Cross Stitch Finishes

This cancer diagnosis has made lit a fire under me as to getting my UFOs done before I die.  How ironic it will be if I live another 30 years!  I finished  Plum Street Sampler's A Friend Loveth a few weeks ago:

This one has been folded for a while, and I didn't bother to press the crease out before taking the picture.

I chose to use DMC colors since I don't like to buy specialty threads for such a small project.  The overdyed threads can really drive up the price of a piece, and most small projects only use a few strands of them.  I think it would look nicer with Gentle Art floss, but I wasn't willing to spend the money.  In addition to finishing up my UFOs, I would like to use up my stash, not add more threads for my heirs to deal with.

I also finished The Cross-Eyed Cricket's Sleepy Hollow:

This project has been a thorn in my side for at least 8 years.  I knew almost from the start, that the linen color was too light, but I started it anyway.  Big mistake!  If the linen isn't right from the start, best to start over with the right color.  I lost my enthusiasm for the project almost immediately, and my progress has been super slow.

I  had to spend time tracking down two skeins of a WDW floss that had been discontinued.  Then I made a counting error that threw off the placement of one of the buildings. It was a big mistake, and the house was almost completely stitched when I discovered my error.  I wouldn't have had enough of the discontinued floss color to restitch if I had frogged the mistake, so I improvised. It looks ok if you don't know where to look.

I do like the overall effect now, and it I mount it on black foam core, the linen will darken a bit.  My favorite part is the way the pumpkins seem to glow.