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Saturday, 30 September 2017

Summing up the Birthday Pie

It's the end of September and my thoughts are turning away from my Birthday and towards Dark October culminating in the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop.  My annual spookfest around my friends' blogs to collect not candy but letters which will spell out a mystery phrase and win you a prize!

Here is a link to last year's Hallowe'en Hop so you can see how it all works:


If you'd like to be a picture poster please leave a comment or send me an email and I'll add you to the list.  We have a great group last year and a nice long phrase!

You've seen most of this month's stitching already but not my Just Nan band sampler Memories since the GG post on the 15th:



I finished the purple swags and went on to stitch the turquoise band:


There are extra bits to fill in, some satin stitch and some beads.

I did another letter on the Enchanted Alphabet Spooky Conversion:


I must confess to cheating.  I stitched O last month so it was P this month.  But because I am not stitching the flouncy girl in the middle I have to move P, Q and R to the right.  You can see the bottom of Q at the top, and that is R underneath with P charted at the bottom.  I have no idea why Marilyn charted the letters like that but rather than count all the way to P and risk getting it wrong I decided to stitch R as a P this month, stitch Q next month and then stitch P and finish R the following month.  Make sense?

stitched on 32 count Tiger Lily Murano by Crafty Kitten


I've also kept up with the Ten-a-Day project which is another Just Nan Summer in the Square.  I am up to Day 92 so this is 920 stitches:


I have been stitching the dark green border since Day 49, the 18th of August and have so nearly finished it!

So what else did I work on in September?  Here's some pie:



It's also time to tally up the spending for the month:

September
X-Stitch mag £6.00
Crafty Kitten fabric £13.00
JCS Hallowe'en issue £8.50
Waterlilies £5.25
JN Autumn Mouse £21.00
Kreinik £2.99
Satsuma St £4.18
Total £60.92

That looks like a lot, thankfully nearly all of it was Birthday money.

Finally, it's time to decide what to stitch for Dark October.  I have so many choices!

JBW Sweet Nothings and Shepherd's Bush Spooky Night
(gifts from blogging friends)

Nora Corbett's Raven on Crafty Kitten Nebula
(gift from a blogging friend)

Jardin Prive Happy Hallowe'en Night
(potential part work for the blog next year)

Stacy Nash Cast Your Spells
(gift from a blogging friend)

Just Nan's Autumn Mouse in a House
(Birthday present)

and the Dracula book cover



You have until tomorrow morning to decide what I should stitch first!





22 comments:

  1. I see you are your usual busy self with terrific projects. It's good to still see the alphabet and wonderful progress. My first choice would be Raven (as much for the fabric as the pattern), then Mouse in a House.

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  2. That mouse house. Eee.

    That mouse house you should stitch first.

    It looks so fun.

    MOUSE HOUSE!

    Also the JBW Sweet Nothings is cute too because cat.

    Actually, just start them all.

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  3. My oh my you have been busy. How are you doing on your Mandala?

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  4. Great stitching last month. I love your progress on the Just Nan piece, and also that Enchanted Alphabet addition.
    Always amazing to see how much a piece grows even by just adding ten stitches a dy. I also tried it on a smaller piece but it makes me kind of nervous to put the piece aside after only ten stitches, lol. Strange, huh. Maybe this method is not made for me.
    Ohhhhh, so many lovely Halloween charts. Hard to decide but I think I would choose Happy Halloween Night.

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  5. The Just Nan Sampler is lovely and your Enchanted Alphabet Spooky Conversion is coming out great!

    You have great choices for October. I don't think I could resist a Mouse in a House.

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  6. All your projects are looking great. I love love love that nebula fabric so I vote for that as your next start

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  7. Lovely progress! Your Enchanted Alphabet is amazing, the fabric is perfect!
    Such great Halloween projects! How funny is that book cover of Dracula (is a new designer?)
    That nebula fabric is gorgeous ( start that Raven lady ;) )

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  8. A lovely selection... I vote the JBW or the Mousie House that really is cute.

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  9. Please include me in the Halloween Blog Hop. I just love your Blog Hops. I love all your beautiful stitching. You've been busy busy. All the projects you have picked out are perfect. You can't pick a bad one. I look forward to watching your progress.

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  10. Wonderful stitching and progress Jo. I vote for the Jardin Prive piece.

    Linda

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  11. I love that halloween lettering, and the sampler is so pretty

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  12. You have so many wonderful charts to choose from. I love the spooky alphabet!!!

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  13. I always love looking at all your projects! I would love to be a part of the halloween blog hop!

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  14. Beautiful stitching!! Love the enchanted letters.

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  15. First of all, Happy Birthday!!! I was totally confused with the lettering but I'm not confused on which one I want you to stitch first!! The Jardin Prive Halloween and I know you have enough black thread to stitch it!!:) Happy Stitching, Mary

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  16. You have been busy with your stitching. I don't often do any halloween stitching, but I do love the Jardin Prive design. x

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  17. Lots of great designs, but I think I choose the Jardin Prive design. And sign me up for the Halloween blog hop!

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  18. Oh my goodness you are one busy, I am a big fan of Just nan designs have many in my stash pile hope to get to them soon.

    Blessings
    Catherine

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  19. Lovely progress, and I do believe you very much earned a little splurging with your birthday money! I'm a bit late for the vote, so I'm looking forward to discovering what project you started with. Oh, and please do count me in for that blog hop!

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  20. Memories has such a beautiful colour combination, you are travelling along nicely with this one. I was totally bamboozled by the Spooky Alphabet lettering my brain actually started to hurt LOL! As long as you know what you're doing then it's all good. Love your choices for Halloween. Can you please put me down for the blog hop. I really enjoyed it last year. Wheeee! I will be overseas and taking my Halloween stitching with me :D
    xo Alicia

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  21. Lovely progress as always.
    Please count me in for the Halloween Blog Hop.

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  22. It has been a long while since I blogged or visited any blogging friends. It's time to change that, please count me in for the Halloween Blog Hop.

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