Boo! (and Whoo!)

Oh, my... I think this has been the most glorious October ever! Day after day of sunshine, warmth, and blue skies. They are predicting that Halloween will be in the high 70's here--so much nicer than our usual night of trick-or-treating where the children have to wear heavy coats that cover up their costumes due to the frosty temperatures. For my long-time readers, you know Halloween is a bittersweet day for me. In fact, tomorrow marks the ten-year anniversary of my dad's death. So hard to believe that it's been a decade... Losing someone dear to you is especially hard when it occurs on a holiday, isn't it? The way I celebrate Halloween is so different now compared to the years before his death. In fact, this year, I didn't put up a single decoration and my many stitched Halloween pieces remain in the dresser drawer that houses them all year. I do get them out some years, but this year, I just wasn't feeling it...

I still enjoy stitching "cute" Halloween pieces, though, but no gory or scary stuff for me. In my mind, no one does cuter Halloween designs than Misty from Luminous Fiber Arts. I just love her whimsical cats and owls and I knew my four-year-old grandson, Mister B, would, too. So I quickly stitched and finished these cuties and gave them to him when we visited last week. Meet "Boo" the black cat and "Whoo" the wise owl. I mean, even if you aren't a Halloween lover, you have to admit that this pair is pretty adorable, right? For the finish, I covered the larger piece of sticky board with black and tan gingham, glued on the stitched piece that had been attached to the smaller piece of sticky board, added handmade cording and a jute bow, and topped it off with a layer of black and orange buttons.

My finishes of "Boo" and "Whoo" by Luminous Fiber Arts

 

I stitched these on 40 ct. platinum using DMC 311 and 3826, leaving off the charted border. For Boo's bow tie, I included black Smyrna stitches and for Whoo's hat, I used orange Smyrna stitches. I also used two threads to stitch their names so they would stand out more. And I left one orange stitch out of Whoo's eye so it would be more pronounced. So which one is your favorite? You all know me and my love of black cats--I choose "Boo!"

I cover the backs of finishes like these with felt (I simply use spray glue on the felt and then press it onto the back). It is quick and easy and much simpler than making a flat-fold finish. This is the first time I added the small plastic easels (like the ones pictured below) to the backs of my stitched finishes. I got them from Amazon and simply glued them on using Aleene's Tacky Glue. These aren't meant for anything heavy, but, boy, do they work great for light cross-stitched pieces. I know I'll be using them again and again. The ones I purchased (the 4.64 inch size) can be found right here.

How I finished the back of these stand-up flat finishes.

 

Here they are standing up with the help of the attached plastic easels--no more propping things up with vegetable cans like I've done in the past :)

Giveaway time... As I was looking through my older charts, I came across this sweet Diane Graebner chart called "Cats & Quilts" that I thought would be perfect for a fall giveaway. If you are a quilt lover or a black cat lover (like me!), you may just want to enter the giveaway.  Just let me know, specifically, in your comment below that you'd like to win this chart and tell me your favorite thing about autumn. For me, it's the way the light filters in the windows casting such a soft, gentle glow on everything. Very different than in other season. I'll leave the giveaway open until my next post in November, so keep an eye on this space for the winner's name. Good luck to all...

 

If you would like to enter the giveaway for this chart, please follow the guidelines above.

 

So, how has your October been? As I mentioned, we spent last week visiting my oldest son, daughter-in-law, and Mister B in Maryland. It was a beautiful drive down with all of the autumn colors on full display. Coming home, though, many had already passed their prime color. We had such a fun visit--if a bit exhausting. It's tough to keep up with a four-year-old and we pretty much fell into bed very early each evening. I've discovered that white noise is a huge help for me when I sleep and have been regularly using it at home since we got back from Europe. I used it over there to block out street and hotel noise and it worked so well that I began using it here, too. I know you can buy various machines and gadgets, but I simply use the "White Noise Lite" app on my iPhone which comes with many different sounds: the ocean, jungle, thunder, wind, and a variety of rain noises. Personally, I like "Rain on Lake." I just thought I'd pass this along because I know many of you struggle with sleep like I do... Something about a constant background noise like this just seems to help me "turn off" my mind at night so I can sleep! Every night is not perfect, but I'm sleeping so much better than before.

I know I promised that we'd go to France on the next stop of my travelogue, but it will have to wait until a future post. Being away for almost a week set me behind on everything so I'll share my France photos with you in November. I do have one last sweet photo for you... What is better than the joy on a child's face as he jumps into a big pile of crunchy fall leaves? Mister B decided to make a huge pile of leaves when we were at the park just up the street from his house. Soon we were all joining in and gathering leaves of golds and reds and yellows to help him make it "bigger and bigger!"

Ahhh... the joy of jumping in a big pile of crispy autumn leaves!

So, enjoy this last bit of October, my friends! I sure hope our November weather is as delightful as this month's has been. Thank you so very much for stopping in and a special thank you to those of you who take the time to leave such kind comments. I really look forward to hearing from you! Take care now--and happy stitching! Bye for now...