Block 8 Is Finished!

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to finally have Block #8 finished. These carolers have been haunting me ever since I started Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow because I thought they looked rather pale and so stern-looking. So, a number of changes were made in both colors and stitches in an attempt to humanize them and make them as joyful as the rest of this piece. To compare the originally charted carolers to mine you can click here. As you can see I changed the man's coat to a gray color, changed the book's colors, and the size of the woman's mittens. I pinked up their faces and tried to give them less of a "uni-brow" look by changing their eyebrow shape and the nose (still a bit pointy, but nothing else seemed to work). I also changed the colors of their mouths and gave them a more oval shape.

The man's face looks a bit too feminine to me, but I couldn't figure out how to make him more "manly." Add a mustache? In addition to changing the window color, I added a few holly berries to the woman's hat and darkened her hair. Honestly, I felt like I was playing with a Mr. Potato Head I tried so many different noses, mouths, eyebrows, and eyes on these two! So, what do you think? Should I leave it as is or make some other changes?


As a bit of a break while finishing up the carolers' block, I stitched this little Halloween cutie from Xs and Ohs called "Boo Web." I just love the way his web spells out "boo." This grinning spider is stitched over one on 28 ct. summer khaki lugana using DMC threads.

To finish him off I used some of the black and orange pumpkin fabric that Myra gifted me with last year (thanks, Myra!!), and some black and orange ribbons for accent. (The orange ribbon didn't photograph well and really matches the orange in the pumpkins much better in real life.) And here's a little hint--look for the little pillow as part of a Halloween themed giveaway that I'll be having in October to celebrate my blog reaching 200+ followers. Watch for details in the next few weeks... (in other words, I haven't bought all the stuff for my giveaway so I need to get my act together!).

Doesn't this look like the most relaxing place to sit and stitch? This is the view my sister gets to enjoy every evening from the deck of her house on Lake Ontario. We were lucky enough to visit over Labor Day weekend and I truly realize that I'm more of a lake person than a beach person. Which are you? I feel like I totally let down sitting by a quiet lake. And, to be honest with you, I really don't like the feeling of sand at the beach! Unfortunately, the good weather didn't last more than a couple of hours. A brisk wind whipped up and we saw waves and whitecaps on Lake Ontario that would rival any ocean!

So how did we spend the time? We ate some delicious food (crabmeat quiche, blueberry pancakes), drank some Margaritas, and played lots of games: Scrabble, Yahtzee, and my new favorite, Bananagrams. Have any of you played Bananagrams yet? If you love words and a quick game that can be played by almost any number of people, you may want to give it a try. Here are some other scenes of our visit including her huge Bernese Mountain dog in a rare moment of rest! Thanks to my oldest son who was kind enough to let me use his wonderful photos of our trip (I think I was too busy eating to take any of my own!).

When I returned home from the lake visit, I found the most lovely stitched gift waiting in my mailbox all the way from The Netherlands. Sweet Mylene had a giveaway for six of her darling scissor fobs and I was lucky enough to win one. Her stitching is just perfect and I love how she beaded the edge with alternating colors of yellow and orange. You all know that I love sunflowers so this is a wonderful addition to my collection of sunflower pieces. Thank you so much, Mylene--I truly love it!

I still find it amazing that over 200 of you find what I have to say interesting! Thank you so much for the many friendships that have begun as a result of blogging--your comments, emails, and support always bring me smiles :)

Hope your week is special in every way! Bye now...