I scream, you scream...

What a glorious week-end we just had here in DC. The weather was absolutely perfect and with my newly-washed windows, I could bask in the sunlight from both inside and out! Plus the Redskins won again.. might as well enjoy that while it lasts. All in all, a perfect time for ice cream and in honor of the occasion, I've completed a Love Quilts Square for a quilt with the theme, 'Fun Foods'. This is an old freebie on CyberStitchers by Barbara Ana. Barbara's designs are such fun and stitch up so quickly.

Trick or Treat Bag Tag Update

All the trick or treat tags have now arrived at their new home. I just wanted to mention one recipient, Cynthia (Beestitcher), whose story really touched me. If you didn't notice her comment, Cynthia teaches a cross-stitch class to girls who are victims of child abuse. She plans to use the tag as a prize in a contest and a way to show the girls the kinds of things they can make once they master the techniques. I finished up three more tags to include in her package. They were designs I stitched last year as part of the Halloween Tree SAL on the WXSW yahoo group of Helga Mandl. These were from Periphaeria Designs. I meant to make them into fridgies, but I never did. So I made them into no-sew tags. I used 'Stitch Witchery' to attach them to a felt backing. Cynthia pointed out the irony of the product name given that these are for Halloween.

New Baby

One of my co-workers had a new baby boy in August. It's always hard to find 'boy' designs that I want to stitch. I finally chose this little door-hanger birth announcement from the design on this blog. I used Carrie's Threads in Passion Fruit for the alphabet. I'm not sure the letters stand out as well as they might have with a solid color. I substituted little buttons for the hearts to make sure it wasn't too dainty. It's done on Monaco antique white. The father does quality assurance for new software products. Hope he doesn't think the funky sequence of letters was a mistake!

Trick or Treat Bag Tags Winners

The winners of the bag tags are:

Staci (Snippets and Stash)
Janet in TX
Cindy - Beestitcher
Terry in OH (Terry's Crafty Fingers)

I've tried to contact each of you individually via an e-mail or private message on San-Man. So please let me know your snail mail address so I can send out your tags.

I also have a guest book in the lower right on this blog. You can leave me a message in the guest book with your address. Just be sure to click the 'private message' box.

Thanks for playing, everyone.

Stitchy Witchy

When I saw the cute witch that Brooke Nolan designed for her group members, I just knew I had to stitch that one right away. Turned out to be perfect for a Halloween exchange on EMS. My partner, Charlie, has received it so it's time for a photo. I decided it might look nice finished as a heart shape, but it needed something in the corners to fill it out. So the old thread crochet came in handy again. A little bat and a ghostie were just the right touch. I'm showing two photos since my camera seemed to to think the colors were different depending on the background. The fabric is really a lilac color from Enchanted Fabrics, like the second picture. But I thought the first was clearer.





I'll draw for the tag contest this evening and try to find the winners tomorrow.

Trick or Treat Bag Tags Giveaway

Barbara Ana designed the cutest little Halloween charts featured in her latest newsletter. I couldn't resist. I finished them as little tags that I think would be great to hang onto the handles of a trick or treat bag or attach to a backpack. I need to find some people with kids who can use them. If you know of a kid who would like one, let me know and I'll send one to you. If more than four people are interested, I'll do a drawing at the end of next week.



And thanks for all the nice comments. I definitely appreciate them.

A special thanks to Wendy for nominating me for this award:



It's so hard to select nominees from all the great blogs out there. I just recommend that you click on some of my favorites that you may not have noticed and do a bit of exploring.

Lost on the Exchange Highway

I seem to have a growing number of exchanges that 'go bad' lately. It's not really a big deal if I don't receive something. But whether the problem is on the sending or receiving end, I miss making the connection with another stitcher. Here's a sweet little scissor fob I sent ages ago and never heard from my partner. I hope she received it and I hope I eventually hear from her. Maybe Murphy's law will kick in and by showing the picture here, it will trigger a response from her.

Funny Valentine

I stitched up this little Halloween Valentine Freebie this past week. Just a little modification to replace what looked like crosses to me (I didn't want any religious icons) with teeny little black cats. The finishing job produced a kind of distorted heart-shape, but I consider that the 'rustic' look. I added an edging of black beads to see how that would work out as a border. Not too bad.



And this little Waxing Moon freebie was left from last year's Halloween to-do list. Just has the right feel for fall even though it's summer weather here today.



Both designs are stitched on 18 ct Aida in Cafe Mocha by Enchanted Fabrics.

Not quite like a virgin...

I had two partners in the Show Business doll swap due to a little mix-up in the registration process. As host, I didn't want anyone to be left out so I picked up the slack and made a second doll. This one went to Sherry and she just let me know the sassy little Madonna arrived. I had a hard time getting the camera to cooperate for this photo. But I was pretty pleased with the 'arty' style face.



Here's the inspiration:

Back to the 60's

My partner just received the 'Cher' doll I made for her in the Show Business doll swap on Stitchin' Fingers. I decided to go with the early Sonny and Cher days look. I hope the bell bottoms don't look too much like a mermaid's tail!