I took a break from Christmas Open House work to finish up this gorgeous little pumpkin piece I've been dipping into here and there, between other projects. (Link to purchase this chart in this post.) I stitched it on 28 ct. Dirty linen with the recommended DMC, but I did make some changes.
*I omitted the crow and the word "pumpkins."
*I didn't use the 522 (pumpkin stems) or the 368 (vine on white pumpkin). Instead I used 470 for both.
*I substituted 3854 for 3705 for the berries on the white pumpkin.
*I used beads instead of French knots on the black pumpkin.
*I used two strands of floss to backstitch the mouth on the white jack-o-lantern, instead of one.
*I stitched the flowers in the border using 3853 & 3854, with 3855 centers, instead of the 3865 called for. I wanted to pick up more of that gorgeous, glowing orange.
It sounds like a lot for such a small design, but all I really did was some editing: fewer design elements and fewer colors.
Mr. Wonderful and I had our annual Halloween party. We are extremely low-key, so by "party" I mean eating stuff with lots of carbs and handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. For the first time in the history of ever, we ran out of candy. In 30 minutes. Four big bags. I've never seen so many trick-or-treaters in my life, and I will be ready for them next year! (Although I did think I was ready this year!)
Anyway, we had baked ham and Swiss sandwiches.
And a little Halloween cake (half a Spice cake mix but a whole container of vanilla frosting!). I thought I had overdone it with the sprinkles, but Mr. Wonderful said it's not possible to overdo sprinkles.
And a cold weather tradition, my mom's hot Percolator Punch (recipe in this post).
In between laundry and cooking, I managed to get in some stitching and finish up Fancy Pumpkins, with the help of my little homemade Bride of Frankenstein needle minder. I call her Elsa, after Elsa Lanchester, the actress who played the role in the 1935 classic. We watched it again last night and I'm always amazed by her performance. Probably less than 5 minutes on the screen, and yet she created a classic character.
Too much going on at my house this year to get any fun Halloween stitching done, but I've saved this cute little freebie for next year, and thought I'd share it in case y'all missed it.
Happy Stitching!
Congratulations on your fancy pumpkin stitch finish! It turned out beautifully. the baked ham and cheese sandwiches look so good and Mr. Wonderful is right about not overdoing on the sprinkles. Thank you for the reminder of the percolator punch. Enjoy your weekend, Honeybee!
ReplyDeleteI think the changes you made have worked well.
ReplyDeleteThe Pumpkins are so pretty.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the punch recipe, it sounds delicious.
Gotta love that needleminder!
Marilyn
What a fun Halloween party with just you and hubby! We never get trick or treaters on my street. I watched a Ghost Hunters DVD and ate a frozen pizza! Your finish is so pretty. I'm looking forward to your FF of it:)
ReplyDeleteI love your Fancy Pumpkins stitch and I think your changes look great. That sounds like a lovely Halloween party with your husband. It must've been fun to see all those trick-or-treaters & their cute costumes.
ReplyDeleteMary
Fantastic finish! Love your changes. The sandwiches and cake look yummy. We don't get trick or treaters where we live. Love your needle minder.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your fancy pumpkins finish:-)
ReplyDeleteThe Halloween food looks wonderful, especially those ham and cheese rolls!
Hello! I read your blog on my phone and I find it hard to comment from there. I'm salivating over those sandwiches and your stitching this month is stunning.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pumpkin piece! I love your idea of a Halloween party...everything looks so yummy. We live at the end of a cul de sac and there are no young kids living here. Between that and so many churches and organizations having Halloween parties, we hardly ever get any trick or treaters.
ReplyDeleteI missed this post. Your pumpkins turned out stunning! I love your color changes. When I stitched it, I really struggled with choosing alternative greens. I didn’t like the called-for greens and they didn’t look good on my fabric. Would love to see how you fully finish this one.
ReplyDelete