Finally Fully Finishing Fun for February

Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This SAL is designed to motivate us all to do something with that box of Finished pieces instead of just storing them under the bed.  We will all be linking up on Rachel's blog on or after the 10th of each month (10 Hour Stitcher - 10th of the month).

I did my very best to not leave things to the last moment this month.  I had some framing to do which needs a little bit of time and space.

The first one is Cast Your Spell by Stacy Nash, finished in October 2017:

The second one is Smiling Jack O'Lanterns by JBW, finished in October 2018

This is actually a plastic frame.  The fabric was a little bit too short so I trimmed it with some scrapbook paper offcuts.

I also finished a project, Just Nan's Christmas Memories Ornament:

stitched on 28 count Platinum Cashel linen

I've finished this as a pillow ornament but I am thinking of adding some ruched ribbon trim to co-ordinate with the twisted ribbon stitched around the edge.  I have never done a ruched ribbon trim so we shall see how successful that was next time!

One of my favourite backing fabrics:

Finally, today is the deadline for the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop.  I will be emailing the photos out with further instructions on the 12th or 13th February so watch your Inbox for my email.  I have already received a bumper crop of hearts through my Inbox so it's going to be a good hop this year.

Gifted Gorgeousness October Link-Up Post

Welcome to the October link-up for Gifted Gorgeousness. The linky will stay open until the end of the month so you have plenty of time to link up and join in.

Dark October has really seen the gifted gorgeous projects come out into the dark!

Haunted Autumn Mouse in a House by Just Nan was a Birthday gift this year:

Smiling Jack-O-Lanterns by JBW was a gift from Julie:

stitched on 32 count Platinum Belfast (also a gift)

Then I started and finished Cast Your Spell by Stacy Nash which was a gift from Heather:

stitched over 1 on 32 count Platinum Belfast

I changed the colours on this one, partially because I misread the chart and assumed 310 would be a black solid symbol and not a white triangle.  I also changed the border to satin stitch because it's so much quicker over 1 than tiny xxxx.  I also changed the orangebrown to a reddish brown.  I like it, I think it looks darker and more spooky.  Not sure how I will finish-finish but it will probably be scrapbooked.  It would make a nice notebook cover.

As I finished this early in the afternoon I made an early start on the next project - Dracula by Dam Good Crafts (no longer available):

stitched on 32 count Amortentia by Chromatic Alchemy

That gorgeous fabric was a gift from Tiffany, it is darker in real life and will look amazing with the black stitching.  I stitched this while watching The Wall this afternoon.  I've got four days of stitching still to come on this one, which is good as it is part of my 17 in '17.

Prior to October I stitched on Dragon of the Winter Moon by Dragon Dreams which was a gift from Riona:

Memories by Just Nan was a gift from Vickie:

I've also made lots of progress on 12 Days of Christmas by Joan Elliott which was a gift from my MIL:

So now I hand over to you. This is where you link up your post for this month. Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "October Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month. And link to the actual post, not just your blog. It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

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Finally, it's time to sign up for the Spookiest Hop on the Block - the Trick or Treat Hallowe'en Blog Hop.  All you have to do is leave a comment or send me an email.  I will send you a letter of the alphabet which you show on your blog on 31st October along with some spooky stitching.  We all hop around collecting the letters which will spell out a spooky word or phrase (depending on how many people sign up).

Dark October Update

As you know I've chosen a number of spooky projects to stitch for Dark October this month.  I started with the People's Choice of Just Nan's Haunted Autumn Mouse in a House and posted about it here.

I have continued to stitch 30-a-day on the carpet for the house and here's where we are today:

By the time I started Mouse House, Jardin Prive's Happy Hallowe'en Night had actually overtaken it in votes so that was an obvious second start.  I set a goal of completing the three pumpkins and stitched for three days to achieve that goal:

stitched on 32 count Cognac linen

The whole piece:

After 3 days on that one, I moved on to JBW's Smiling Jack-O-Lanterns.  I stitched all the border while watching Total Recall on Sunday afternoon:

stitched on 32count Platinum linen

There's not much to do on that one; lots of flowers in the border, her hair, the words around the inside of the border and a few finishing touches and it will be done.

The next project up has only had one day so far.  This is Cast Your Spell by Stacy Nash.  I have a question, there are only three colours.  A dull brown, an orange brown and black.  Looking at this portion of the chart, which colour would you stitch the border in?

Black?  The symbol for black is always the darkest symbol, right?  No, the symbol for black on this chart is the white triangle.

Never mind, my border is black.

stitched over 1 on 32 count Platinum linen

I am stitching the border in satin stitch rather than cross stitch because I like a zigzag satin stitch.  I also substituted the orange-brown for a more red-brown.  I will probably do the vase in 3799 to contrast with the black border.  Three more days might see me knock out a finish on this.  Especially as we have the weekend coming up and no work shifts.

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Spookiest Hop on the Block - the Trick or Treat Hallowe'en Blog Hop.  All you have to do is leave a comment or send me an email.  I will send you a letter of the alphabet which you show on your blog on 31st October along with some spooky stitching.  We all hop around collecting the letters which will spell out a spooky word or phrase (depending on how many people sign up).