pahwhoosh!

i started working on Hocuspocusville from Crab-apple Hill at the end of february ... it is supposed to be blackwork ... but i chose DMC#3371 because brownish black is not as harsh to me as black black ... i feel the same way about mascara - i have enough laugh lines gone sour without drawing attention to them with stark black arrows pointing the way ... anywho, i hadn't embroidered in ... i dunno ... a loooong time ... and i was not so sure about embroidering 12 big blocks of buildings with no color changes ... so i started with the plan of stitching just one building ... and if i didn't like the whole process i could make a wall hanging or a pillow or a whatever, and forget about making an entire quilt ... my favorite building in the design is the quilt shop ... so i traced it onto a cream-on-cream dotted fabric and put it in the hoop ... threaded a needle and needled a french nun's knot (i think that's what it's called - i attended a little workshop on smocking back when rocks were soft and mist was in the air and that's what the head-smocker called it) and poked the needle through ...... nothing sounds quite like the first pahwoosh of floss being drawn through tight fabric ...... i can stitch a fairly decent stem stitch, but my back stitch is not too (unless i am cross stitching) so i decided to do the stem stitch......i like it ... i like it a lot! i was kinda weary of just doing the stem stitch, though - so when i started on the bat which is supposed to be a loosely spaced, uneven satin stitch i got kinda carried away ... and then i did the same for the raven ... and the lazy daisies for the banner ties were over far too soon ... i still have the banner in the tree with all its words to stitch ... but it is coming along nicely ...... it will probably take me a few years to embroider all of the buildings ...... i'm not in a hurry...

my oldest daughter has stopped lurking and made her presence known (yes, i did read your comment and it's about time that you let me know you are there ... here ...whatever) and i know that she has very, very little interest in the leisure (cough) arts ... so, for Mrs. Moth's viewing enjoyment ... here is a picture of my baby girls...
Littlelle, Peanut Butter Cup and Gumdrop in Mrs. Moth's kitchen at Gumdrop's birthday party
twist my arm and make me post my darling granddaughters...

Helen from Hugs and Kisses is having a giveaway of her new design...i love redwork ... even though i usually do not use red for it ... does that make it periwinkle blue work? anywho ... i would love to stitch this!