Smalls SAL June Update

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Stitching Lotus

I chose three different monthly themes to follow this year:

Hallowe'en Ornie SAL - 12 different themes
Little Stitcher Fairy Tale 12 Days of Christmas - one per month
Primitive Hare Spooky Countdown - one per week starting 31st January

The theme for June's Hallowe'en stitch is "Any Freebie Chart".  I thought it would be nice for everyone to have a nice open choice for one month.  And a chance to share some of the great freebies the designers give us.  There is a whole page of links to freebie charts on the blog so if you love your Spooky Stitching, why not pop over and look up a few?

I haven't quite finished this month's design.  Can you guess what it is?  Is that steam coming out of her head? Maybe not LOL.

The Twelve Days of Christmas will be shown on TUSAL day, so that leaves the Spooky Countdown:

Blocks 19 - 21

Those of you familiar with the Spooky Countdown may have noticed that I have changed Block 21 completely.  The charted block is a decorative border for the word “OR” as in “Trick or Treat”.  If you stitch the piece as a sampler then it fits vertically between the blocks that say “Trick” and “Treat”.  But as I am using the blocks for my Countdown Calendar this would not have the same effect. 

Block 4 commemorated the famous Salem Witch Trials of 1692.  I am sure that most of my followers will be aware of these trials and the innocent women put to death as witches.  But how many of you have heard of the Witch Trials which set the legal precedent for those in Salem?  How many of you know the names Rose Cullender and Amy Denny?  In 1660, those two elderly widows were living in Lowestoft in Suffolk, England, a mere mile or so from where I was born, bred and am still living.  They were accused of witchcraft by a number of local residents, tried by the eminent Sir Matthew Hale and sentenced to death by hanging in 1662.

Some twenty years later a pamphlet was produced “A Tryal of Witches”, it was the evidence given in this pamphlet that persuaded the courts in Salem that “spectral evidence” was valid in a court of law and the Salem Witches began.

A well-know local historian Ivan Bunn has written an excellent academic book on the subject of the Lowestoft Witches and a rather more accessible website full of information about Amy, Rose and the other main characters in the trial.  http://www.lowestoftwitches.com/

There are links to the various people, photos of their homes and their gravestones.  One of the most interesting links for me is that of Samuel Pacy http://www.lowestoftwitches.com/samuel%20pacy.htm there is a great photo of his house today on this page.  It is very well-known to me as it is now a wool shop which also sells DMC to me!

Samuel Pacy’s daughter Elizabeth was one of the “victims” of the witches and an important witness in the trial.  He also had an older brother Nicholas, who had recently emigrated.  To the town of Salem, Massachusetts.

If you are at all interested in history and witches, particularly the witch trials I can really recommend spending some time on the website following the various links.

Here are two more smalls I finished last month but couldn't show.  The full story will follow soon,  there is still one gift making slow progress across the ocean!

Finally, the Summer Postcard Blog Hop has started!  The first postcard went to Gracie of  Needles, Pins and Dragonflies.  Follow the link to see her card, message and who sent it to her.  There is still time to join in with the Blog Hop, just click on the garden picture on the right hand side bar to find out more details.