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.)