Halloween cross stitch - Hazel and Mitzi

Well a few more days and it will be Halloween!  I haven't crafted as much as I would have liked lately but, I did manage to fully finish two cross stitch patterns, Hazel and Mitzi, designed by Christi, Javagirl Stitches.  These designs are fun and quick and perfect if you like Halloween and need a break from a large project!

 

Hazel is dressed up in candy corn colors and Mitzi dressed up as a witch; nothing spooky but cute!  All DMC floss used and I did change a few colors on Hazel but kept Mitzi's colors as called for on the pattern.  They are both stitched on 14 ct Aida called Fronk by Seraphim Fabrics.

The pillows are approximately a 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" square.  I did iron on some interfacing behind the images as a layer of protection before assembling and stuffing the pillow.  The fabric I used to make the pillows is from the Holiday Essentials Halloween collection by Stacy Iest Hsu for Moda Fabrics which I also used as the pillow backing.  A bit of rick rack and ribbon bow for embellishment makes it a nice and simple finish!  These will be some cute home decor pieces to put on display!

Happy Halloween Stitching!

 

 

 

Cross Stitch Camp August Challenge

August was the final month of Cross Stitch Camp hosted by Sheri of ColoradoCrossStitcher.  I finished my project just in time, on the last day of the month, and got it posted on time to Instagram!  The challenge for August was to use something new to you and I chose to try 28 count Monaco that I purchased some months ago.  Also, while I was perusing Michaels a few days prior to starting the challenge, I discovered they were now selling Anchor floss and I thought it would be fun to try it out.  But did I really want to add more floss to my collection?  Not only that, there was no requirement to try more than one new to you item for the challenge.  Once I decided on the pattern, a freebie by Tiny Modernist called Witches Brew, I saw it only required 4 colors of floss and the recommended brand listed was Anchor!  So yes, I returned to Michaels and purchased the colors needed. 

While I did finish the stitching on time, I started fully finishing it yesterday and managed to complete it today!  Here's the FFO:

I had a few finishing bases that would have worked but I stopped in at Michaels yesterday, just in case, and found a wooden tag sign (pictured below with the fabric and rack rick from my supply collection) that I was excited to use.  Along with the tag, I pulled other finishing items from my collection of supplies.  I removed the mini word tag and hanger from the sign.  I traced the sign onto a piece of scrap box packing material and adhered the fabric to it and then adhered that to the top of the sign.  I then glued the stitched piece to a piece of chipboard.  I placed and glued the rick rack on the background fabric before adhering the stitched piece.  For the finishing touches, I added two layers of ribbon and a brad. 

My thoughts on the process of using the new to me items?  Well, I had to use a magnifier to stitch on the Monaco (2 floss threads over 2 fabric threads) which did slow down the stitching.  I would stitch on it again (not that often) but it would need to be another small design close to, or smaller than the Witches Brew.  As far as the Anchor floss, I found it to be comparable to DMC and Sullivans.  The only downside is considering how to store the spools if I decided to invest in adding more to my floss collection.  Overall, it was a fun challenge and I'm happy I was able to participate!

Happy Stitching! 

Welcome to Our Haunted Home

It's October which means Halloween will soon be here!  I stitched the Welcome to Our Haunted Home design found in the Just CrossStitch 2019 Special Collector's Issue for Halloween and finished it as a home decor piece.  It's a design by Linda Medina of Medina Originals.  I started it in 2019 and finished it this past January.  The only change I made to the design was omitting the stitches around the words Welcome and Home; I just wanted the focus on Haunted.  There were minimal floss colors

needed for the design; DMC 310 and 721, and Kreinik 152V.  The word Haunted was to be a blend of the Kreinik and DMC 721 but I used what I had in my stash and stitched it only in 721 and that was fine for me.  My choice of fabric was a 100% 14 ct. natural Aida by Charles Craft Gold Standard.  I loved stitching on it and the color is great too!  I had seen the black wreath at Michaels last year and the finishing idea popped up in my head!  When I went back to check for Halloween clearance they were sold out however, I did purchase a pick with the 3 skeleton hands.  So a few months ago I was happy to find the wreath was back in stock so I could create this Halloween finish!  The orange and green berries and the skeleton head I purchased from A.C. Moore during their closing sale last year.  I used a 12" round cake board (Lori from Once Upon a Stitch had mentioned this in one of her videos as an idea to use as a base for a circular finish!) from my cake decorating stash for the circular base, adhered two layers of batting on top for padding and then hot glued the stitched piece, corners only (the stitched piece is a square), onto the covered board.  I then used wire to wrap around the piece and weave it through the wreath to hold.  Instead of using glue, I also attached all the other embellishments with wire to complete the finish!  I have it hanging on the inside of my front door so I can enjoy it! (I got that hanging idea from a Helen D. home tour video!)

 

Flosstube #4 - Halloween stitching

Happy Halloween Eve!  I was so positive that I would have stitched and completed the Artecy haunted house pattern purchased but no, I did not give myself enough time to start and finish a project that big!  However, I did manage to complete two mini projects.  See video and photos below.  Have a safe Halloween!

VeeandCo Boo Show Gift pattern:  Fabric - 14 ct. white aida.  I substituted the following colors:  743 for 307, 895 foe 320, 921 for 606 and 841 for 976.  Pattern can be found here:  http://veeandcocrossstitchdesigns.blogspot.com/

Scary Apothecary Favorite Brew pattern:  Fabric - 16 ct. white aida.  Used suggested colors but I substituted the Kreinik with DMC gold metallic embroidery thread. I mixed one strand of metallic with the one strand of colored DMC.  Pattern can be found here: https://handsondesign.biz/scary-apothecary-finishing-template/

Happy Halloween

I love Halloween and thought it would be a great idea to use them to embellish treat holders for the trick or treaters!  The stamps are from the $1 bin at the craft stores that I've collected over the years.  There are many videos out there but here is one that shows how to make them but I modified my project.  I cut my paper to 8x8 to hold a bit more than the 6x6 size.  They were quick to make once I decided on the project I wanted to use to hold the candy.  I used markers to color the images and added some ribbon for added embellishment.