "Happy Halloween" is from Little Stitches by Graph-It Arts; "Got Candy" and the basket wrap - not sure of the designers (if anybody knows, please let me know); the three little orange treat bags on top of the basket are from Halloween Silhouettes by Forever Friends; "October Sampler" is from 365 Tiny Cross Stitch Designs by American School of Needlework; and "Pumpkins" is from Autumn Holidays by Katrina Designs.

Halloween is my sister's favorite holiday so I always give her a gift of some sort. This year I gifted her with "No Scaredy Cats Allowed" from the Mostly Ghostly leafet by Waxing Moon Designs. The design originally had two black cats, but I replaced one with a Siamese cat. I wanted to stitch this for Jennifer in honor of her cats, Toby, her black cat, and Tucker, her Siamese cat. (Sadly, Toby passed away as I was finishing this up in September so I almost waited until next year to give it to her. I decided to take a chance and give it to her anyway. She did get a little teary, but said that she loved it.)

This is Jennifer holding the picture after we applied candy corn stick-on appliques to the frame. Just what it needed, don't 'cha think?

This is Lizzie Kate's "Boo Club", one of my 2009 finishes. I stitched it on 32 ct. Laurel linen that I purchased in Florida earlier this year. I saw it started on the Laurel linen and loved the look. However, if I had it to do over again, I would go with a lighter shade of green linen. It was a fun stitch (except for the border), I loved the floss colors and the cute little motifs and the sections stitched up so quickly.

I also have the Lizzie Kate's Christmas by the Letter charts and plan to stitch them on Picture This Plus 32 ct. Crystal Arial linen (a sparkly pale blue). Will I start it and get it done by Christmas? Yes, but which Christmas is really the question. LOL!

This Halloween Night from Mount Forest Frameworks. There are lots of buttons and beads on this one. I loved this frame and purchased the sampler chart because of the darn frame. I stitched it on a lavender evenweave which looks rather washed out in the picture. (That's what I get for taking pictures on a dreary day.) I finshed this a few years ago and can't remember the designer. (I have got to keep better notes!) I'll look through my stash and if I find the leaflet, I'll add the designer's name later. Click on the picture to see a bit more detail, each row has it's own border and buttons.

Next, is "Fat Cat" by Birds of a Feather. I think many of the Birds of a Feather designs are hilarious and in my opinion this is one of the funniest. As you probably can tell by the name of my blog, I love all things cat and just had to stitch this up. The look on the poor kitty's face is priceless and I certainly can relate. LOL!

Although I finished stitching this in 2007, I finally got around to making a frame for it this year. I made the frame from a flat surface molding and added wooden appliques to the corners to give it some interest (made it look kind of antique-y. (Is that a word?) I wanted a crackled finish and decided to go with a purple base and a black top coat. It turned out much more sinsiter than I planned. I kind of think it would be a better frame for a haunted house design. Anyhoo, I'm giving myself a few days to decide whether to leave the frame as is or spray it a solid black. What do you think?

This is another Birds of a Feather design, a freebie entitled "Halloween Costume". This little guy is being worked on 18 ct. Cork linen with pearl cotton. He is a work in progress and will be tucked away until our next car trip. You see, I made an important discovery this past summer. I discovered that 18 ct. linen and #5 pearl cotton are perfect travel companions. On one of our drives, I grabbed a Bent Creek kit to work on. It came with 18 ct linen and pearl cottons. I found stitching in the car to be very enjoyable for a change. No more struggling to thread a needle, count threads and get the floss in the right hole!

Last, but not least, the project that is currently sitting by my stitching chair, "Cats". This design is from an old leaflet, Autumn Holidays, published in 1982 by Katrina Designs.

 I've wanted to stitch this ever since I purchased the leaflet. So about a month ago, I came across it while looking through my stash and decided right then and there to pull the threads, find a suitable linen in my stash, mount it on scroll rods, and get to stitching. I'm using R&R 30 ct. Carrot and DMC floss. Just have half a cat left to stitch. Hope to finish tonight.

Whew...I can't believe how much comes spilling out when I start talking about stitching. I hope I didn't bore you to death and I hope you'll stop back again. I so enjoy sharing my needlework obsession...almost as much as I enjoy reading about yours.

Until next time, may your floss never knot and your fabric never wrinkle...