BOO!

The nights are getting cooler,


A chill is in the air...


Spooky ghosts will soon appear,


Scaredy Cats, BEWARE!


From Me to You: here's a big BOO! to all of you Stitchers out there....and of course,

Ghosties and Goblins and Ghouls, Oh My!

Katie Lou and I are having a tough time deciding on her costume for tomorrow's Halloween festivities.

Here are the options:


My favorite - HOBO DOG
("Hey Buddy....can you spare me a bone?...chicken's my favorite...
although them ribs you got are smellin' might good too...and I wouldn't say no to a hunk of that cornbread...")



DEVIL DOG
("Golly, I'm just the sweetest little angel...how could you think I'd EVER do anything bad?...it would never enter my mind...honest...")



PIONEER DOG
("Have I told you the story how my Grandpappy and Grandmammy trotted West under the covered wagons?...They bit some Injins on the way...and scared away them pesky ky-oats too...yessir they surely did...")



FRENCH DOG
("Oui, Oui, I have just had ze little stroll on the Chomps Elaysay....But of course I have a little bit of ze french dog in me. Pourquoi? Mon Dieu - because J'ADORE LES FRENCH FRIES!!!)



or Katie's favorite - FETCHIN' DOG
("Just throw it, throw it, throw it all ready!!! Come ON, forget the candy...I just wanna PLAY!")

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, Y'ALL...
HOPE YOUR DAY IS FILLED WITH LOTS OF TREATS!

A NEW Abstraction!

Well, I'm pleased to report that I've finished yet ANOTHER old project that I've had languishing in the back of my design pile. It's MALACHITE MAZE, the next in the abstract Impressionist Collection. I'm soooooooo happy to have finished this green beauty at last!


My inspiration for this piece was a hunk of real malachite, that I used to match all the green threads. I also thought that bargello patterns would echo the actual malachite rings, so I used two bargello patterns in the overall design. The focal point of the design is the central box with a four-way bargello pattern (something I've always wanted to try and this was the perfect use for it)....


The rest of the patterns are composed of easy stitches - just combined in interesting ways, using a variety of threads. As with my other abstracts, the patterns are worked in "thick and thin" areas - the outer areas are done with the thicker #5 pearl cotton threads, and the inner areas are worked in the same patterns, but with thin threads. This effect gives the piece some interesting texture and dimension, and I am always intrigued by the play of light and dark, thick and thin threads.


It has been awhile since I've done one of my abstracts, so it took me a bit of concentation to focus on the design.... But once I got back into my "green groove," I whizzed through this design in no time at all, AND enjoyed the process! (I was soooo relieved to see it finally finished after all this time - WOO HOO!)


And, for all you stitchers who might like to try this design in a different color, I do give you a list of the types of threads you need to pull if you want to change the colors.

If you are interested in MALACHITE MAZE, please visit my website and click on the IMPRESSIONIST COLLECTION page for more information.

Tricks or Treats?

A friend of mine gave me this cute, glittery sign that I hang on my office door this time of year:


Every time I look at it, I think, "Gee, that would look cute as a stitched project."
So this year, I sat down at the computer, picked out a nice fat font, scanned it into the cross-stitch software, then loaded it onto my website for a Halloween freebie pattern for all you stitchers. Here's the pattern. (You can find a printable version on my FREE PATTERN page on my website or you can hit the PRINT PREVIEW button on this page - under FILE - and then enlarge the page and print it directly from here):


The design count, including the border space around the letters, is 74 x 54.
The design size on 18 ct. canvas would be 4" x 3".

I'm not listing any threads for this little pattern, because I can easily think of a dozen or so fun combinations. Soooo, you'll just have to use your own creativity to pull the threads for this out of your own Halloweeny stash.

Try stitching the black outline in black Fuzzy Stuff, for a scratchy, witchy look... or maybe use a fun black metallic ribbon with orange and purple glints in it... And filling all those letters can be a real hoot! Use a variegated Halloweeny thread thruout, or perhaps stitch each letter in a different color....maybe a different metallic ... or HEY! how about some glow-in-the-dark colors?!?

And here's the one I stitched (it just took me two evenings) using all Ribbon Floss thread (BLACK: 148-202; PURPLE: 148-40; ORANGE: 148-035; GREEN: 148-056). Instead of framing it, I just wrapped it around a piece of mat board, so I can hang it from a door nob or drawer nob or maybe I'll just prop it up somewhere on a shelf...


Well, anyway, this is a fun and easy treat for all you Halloween lovers out there! ENJOY!

Friday Flowers: Chrysanthemums

I have resisted buying flowers this summer. What's the point, when it gets so hot you have to water every day and they wilt anyway? So I was really, really good this year until now. It's officially Autumn and suddenly I'm craving the smell of chrysanthemums. Just. Had. To. Have. Some.

So I got three blooming pots, intending to transplant them into larger pots,




and then I got some pumpkins at Granny's Pumpkin Patch


and when I made a grouping beside my front steps, everything looked so nice, I thought I'd just keep them this way.


So There.... I'm done. (And I can still enjoy looking and smelling them everyday.)

Have a beautiful October weekend...
(I hope you're all stitching on Halloween projects!)

A Few Impulse Buys...ahem

Last weekend I attended a needlework auction put on by the Mt. Tam Canvas Workers ANG group. They hold this fun event every two years (which gives them time to accumulate lots of yummy stuff). Anyway, the ANG ladies spend lots of time gathering, sorting, and pricing all the items - some go into the "live auction" event, and others go onto the "silent auction" table.

When I arrived, I checked out the silent auction items. There is an assortment of projects, some just canvases, some with threads, and some already started but donated by their owners. On each item there's a minimum bid, and then space for any interested stitcher to write their bid and their name. Not until the end of the meeting, when bidding is closed, do you know if you've won the item/s you bidded on. Anyway, I always enjoy finding an unexpected canvas or two, so it's very fun to splurge with a bid or two! (The Home on the Range canvas above just made me grin - but apparently no one else, so I won it with a very low bid.)

The MAIN EVENT is the live auction, where all sorts of canvases are held up for stitchers to vie for in a lively bidding war. There were so many lovely canvases (some complete with stretcher bars, threads and stitch guides) that it was hard to decide what to bid on. Each canvas has a minimum bid on it, so the bidder has some idea of the retail cost. There were several fantastic Pat Thode Santa canvases (but the bidding went beyond my budget, so I didn't win any of those)... But I did bid on and win a couple of interesting canvases that were total impulse buys. And I'm tickled pink with them! (One of them is a Sandra Gilmore canvas of pink hydrangeas in a watering can; you can just see a peek of the pink checked background in the photo above.)

They also had a few piles of assorted threads - and silk ribbons, as shown above. I bought some (not knowing what I'd use them for), but after I won the pink hydrangea canvas, I got to thinking maybe I'll try some silk ribbon flowers on top of the tent-stitched canvas....who knows! We'll just have to see how playful I get with that canvas...

By the end of the meeting, practically every stitcher had bid on something, and as they were leaving, everyone was pleased as punch to have snagged a bargain or two.I think I can safely say that a fun time was had by ALL the stitchers in attendance!

Post Script to Monday's Posting

If you're having trouble getting to Barbara Elmore's blogsite, STITCHPOGRAPHY,
you'll have to "google" it from your main internet page. Barbara's URL is a long one and it doesn't seem to recognize my link. RATS. But please perservere and visit her blog for lots of intriguing stitching inspiration.