Halloween Funnies

A Halloween RAK - from Trish!!!

Many, many thanks to Trish, who suggested that I could do a second Boo!, since I'm still not entirely happy with the fabric I got :) Today I received a large envelope with not one, but TWO gorgeous pieces of purple fabric, and a bunch of wonderful Carrie's Threads - a Lucky 13 set of Halloween goodies!

Such pretty colors!!! Now I'm wondering what Murky Manor would look like on that solo? Oh, so many ideas, so little time!!! Thank you again, Trish!! I can't believe someone giving up TWO pieces of purple fabric :)

The End of October? An Update

Where did this month go? I can't believe this is the last week already! Days are just flying by, way too fast! The fact that it feels like late November here doesn't help - the leaves are already changing, which is really unusual for here - but since we've also had rain, there are some beautiful colors out there! I might even get a chance to get some pictures of them! I am looking forward to the coming time change - we'll see what an extra hour over the weekend will help me get accomplished :)


On to the stitching! You might've seen my finish last week of the small Halloween travel project, Ghosties & Ghoulies. Well, Friday night, I made it and that other little Halloween project into pinkeeps! It took a trip to JoAnns and to a Wal Mart that still has fabric to find backing fabrics and ribbons, and I couldn't find any Halloween/Fall straight pins, so I dug into the beads and made my own :) These were pretty easy - and I laced them instead of going all crazy with the glue :) The front of the first one:

The back:


I want more of this fabric from Walmart - they have a couple of jelly rolls of it, to make a strip quilt - don't know if I can manage that or not, and knowing my luck, they'll be gone anyway.

Here's the 2nd one:


Now - to get something to display these in! I need something that is glass/covered, so I'll be on the lookout when I'm in Hobby Lobby next, with all that great glass stuff they have :) If I can do some for every season, then it can stay out on the table in the living room (that currently is holding the frame for my finished RR piece that I need to get done, too).

And, I have another finish to report - instead of working on Knotgarden this week, when I was home resting on Monday, I decided to get Chatelaine MMM03 out for a bit - and kept it out all week! I got it DONE last night!!!! My first Chatelaine finish ever!!! I do not want to stitch TG Camouflage on black fabric ever again - holy crap that was hard! But it's done, it's awesome, and the picture isn't great, but as good as I can get of a project on black at 10:00 at night :)


If I had known there was only a week's worth of work left, I should've pulled it out a long time ago! And I would really like to send it to Jill Rensel to at least mat - this might be the only one I can afford to have her do :) I did tell DH that sending this to Utah would be a nice anniversary gift in January...

I went to my local stitching group on Saturday, and took Boo! with me. I got the next block about half-way done, and plan to finish that up tonight before dinner:


I also picked up Purrfect Summer Day again, but nothing photo worthy, as I did the white parts of the next cat :) Should have a black cat by the end of this week. I didn't work on Jodie's RR again, like I figured I wouldn't. I will be sending that on to Anita today - I know she will enjoy working on it as much as I did! And I will be looking forward to the next one I get, which I think is Anita's Wiehenberg sampler! I did receive my Cecilia's order from the Online Needlework Show, too - two Ink Circles and that Quaker Halloween from Cherished Stitches - I have an order coming from Vikki Clayton, too, that includes a LOT of purple sample tags for the Quaker :)

This week is Sampler Week; I will work on AD Samplar 4 Saisons, I know, and one or both of my Halloween projects. Nothing else really planned, so check back next week to see how that goes :) I'd like to crank through Spring on Saisons - looking at the pages of the chart, it looks like a lot to go, but looking at the finished thing, it doesn't look like that much. So maybe I can get it done this week, maybe not - I have no idea, really. Everyone have a great - and safe - Halloween, and Happy Stitching!

A Small Finish :)

I had all but "Halloween" done after lunch today, so as soon as I got home and got a couple of things done, I sat down to finish Ghoulies :) Not shown: a picture of the glow-in-the-dark moon and creepy face on the tree - no way my camera will pick that up... This is smaller than that little Foursome Reel piece :) I think it will also be a pinkeep, if I can find a good fabric for it...

This freebie can be found on the Free Charts tab of : http://www.darksideofthemoon.com.au/index.php?p=1_1

A Puny Monday Update

Hi, everyone! This week's update is puny because I've been feeling puny since last Thursday, when I came home from work just exhausted and with a killer headache that didn't let up until Sunday. I thought I might be getting the flu, but it never got that bad, so I guess I either had some other bug, or just really burnt myself out with all the running and doing I've been doing the last few weeks. I'm home today, laying around (in between loads of laundry - a kid cleaned his room yesterday, so now I have 3 more loads :( ). I was sleeping pretty good until Dumb Dog thought I ought to get up:

On to the week's stitching. First, I have to report a major frog infestation, all due to my inability to count. I got home late on Monday (after attending arena concession stand training for fundraising - yay me), and decided to pick up 6 Bats, because it's quick & easy. Did a few blocks, went to bed. Got it back out Tuesday before dinner, and I finally decided to realize that my entire 2nd column was 1 stitch too wide. I counted and counted and counted as I was doing the borders - and still hosed it up! DAMMIT!!! And because there is a border of eyelets all around, I kinda had to make it right - no way to fudge those eyelets and make it look right. So Tuesday, I started ripping it out. And because it is that horrible WDW thread, I couldn't save even an inch of the stuff. I WILL NEVER USE WDW AGAIN. I love their colors, but boy is their thread crap! Anyway, I re-stitched part of what I took out on Wednesday, though didn't get it back to where it was, quite.

This is what it looked like before - and now I see the miscount pretty plainly. You know how it is, being so close to it... Bloody nuisance frogs....

I am pretty close to finishing my Halloween lunch project, hopefully this week, if I don't take a nap for lunch instead. I got the words done last week and started on the tree. I also modified the bats in a way I can live with - it'll probably look like a blob in the photos, but up close, I think it looks pretty bat-like, unlike the way it was originally drawn. If I can get the tree done, then I just have the moon - I'm going to use Kreinik GITD for it - then 1 more bat, and it's done, too! Then I need to make it and that other Halloween freebie I did into pinkeeps. I can't find any cool pins around here, so I'll have to raid the beads and make my own, I guess.

I also worked a little bit on Jodie's RR - got that 2nd bird done, the tray over to the next bird, and about 1/2 of that bird done, too. I don't know if I'll work on it any more before shipping it on to Anita, or not - we'll see how this week pans out... I just can't wait for this to get home to Jodie, so she can get it framed and have it hanging - it's such a neat design! I'm glad I got to work on it!! Ignore the wrinkles - I took it right out of the Qs,a nd flattened it out best I could, and took the pics:



My main piece this week, if I hadn't had to fend off frogs for multiple nights, was supposed to be English Garden Sampler. I was able to stay awake long enough Saturday night and yesterday to get a little bit done on it, though, of course, not as much as I had planned to do this week. But I am inching closer to that first peacock :) Whole lotta green in this fountain scene...

The overall is here. Not a huge difference since last time - but since I didn't touch it last month at all, in my efforts to get fair stuff done, any stitch is better than none.

This week, back to Knotgarden, and I assume probably one Halloween project or another. I am hoping my charts from the Needlework Show arrive this week - I know Tracy was shipping stuff out last week, so Hopefully Cecilia's was one of the shippees :) I need to get that Quaker Halloween kitted up for next year - with some of Vikki's purples & black, of course :) And I want to get Murky Manor kitted, too - I've seen a recent WIP (since Chris hasn't worked on hers lately *hint*hint*) and I really want that to be next year's project :) I have a piece of Thunderstorm from Silkweaver that I need to see if it is big enough - I think that might work! Maybe I'll have the energy to do that later today :) Well, that's the news! Until next week, stay well and Happy Stitching!

Jeez - Another Soggy Monday Update

It is raining puppies & kitties out there, again. It has been pouring since before I got out of bed this morning - and I am on Week 4 of the barometer headache. Getting to work this morning sucked beyond belief - hydroplaned half the way, got blown off the road by idiots the rest of the time :( Git behind someone who slammed on their brakes every 2 seconds - and they had 1000 yards between them and the car in front of them. Being behind this clown caused at least 3 people in trucks to tailgate, one of them so close I couldn't see his headlights at all. God people are assholes...

Well, as far as this week's update, there's not a whole lot, again. The last couple of weeks have been chaotic, and this week will be, too :( But I did get some progress on my main piece for the week, Medieval Town Mandala. I thought I would make great progress and get that top row of buildings done; no such luck. I spent the entire week on that middle building and surroundings, and still didn't quite finish it.

I also have the Overall picture, and a Detail of just this building. Man, that backstitching up on that green roof was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, though I figured out, for the next side, to do the zigzags across, then the vertical lines. If I remember that when I get there.

I also did a little bit more time on Jodie's RR - I want to get another bird done and the tray over to the next one before I send it on. I should have time, between now & the 26th mailing date. I do almost have the bird done, just a couple more colors to go, and the tray should be pretty easy.


And I also did another block on Boo! - I could have kept going on it, but I was trying to get as much of that row of buildings done as possible - and did want to put a few minutes into a couple other things that I just didn't have time for. Here's Boo! - gotta get those buttons on the critters soon, because all these eyeless critters are kind of weirding me out:


I did do a tiny bit on my Halloween travel project, but nothing worth a picture. I only got an actual lunch break once last week, with all the running around and time I spent doing some non-work stuff (shopping the online needlework show, for instance). I did buy a few things from the ONS - two Ink Circles, Mother Maya & Kentucky Chain quilt square, and then the A Quaker Halloween by Cherished Stitches - I got these with my fair winnings :)

This week, I have to go to training to work a concession stand at another arena, for fund raising for my 16yo's high school soccer team. We have an event Friday night, which I am really dreading - a Hispanic concert, where the concessions will be 98% alcohol. Yay me. But hey, if we do well, maybe I'll be about done with this crap - we are 1/2 way to our individual goal already, and when we hit it, we are done - the rest of the people who don't have time are on their own. Also have opening night at the Gwinnett Gladiators Saturday! My company is springing for tickets & dinner for that! But somewhere in there, I am supposed to work on English Garden Sampler, and who knows what else, if anything. Until next week, Happy Stitching to everyone!

A Late, Wet, Monday Update

I have driven 300 miles in 24 hours - a soccer game SW of Atlanta yesterday, which was a 0-0 score and which is causing my 16 yo to go to the doctor tomorrow to see if he has any serious damage to his knee (and what should have been at a minimum a yellow card for the other team, but was nothing - not even a free kick); and then back over to the other side of the city today to pick up my fair entries and then to work. I'm tired of driving, and refs suck. But at least I didn't have any issues getting my goods back from the fair this year - no damage, no lost pieces :)


This was a busy week, and other going to the fair Wednesday night, I'm not really sure what the heck I was so busy with. Tired and moving kinda slow is part of it, but not all of it... I am ready for the time change - I need my hour back, STAT. And thank god it is on November 1 this year - not a minute too soon.

On to the stitching....

Lots less this week than last :) First, my Ghosties & Ghoulies travel project - I got a few more words done, but lunches were erratic last week, and I didn't even bother taking anything to games this weekend, as I had too many managerial duties to attend to. Once I get the words on, the rest (tree & moon) ought to go quick. I have to modify the bats that are on it - they look like seagulls flying past the sunset, not bat-like at all, but I'll figure that out when I get there. Here's the current:

My main project for the week was Lady & Unicorn again, and fortunately, I didn't run into too many issues with the parked threads from 2 years ago; only one was the wrong color/wrong hole, which I didn't know until I cut off the thread after finishing the two stitches it went to and went to put that bag in the bag. But I didn't frog them because I couldn't find them :) I only worked on this 5, maybe 6 hours all week, but I have a critter almost done - a lamb? goat? - and a flag pole and a tree trunk :) There's lots of confetti in this area; when I get done about 15-20 more rows, I have some solid color areas to look forward to. Here's where I left off last night:

And on Friday & Saturday nights, I did two more sections of Boo! I am 1 word short of half-way - and still kinda disappointed in the stupid fabric :( Still looks good, but I see the tiny areas that are the purple I wanted in the selvage and it just bugs me - this would just explode off the deeper purple... Here it is:

Surprisingly, that's it for this week :) I think I overdid last week - what do you think? Though, losing an entire weekend to soccer games certainly didn't help me any this week. This week, back to MTM and the first side of buildings - maybe, if I am lucky, I can get this side done this week! I also need to put more time in on Jodie's RR, and on Lyne's sampler, if possible. Until next week, Happy Stitching, everyone!

2009 Fair Results - Better Than Last Year, but Still One Head Scratcher

I found yesterday that the results of the fair judging are online - must be a new thing, and I have no idea when they put it up - last week, when it was done? No idea. At any rate, of the 11 entries I had, I managed to place 6 of them, four in 1st Place, two in 2nd Place! We went last night - it was just DH & I, as Big Kid was supposed to go to practice (and didn't find a ride), and Little Kid came home from school with a headache, and wasn't up to it. Which was actually okay, as we didn't have to spend time trying to force him to ride rides he is scared of, by himself no less, or listen to him whine about walking and looking at things :) Though I did have to listen to DH whining about food the whole time we were looking at the exhibits - can't wait to help those arteries harden up a little more, I guess....

At any rate, my winners were as follows: Halloween Fairy won 1st in the Other-Than-Christmas Holiday Craft of Any Kind - a really cool Halloween wreath was there last year.

This was the very first display area when we walked in. Then the hunt was on to find the rest of my stuff :) It was set up a little nicer this year, in that they had like items together - not sure if they were by category or subject matter, or both. They also had the individual alcoves blocked off - they should have done this every year. I wonder if something hanging up last year got broken by a fair goer? Probably. It made taking pictures harder.

The next one I found was my purple iris photo - it won first place in its category!!! I was complimented on it by the woman behind me in line on entry day, so I had high hopes for it :) There were a couple of 1st Place ribbons in the category, so I assume the judge couldn't pick one over the other, and awarded more than one (they can do that).


Then I found the photo I had of the soccer team lined up, waiting for their turns in a penalty kick tie breaker - it didn't place - but I'm not telling them until the season is over :)

Next was Christmas Corner; my set of 4 Dragon Dreams ornies won 2nd, just like the other set did last year - but at least this year, they were displayed much better! They lost out to a set of blown egg ornaments, one of which was really, really cool. My little Rosewood Manor ornie that got redone didn't place, but I didn't think it would, since I was too lazy to go back and try to fix that wonky seam where I closed up the opening after turning & stuffing.

Then I found the jewelry entries; my Autumn Cloisonne won 1st Place!! And the other two entries were almost identical pieces, which is really, really weird. They had to have been done by different people, as you can only enter once per category, and there's only 1 jewelry.

Next to the jewelry were my Autumn Mosaic Pillow, which won 1st place in the Miscellaneous Needlework category (they have nothing for cutwork of any kind), and Bouquet for Cheryl, which, like Fire Flower, got completely passed over.


You'll notice that these things are really just laying there, pretty much out in the open. There are signs everywhere to Please Do Not Touch, but you know, those aren't any more effective on adults than on kids :( As I was taking the picture, a woman walked over and picked up my pillow!!! Okay, she was showing the worked side to another lady in a wheelchair, but you know what? Don't touch the exhibits! If it had accidentally landed on the ground, I would have totally flipped out - for god's sake, we've had 20" of rain in the last couple of weeks, there is mud EVEYWHERE! I did mutter under my breath about not touching things, but I figured I'd better shut up, even though it was mine, dammit.

Now, the disappointment with Bouquet isn't the fact that it didn't place; the disappointment is in the fact that in it's category, only 1 ribbon was awarded. It went to a ginormous Monopoly Board that was done on 14ct aida - Bouquet was on 28ct something, so the two were in the same category. I saw the Monopoly Board when I took my entries in. The thing is just massive - at least 3' x 3'. The judging criteria is supposed to be 60% workmanship, and while the Monopoly Board really was pretty cool, there were a few very obvious boo boos in it, one of which should have been picked up easily enough by any non-stitcher who looked at it - in the outermost light blue-grey border, they either had a huge issue getting threads to lay right, or they changed dye-lots in their thread, so there was a section of 8-10 stitches in that border that looked totally wrong. The stitcher in me decided that on 14ct, they should have used 1 more strand of floss, especially on the black, and the two they did use weren't all laid very well consistently, making the coverage inconsistent. So, if this piece won on sheer size alone, okay - but why did Bouquet not merit a 2nd Place? I am not sure what other entries, if any, in this category there were; these two may have been it. But between the two, based on the actual criteria, mine was the clear-cut winner. And for the judge to decide to not award any other ribbons - that kind of smells like what we like to call home cookin' to me. Who do I have to buddy up with to get my damn samplers some recognition? Here's the Monopoly Board, which had to have a wall all it's own to hang on:


I then looked for my other two photos, The Woods & Dragonfly. Neither of them placed, either - I guess other folks don't dig dragonflies as much as I do - what's up with that?

And we thought we were done. The I remembered The Castle - see what happens when I throw something in last-minute? We looked and looked, and couldn't find it. From the online listing, I knew it had won 2nd place, but where did they put it? Finally, I walked over to the horticulture side, thinking a different perspective would help me spot it (in it's tiny 11 x 14, 2" frame). And there it was, on the back of one of the displays, all by itself, with a 6' table shoved up under it so you couldn't get close enough to see the metallic threads at all! I guess it didn't fit in with the way they were laying stuff out, so they just stuck it somewhere by itself :( At least the ribbon was showing, but if you didn't look at the horticulture side - and we rarely do - you would never have seen it - but that damn Monopoly Board gets a whole wall unto itself??? Again, I smell home cookin'.


Well, at any rate, not a bad showing, I guess - since I had more entries to help soften the blow of disappointment this year, I can live with the results. Still just stumped on the BfC category... There were so few needlework pieces entered, I guess I'm lucky they even have them at all. In the Fair 09 album, I did manage to take a picture of every piece of needlework I saw, including a few of the quilts; I did not include the afghans and all of that because they were too many, not laid out for photography, and to be honest, I didn't look at many of them - there are only so many neon & primary color things I can look at before my retinas hurt. Lots of pictures of the tigers and elephant, as well as things from the midway. Next year's special photo category is Americana - maybe one of these will be my entry :) And when I get my stuff picked up Sunday or Monday, I'll have $28 I didn't have before (which MIGHT cover my gas getting over there and back) - I'm buying a chart or two. no idea what one(s), but that's what i'm doing :)