isn't it ironic...or is it?

I always get confused as to what constitutes irony as opposed to coincidence. For instance, if a kid is carving a barfing jack-o-lantern (you know, the kind with the gaping mouth with the pumpkin innards spilling out of it) and then runs into the bathroom and throws up, is that just coincidental or is it irony? That's my DD, she picks the best times to become ill, this time on Halloween eve. Not quite as bad as when she got sick the morning of her 7th birthday, when I spent hours trying to reach her guests to tell them not to bother showing up to her party. *sigh*


Anyhoo, on to business...my own personal random number generator (DS) has told me that the winner of the giveaway is Meari--Meari, please shoot me an e-mail with your info. Feel free to poke me repeatedly until I respond. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night.

I will probably have another giveaway shortly, since I have lots of charts I will probably never stitch or never stitch again, and for some reason I keep buying more...so until then, have a good stitchy Halloween!

finishing frenzy and a giveaway

Well, as the title indicates, I have been finishing off things like crazy--quite out of character for me since finishing is my least favorite part of stitching. Since my last post, Matter's Choice, the Bent Creek houses, the Partridge and Farmer's Alphabet were all framed and have gone off to the auction. I would like to show pictures of them in all their framed glory, but that would require a level of forethought that I am apparently not capable of (which is to say, I forgot to take pictures before sending them off). They all looked good in my humble opinion, despite my mediocre framing skills. The one that I could not bear to part with was Christmas Tea by Plum Street Samplers. This is now being added to my own stash of Christmas decorations.

Also finished (but not re-homed) was some of my recent Halloweeny stitching. I think this Blackbird Designs one is my favorite, I loved this design from the moment I saw it.

This is another design from the Trix or Treat booklet which I used for the top of one of my multitude of little wooden boxes.

Another wooden box, not yet finished. I stitched this from a design in a cross stitch magazine years ago.

My DS spotted the perfect frame for Scared Silly at Michael's.

Finally, I turned another piece I stitched a long while ago into a needlebook.

My sewing skills are not even on a par with my framing skills so I

will be keeping this one for myself too. This design is Corn Crows and Cats, an old one from The Goode Huswife.

Which brings me to my first-ever giveaway in celebration of DD's (and her mom's) birthdays. This is not something you would be likely to find in your local LNS (at least I don't think so) since it's been out of print for quite a while, and I don't think the designer has re-released it-- The 1824 Penny Rug Sampler from The Goode Huswife. Penny rugs seem very cozy and Christmas-y to me, so I figured this would be a good choice for the season. This will come to the winner fully kitted up--the chart calls for DMC with no suggested conversions, but I know some of you like to work with silks, so if you want silks instead, let me know and I will try to figure something out. I may add some random Christmas things as well (just don't ask what 'cause I haven't figured that out yet).

To keep things simple, in order to enter just leave a comment on this post, one entry per person. You don't have to be or become a follower (unless *you like me...you really really like me* as the Flying Nun once said) and you don't have to advertise my blog on your blog. I will draw a winner in one week on Halloween!

Until then, happy stitching! Thanks again for all past and future comments!

(*I wanted to add...this chart is "used" in that I have stitched this design, but it is completely unmarked and has been sitting in a plastic baggie for the past few years.)

giveaway alert

Hi folks,

Jaz over at Octoberfarm (http://www.octoberfarm.blogspot.com/) my favorite non-stitchy site, is having a terrific giveaway. Whether or not you enter, her blog is well worth checking out for the awesome pics of her trip to Salem!

I decided to jump on the bandwagon and have a giveaway myself to celebrate DD's birthday and my own (which are 3 days apart) so stay tuned!

farewell Jasmine and other news

Well, dear Jasmine has gone on to her new home. I had quite a time getting her there, however. The weekend following my last post, with about a week to finish this project, I became deathly ill with some horrible flu-like illness and spent about 3 days literally unable to get out of bed, much less stitch. When I finally emerged from my mental fog, I looked for Jasmine and could not find her. Anywhere. Rest assured I do not have a cavernous house to search--it's more the equivalent of a shoebox--and all my WIPs are kept, in separate baggies, in one large basket. I started to worry that I would not be able to use my favorite mommy line on the kids--"Well, (fill in the blank) didn't disappear into thin air..." since my stuff was, in fact, disappearing into thin air. Then finally late Wednesday night I found her, in her baggie, wedged into the space in between my bed and the wall. I still have no idea how she got there. I suppose in my flu-induced delusional state I took her to bed with the idea of stitching in between bouts of throwing up? Somehow I managed to finish her in the remaining two days before the party--I left out some of the backstitching, which I didn't like the look of anyway, some beads and some details on the dress, but she turned out O.K. anyway--at least she has legs now. Unfortunately, since I was still stitching until within about half an hour before we had to leave for the kid's party, I only had time for one photo, which is not that great, but...it's all I have to show!



I also managed to get through the first round of the LHN exchange, and the exchange piece was received by my partner, but...can't show that either, since I forgot to take a photo, and said piece is now in Belgium. But this is what I received from Jennifer. Is
cute, no?

I think I am addicted to exchanging. I signed up
for the second round of the LHN exchange, joined a BBD exchange and a biscornu exchange which should be interesting since I've never made a biscornu before. Hopefully my partner for that one will have a sense of humor.



I finally have some Halloween stitching to show as well--Scared Silly by Birds of a Feather, done with the recommended Weeks threads on Silkweaver Starquest laguna. I also broke my stash diet and picked up some Halloween charts







one of which I could not
resist starting. I definitely need some more Primitve Needle charts.







I got a start on Hallow's Nigh by Notforgotten Farm too, but this one has come to a crashing halt as I misplaced this pattern--seems to be a recurring theme with me these past few weeks. If my senioritis continues to progress at this rate I'll be in an assisted living facility by Christmas, lol.


Anyhow, as you may have surmised by my last post, my kiddies and I love their school. Around this time each year the school has its one and only fundraiser, an auction of various items donated by families & friends. I see this as a prime opportunity to re-home some of my finished items--these are the ones I am thinking about donating this year...

Matter's Choice (Carriage House Samplings)







Farmer's Alphabet (Prairie Schooler)





Black Bird and Blue Bird (Bent Creek)





Quaker Heart (Ink Circles) Christmas Tea (Plum Street
Samplers).









and Partridge (Designs by Pamela). I don't have any very large pieces finished so I thought I would pick 3 or 4 of these & have them framed or otherwise suitably finished (by which I mean I will probably take time to pick off all the cat hairs).

That's all my news for the time being. Thanks all for visiting!