TOO CUTE FOR HALLOWEEN . . .

It's Halloween tomorrow night and due to my chaotic year so far, I've managed to stitch a BIG FAT NOTHING towards it!

In my last post I did mention that I was quite close to finishing a WIP but struggling rather .... well, being back in blogland again and hearing from so many of you must have spurred me on and

ABRACADABRA

(come on! it is nearly Halloween!)

let me show you . . .

DOBBY

I don't think there will be anyone out there who doesn't know who this little cheeky chap is but just in case (where have you been?) ~ he's the cute house-elf from Harry Potter and in our house we love him to bits!

He was stitched in just 10 shades of DMC on 18-count white Aida, I had thought about changing to a linen or evenweave but as the design was stitched edge to edge, it didn't seem worth it.  I started him back in September so I suppose not too long in completing but as you can see from the next picture, there is no definite parts of the design to stitch, it's just random patches of colour and quite often just 1 or 2 crosses of a shade in the middle of another colour!  It was only when I put it down each time at the end of 2 or 3 nights stitching that I could see any definition of the image!

Anyway, hope you like him ~ this is the only design I will have done in time for Halloween and although he's not the prettiest, he's just toooooooooooooooooo cute!

A little finishing to show too . . .

Christmas Patches ~ now a simple pillow and finished with the fabric shown in the background!

Have a fun Halloween everyone

Thanks for stopping by

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx

HAPPY DAYS . . . .

After a full recovery by all of us the last week has been just perfect!  A big Thank You to those of you that left get well messages on my last post - really, really appreciated.

My gang of three all went back to school today and I've really missed their company.  Last week was lovely ~ the days have been sunny and warm and that always makes 'Happy Days'.  My twin boys belong to a local church youth group and they have an Easter Holiday Club for the young children and this year Twins I and II were both chosen as group leaders and enjoyed making cakes, candle holders, performing drama and music and having wet sponges thrown at them by the little 'uns.  They celebrated their hard work at the end of the week with all the other leaders with a get-together in the evening with a fish and chip supper.  The normal treat on school breaks is to delay bedtime by one hour but they were both so exhausted from the leaderships that they were more than happy to retire at the normal time!!! (now they may realise just how exhausting it is looking after demanding children)!

DD's bedroom was successfully decorated and is really pretty in pink.  Her big treat for the Easter Hols was to get see her idols ~ Diversity (street dancers and winners of Britain's Got Talent 2009) last Thursday evening down in Brighton.  She has had her tickets since last December and has literally been counting down the days until the big event.  She left midday with her friend and was determined to see them arrive in their tour coach ~ 3 hours later she did and after the show waited for them yet again and was lucky enough to meet several of them and get autographs.  She was on a high all day Friday and when she read on Twitter that they were still in Brighton at a well-known hotel and not leaving until Saturday morning she set her alarm clock early and set off again to hunt them out (what a dedicated fan!!!!)   I was dreading she would get there too late and that they would have made an early get-away so I can't tell you how relieved I was when she rang me midday to say she had met all of them this time and they had each posed with her for photographs!!

And now for me .... with the children all occupied and happy I was able to settle down to a good dose of sewing.  Cluck, Cluck is complete and I'm really happy with it ...

'Cluck, Cluck!!' by The Stitching Shed

stitched on 28count Sand Minster Linen with Anchor threads provided

I was going to frame it and hang it in the kitchen but DH says it will make another nice pillow for the sofa in the Study so I shall find a nice colourful backing fabric and add some heart embellishments.

My fabric for my recently finished Noah's Ark arrived and I have finished that into a pillow, I only added the one embellishment to the front, I was going to add three different ones but it looked too busy ...

'Noah's Ark' by HeartStrings

stitched on 14count Rustico Aida with chosen DMC threads backed with Debbie Mumm Noah fabric and Debbie Mumm white dove embellishment on front

And finally a completion from the bottom of the 'finished' pile from sometime ago ~ Harry Potter!  I knew I wouldn't be able to find the right size frame for this piece so I turned it into a stand up with a star themed fabric and it now stands in the bookcase along with the complete set of Harry Potter books.  I stitched this design from a DMC Harry Potter publication which was only produced in French but was easy to follow, the book has lots and lots of the characters and logos and I would love to add Ron and Hermione to make the infamous trio!  I often think how lucky my children and I have been to actually live the Harry Potter story as it has been told, everytime a new book or film was released we were always there on the day to buy or watch it and with only 2 films left to see now it will be horrible when it's all finished!!!

'Harry Potter' from DMC's Harry Potter Collection

stitched on 14count white Aida with suggested DMC threads

So, what to stitch next?  I can't make up my mind so am stitching a small Lizzie*Kate as a fill-in . . . The Prairie Schooler's 'When Witches Go Riding' is very tempting as is my recent purchase of BBD's 'Midnight Watch' ~ is it too early for Halloween now the Sunshine is finally here ????

And lastly my little sunbathing friend Buttons who's insisting the next stitch should be 'Briar Rabbit' by La~d~Da - it is a gorgeous chart but I've yet to find a fabric I would like to stitch it on . . . .

HAPPY STITCHING . . . .