A Halloween Finish

    It’s finished!

Well, actually, I finished it during the last week of September, but at least I completed my wife’s Halloween cross stitch project in time for her to enjoy it during one of her favorite holidays. The piece is the “Haunted House Welcome” from Stoney Creek, and while I made a few modifications here and there, the finished product is fairly close to the pattern I followed.

And since I have some time now before Halloween, I ordered some guacamole linen from 123Stitch.com to complete a small design from Lizzie Kate called Hocus Pocus.

Speaking of Halloween, we were out last night and saw our first house decorated with orange lights in the shrubbery and a few other appropriate ornamentation. I’ve never decorated outside for Halloween, but maybe I’ll take a trip to Lowe’s or Home Depot and see what I can find.

What about you? Does anyone else decorate for Halloween?

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Halloween on the Fourth of July

Halloween on the Fourth of July

At least I’m getting closer to the right holiday, although I’ll never reach it completely.

Cross-stitchers who work on seasonal projects are usually way ahead of the general population, like freelance writers, who generally are writing articles for print magazines three or four months ahead of the calendar.

So, this year, instead of working on a Christmas project on the Fourth of July, I worked on a Halloween project. See what I mean? I moved two months closer to the actual holiday we were celebrating yesterday.

Working ahead like we do on seasonal projects is a must. For example, the project I’m working on, “Haunted House Welcome” from Stoney Creek is a large piece, and I know if I want it done for my wife who loves Halloween, I had to start way ahead of time. Thus, while many of you were thinking barbecue and fireworks, I’m looking at ghosts and witches and a haunted house.

At least I wasn’t playing Christmas music. Yes, I’ve been known to do that too.

So what about the rest of you stitchers? Any particular holiday stories you want to share? Leave a comment so we can all enjoy our particular stories.

And remember — have a safe and joyful weekend wherever you are (and watch out for turtles in the road). That’s what life at turtle speed is all about, doing whatever makes us happy.

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