Pumpkins in July

Greetings to those of you who are still following this blog despite my absences! I have wanted to post over the last few weeks but with kids and DH underfoot it has been near impossible to get near the computer or to stitch either, for that matter...

I am on the countdown to Halloween : ) much to the amusement of my family. Everyone seems to think my pumpkin frenzy is a bit premature but once the solstice has passed and the 4th of July festivities are done I am ready for fall--as evidenced by my recent stitchy choices:

Pumpkin Pete by The Trilogy--minus the words, colors tweaked a bit in accordance with what I had on hand. His shirt bears a scary resemblance to one of my DH's shirts which I am convinced is the world's ugliest

And Boo to You by Homespun Elegance, using some great hand-dyed thread from an eBay seller I recently discovered. I am working on another pumpkin from an old cross-stitch magazine and started Witch's Hill from Notforgotten Farm, but not enough progress to warrant a picture yet.

Do you like my eerie Casper pumpkin shot above? I wanted to show how big they have become, --I have four now, hoping for more by fall...

A few recent exchanges have been received by my partners. As usual, I forgot to photograph them before they were sent so the photos were all borrowed from the recipients. First off is my biscornu for June sent to Mayte at MagicXS (picture better than any I could have managed : )) This pattern was a freebie from the My Aunt's Attic blog, one of my favorites, done on antique white linen with Carries' Creations Phantasm. This thing turned out HUGE, the biggest biscornu I have ever done, but thankfully Mayte likes it..

Next is my offering for the Seasonal Exchange/Summer. This is the LHN pattern "Heart and Home" which I changed by replacing the berry basket with a flag, and the row of hearts on the top with a star, photo borrowed from my partner Tanya of the Friendship Crossing blog.

Finally, this is my exchange for Blyn for the Holiday Exchange (4th of July)--Happy Flag Flag Day by The Trilogy. This was my first attempt at a pinkeep and I am pretty happy with how it came out.

Thanks everyone for letting me borrow the pics, I am really going to try to remember to photograph my next exchanges before the mailman takes them away : )

I also wanted to thank Staci (Snippets and Stash) for her 400-follwer giveaway which I was lucky enough to win and which I received over the weekend.
There are some cute buttons, rickrack, napkins and note cards, among other things. Thank you Staci, this really cheered me up!

Until next time, happy stitching!