Recently, I was lucky enough to be the winner of a free copy of Stitching with the Housewives Catoween Wanda while watching Priscilla & Chelsea’s YouTube channel. I don't often win, so I was super excited! I'm not much of a Halloween person. There's less than a handful of Halloween movies I like, but I LOVE cats, so even before I tried to win this one, I knew I was going to purchase it. When Catoween Cal came out, I knew that I wanted to stitch both to add just a hint of Halloween to my decor.

I was going to stitch them on 32 count Wichelt Linen in Chalkboard, but I managed to catch when Fat Quarter Shop uploaded their Picture This Plus 28 count Lugana, so I grabbed a piece in Shadow, not knowing what I was going to do with it. After I hit purchase, I thought, "Oh, this would be great for my Catoween project!" So, as soon as it came in the mail, I trimmed two pieces and started stitching.

I used the called for Classic Colorworks but subbed DMC 3865 for the 12-Grain since that color wasn't available when I was ordering, and I have plenty of 3865. When I finished stitching, I realized that I didn't feel the fabric was quite dark enough to stand in for the design's black areas, so I dug some DMC 310 out of my stash and stitched those no-stitch areas. (I have an abundance of 310, so next time I think I need it, I do not!)

I enjoyed stitching both of these pieces. I prefer evenweave over linen, but it's a little harder to come by in the colors I want to stitch on, so when I can get it, I do. Otherwise, I make do with linen. They were reasonably quick stitches considering I feel that I am a slow stitcher.

To finish, I used sticky board that I trimmed down to fit the stitched piece, added a piece of 100% cotton, and layered the piece over the top. I did use It's Sew Emma Finishing Tape to secure it, mostly because I did not feel like dealing with the glue gun. I had a half yard of Midnight Magic plaid that I used for the background fabric. I knew I wanted to use the candy corn pick I had ordered a while ago, but I wasn't quite sure how. After messing about with the layout, I decided that I preferred the bow/candy corn combination at the bottom. I used a scrap of fabric from my stash that I tore into strips for the bow. I'm not a great bow-maker, but I don't hate the way this one came out.

Looking at these two kitties makes me smile every time I walk by!

Details

Pattern: Stitching with the Housewives Catoween Wanda, Stitching with the Housewives Catoween Cal
Floss: Classic Colorworks in called for colors but swapped 12-Grain for DMC 3865 and added DMC 310 for the pupils and pumpkin black areas
Fabric: 28ct Picture This Plus Lugana in Shadow; Finishing Fabric - Midnight Magic by April Rosenthal for Moda, random stash fabric for ribbon
Additional Finishing Items: Display Stand Set from Amazon, Candy Corn Pick from Michaels
Total Hours Spent on Project: Wanda - 8 hours, 47 minutes; Cal - 8 hours, 34 minutes, plus about an hour finishing both

I have an actual finished object! It's not just a stitched project that I folded up and put into a bin. With inspiration from Priscilla and Chelsea from Stitching with the Housewives/Real Housewives of Cross Stitch, I took glue gun to fabric and made a thing!

I don't have much of a collection of finishing products, but I have slowly tried to add to my stash. I decided to go a little simple with this one since it's my first time finishing a cross stitch project that wasn't just putting it in a frame.

I got the frame from Amazon. It was one of the clip-style. I wasn't sure how they would be attached, but I was happy when it came in, and I unpackaged it and saw they were just held on by small screws. My trusty screwdriver took care of those in no time.

Then, the frame sat for several days while I mustered up the courage to do some gluing. A week or so ago, I purchased several 1/2 yard cuts from Fat Quarter Shop for finishing various cross stitch projects (most that aren't yet stitched). For this, I decided on Swell Christmas Pink and Red Plaid Yardage (now out of stock). I thought it would pull the red, pink, and green in this project together.

I watched one of the videos Priscilla and Chelsea made when they visited Fat Quarter Shop a few times to build up my confidence. Once I felt like I had absorbed all the knowledge I was going to, I started working out what size I wanted each of the parts. I cut my mat board for the fabric to 10.5," and my sticky board for my finished piece to 9", mostly because the Sticky Board I had on hand was 9" x 12".

I used a small piece of It's Sew Emma Cross Stitch Finishing Tape to secure the Swell Christmas fabric to the mat board before I started in with the glue gun so it wouldn't shift. Now, I hadn't touched a glue gun since sometime in the 1990s when I was a kid, and my mom was making a few decorative wreaths for the house that was all the rage back then. Actually, now that I think about it, I think my middle school replica of Mount Vernon was the last time I used a glue gun. I kind of when overboard on that project. If I had a picture, I'd show you. It was GINORMOUS.

Anyway, I carefully loaded my new glue gun, plugged it in, and waited for it to heat up. Once that was ready, I took glue to fabric and board and held my breath. I did use one layer of batting on top of the Sticky Board. I tried to center things as best I could while also trying not to burn my fingers. I pretty much succeeded!

They aren't colors that I usually decorate with, but I thought it might look nice with a multicolored light glass tree I have, so I'll definitely be using it in my house this Christmas. I'm so tickled with the final product!

Details
Pattern: Mistletoe Lane from Fat Quarter Shop
Floss: Weeks Dye Works in called for colors
Fabric: 28 Count Lugana by Zweigart in Light Ash
Total Hours Spent on Project: 70 hours, 16 minutes (which seems like a lot, but I was easily distracted during this one)