Trick or Treat Blog Hop 2023

 Welcome, and happy Halloween! I haven't been able to do as much blogging this year, but I always enjoy participating in Jo's blog hops. 

I did get a little stitching done. Rosewood Manor's Blackbirds on a Pumpkin, which I started a couple of years ago, finished up quickly (I only had two colors left to do):

I stitched two designs from XStitch the Rainbow's Autumn Garden collaboration, Ardith Design's Autumn Floral Urn:

and Bendy Stitchy Designs' Autumn Colors (my favorite):

But the stitching I'm most excited about is the first two of Wild Violet's Primitive Tarot trio:

 I think I might push myself to stitch the third before I get started on any Christmas ornaments. I guess I did more stitching than I realized!

In any event, you are all here for a letter:

(It's an I, and part of my ongoing alphabet series; in my head, the letter I is white.)

You're also here for the link to the next blog, which is Jeremiah's Mom. Happy hopping!

3 More Days ...

 It's time for Jo's annual Advent Blog Hop! I always enjoy participating, and seeing what stitchy goodness others have been up to.

Unfortunately, I haven't gotten much done this year. I've been cross-stitching my fingers off trying to finish this design for my video game-loving son, and of course I had to make it harder on myself by changing up a bunch of the motifs to match the games he plays (at least I had the sense to stitch it on white, rather than black fabric). I promise to show it off when it's done, though!

I also stitched the infamous Peeking Jesus for my brother, a Benedictine priest:

The only Christmas-themed stitching I've done is a cute advent calendar by Wandering Threads, given to me by a friend. I'm pretty far behind, though, because of the aforementioned cross stitching:

It's a fun design, though.

Jo has asked us to answer what we have for "afters" -- dessert. For us, it's Christmas cookies! The days of my baking dozens in a marathon session a few days before Christmas are long gone. Instead, every weekend of Advent I try to bake at least one batch of something, and stick them in the freezer until Christmas eve. Then I lay them on the sideboard in our dining room, and watch them disappear over a few days. If I have the wherewithal, I will also give some to our neighbors and mail some to a friend or two.

This year's selections: sparkly gingerbread, coquito lace cookies, stamped brown sugar shortbread, crushed peppermint-chocolate cookies, and if I have the time, chocolate-dipped triple coconut macaroons. 

I hope all of you have a sweet Christmas filled with peace and joy!

Trick or Treat Blog Hop

 Happy Halloween to those of you coming from Jo's blog! Your letter is:

It's been kind of a terrible year, so I have gotten very little stitching done. I decided to focus on an old pattern I started decades ago (while I was in law school, I think) but never finished -- Liz Turner Diehl's Cider House Garden. I didn't manage to finish it this year, either, but I made good progress, stitching the house, one of the maple trees, and six of the apple trees:

 

I think I might finally be able to finish it next year.

I also started Wild Violet's primitive tarot set, but didn't get very far:

I dyed the aida myself, using black tea with a little baking soda to (I hope) cut down the acidity.

On to the next blog: http://guavagems.blogspot.com/  Have fun!

Advent Calendar Blog Hop

Welcome! It's that time of year for Jo's blog hop, and today is my turn. I don't have any cross stitch to show off yet, although I've picked out a few designs; a challenging fall meant I'm way behind all things stitchy. 

But I do have a tree! Which is Jo's theme this year! 

This wooden tree was originally part of a hand-carved Christmas card holder my late uncle made for me years and years ago. At some point someone (I never found out who) knocked it over, breaking it; the only salvageable part was one of the trees. I painted it green with a little silver mixed in, giving it a nice sheen, and wrapped it with a bit of wire and some clear crystals. You can't tell from this photo, but it has a nice sparkle, and I'm quite pleased with it. 

Jo asked us to talk about Christmas trees. I grew up on what used to be a farm in western Massachusetts, and for many years we just trekked to the far part of our property to chop our own pine down. It was lots of fun, but because it wasn't a tree farm we ended up with some wonky trees. One tree was gorgeous on one side, but almost bare on the other, so that was the side we put against the wall. Another tree had a distinctive curve in its trunk. A third had two tops, so that year we put on two stars. 

Now I live in New York, so we get our tree from one of the temporary vendors who set up shop all over the city (real trees might be more work, but the smell is divine). I can't show you our tree, because we haven't bought it yet -- we generally wait until the middle of the month to get one. Once it's set up and the branches settle, we decorate it with lights and ornaments: old and new, handmade and purchased. Then we sit back and admire our work.

Whether you have a real or fake tree, or no tree at all, I hope you all have a lovely and peaceful Christmas!

Halloween Trick or Treat Blog Hop

 Boo! It's time for Jo's annual Halloween blog hop, and I'm here to give you the letter 

 

I didn't actually get a whole lot of cross stitching done this October (you can see what I finished in previous posts), because I decided to do the talented A.J. Pritchett's Stitchtober challenge on Instagram. I did mine as all one piece, with a fairy tale theme:

Some close-ups: 

"Summoning"

"Cursed"

"Astray"

"Overgrown" and "Concealed" (a twofer!)

"Lore"

"Influence"

"Creeping"

"Sorcery"

"Foresight"

"Brewing"

"Crowned"

"A Dark Power"

This was a fun exercise in creativity, and it was nice to do a little embroidery for a change.

On to the next stop! Which is An Arizona Stitcher. Happy Halloween!

Advent Blog Hop

 Welcome to my stop on Jo's annual Advent blog hop! As usual, I have a few ornaments to show off (I prefer to stitch small projects; I'm more likely to finish them in time 😛).

"Tres" by Monsterbubbles (Just Cross Stitch August 2008):

This has been on my to-do list for a long time, but stitching on metal mesh/screen is a pain; the beaded edge was fun, though.

Here's "Meowy Christmas" by Fern Ridge Collections (Christmas Ornaments 2019):

It's true to life, too! There's a reason why I keep my fragile ornaments on the top of the tree ....

(I also stitched "Mary & Jesus Stained Glass" by Snoflake Stitchery (Christmas Ornaments 2019), but  I forgot to take a picture before I sent it to my mom.)

Jo also asked us to write about our favorite Christmas book. Mine's a new one, that I discovered last year:

I loved it so much I bought my own copy this year. This collection of stories, memories, and recipes is moving and insightful, and I highly recommend it.

I hope you all have a lovely and peaceful Christmas, and a much-improved new year!

Trick or Treat Blog Hop

 It’s Halloween, so once again it’s time for Jo’s blog hop! 

I’ve got a few new finishes this year, including this little freebie design from the Caron Collection that I stitched more than two decades ago (gosh, I'm old) but only finished this year.

This is Miss Witch by Satsuma Street. I can't get enough of her designs, and I have to restrain myself from buying them all.

Persian Pumpkin is from Mill Hill, and will go well with my Crazy Pumpkin wall-hanging, based on Mill Hill's somewhat larger Paisley Pumpkin.

And finally, Downdraft by Turquoise Graphics and Design, from this year's Halloween special issue by Just Cross Stitch.

Now it's time for the letter you are all here for!

 

Head on over to The Alchemyst's Study to get the next letter, and have a happy (and healthy) Halloween!

Trick or Treat Blog Hop

Welcome to Jo's annual Halloween blog hop!  You are all here for a letter, and it is:

Now onto the stitchy goodness! I've already posted about Millicent, and since then I finished another #stitch9challenge project -- Prairie Schooler's witch from the 2013 Just Cross Stitch Halloween issue:

(I think I'll add a border to match similar ornaments, however.)

An Autumn cat for my mom, from Just Cross Stitch's September/October issue:

Satsuma Street's Cat-o-Lantern for me:

And another cat for me, not yet finished, by Durene Jones (from last year's Just Cross Stitch Halloween issue):

The stitches are supposed to be black, but when I opened one of my thread boxes and spied this thread (Valdani's Quiet Fall), I had to use it right away.

Hop on over to the next blog, A Patchwork of Crafts, for the next letter. Happy Halloween!

Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop

Welcome! Jo from Serendipitous Stitching is running her annual Easter blog hop. It's not actually Easter yet, although Lent ended yesterday; for these few days we are waiting for what comes. This was a challenging Lent for me this year, with a lot of suffering and penitence -- as I guess it should be -- and I'm looking forward to the Easter season and all things joyous and springy. And to start it off, I have not one but two finishes!

ignore the wrinkles

This is April from The Snowflower Diary's Joyful World series, with some thread changes to accommodate my stash. I'm not doing all twelve months, so I changed "April" to "Easter." This was also one of my nine cross stitch projects to finish this year, as part of Farm Girl's Stitch 9 Challenge, so: Yay! Finish number 2!

I was also itching to stitch some felt, so I made this egg:

The flowery fill is taken from Wendi Gratz's Continuous Stitching pattern, and I'm quite pleased with the result. Except for the shape of the egg; it doesn't matter how carefully I trace an egg shape, my stitched eggs end up lumpy and misshapen. Sigh.

But enough of my inexact stitching! You are here for a letter, and here it is:

Go to Little Stitches Art for the next letter.

Happy Easter, happy hunting, and happy stitching!

Advent Blog Hop Day 19

Greetings, blog-hoppers! It's time for Jo's annual Advent Blog Hop.

As is usual for this time of year, I'm focused on finishing some handcrafted gifts, so I haven't had as much time to stitch. I did finish a pillow, using Jedi Craft Girl's adaptable "I Love Cats" pattern:

My quilting is not great, probably because I didn't use a hoop (the small size of the project and the decision to use perle cotton size 5 tricked me into thinking it wouldn't be necessary).

I also made a couple of felt ornaments by Betz White. A Christmas pie (kind of liked what I baked for Thanksgiving!):

A festive llama, using DMC's new, sparkly Mouliné Étoile threads which I received as a birthday present:

I have done a bit of cross stitching, specifically StitchyFish Design's "Partridge in a Pear Tree" pattern from the 2018 Christmas Ornaments:

 It's working up quickly, and I hope to finish it after the 25th.

Jo asked us to pick a favorite holiday song, and hoo boy is that tough. So I'm picking three!

One of my favorite religious songs:


One of my favorite secular songs:


One of my favorite Puerto Rican songs:


I hope you all have a lovely, peaceful holiday!

Halloween Blog Hop

 Happy Halloween, and welcome to the next stop on Jo's bloghop! My letter is:

I didn't get as much stitching done as I'd like -- a busier-than-usual fall, post-season baseball (woohoo, Red Sox won!), the Minecraft quilt, and some commissioned bracelets kept me from picking up the needle.  But I made some progress on "Millicent Finds a Mask" (Just Cross Stitch's 2013 Halloween issue):

And "13 Days of Halloween" (Just Cross Stitch's 2017 Halloween issue):

I also have a couple of finishes. I framed my sampler from the Stitchy Box Halloween box:

This design, "Fall Pumpkins Fob," I sewed up on the machine and then covered the seam with Palestrina stitch, one of my favorites.

I also added some beaded trim around my much-altered skull stitch, although I'm not thrilled with how it came out:

On to the next stop: Beth's Needlework Stash! I look forward to seeing what you all have been working on.