October Calendar Girlies

Those of you who look at my post on a semi-regular basis will know that I am stitching a lot of Calendar Girlies. These are tiny redwork stitcheries designed by Debbie Johnson from Letters Tied with Blue and surrounded by a pretty fabric, making a 6" quilt. For Christmas last year I am stitching a Calendar Girlie a month for the whole year for a select group of people: Linda (my mother-in-law), Aunty Barbara (my Aunty-in-law), Aunty Mary and Aunty Margaret (my great Aunties-in-law), Granny and Sheila. Miss January arrived on Christmas Day complete with small hanger, and the idea was that Miss February would arrive in time for 1st February and so on. So far, I've only missed a few deadlines!

This month I have been stitching the October Calendar Girlies: it's the first month where the Girls for different people have had different fabrics. Back in November last year, Aunty Barbara picked out the Halloween fabric that she wanted for her Girlie (she's the one above), so I had to get it - it was just so perfect. But perhaps not what I was looking for for the rest of my select group. I stitched it in black, dark purple and neon green for the stockings and wand.

I picked out a deep red with leaf shapes for the rest of the Girlies. Then Linda saw a French General fabric that she thought was nice. Red leaves or grey French General? - I won't deny it - I really don't like French general and although the fabric was autumny, it was also grey. The solution - Linda had the French General for her Girl and everyone else got my choice.

ps. The heart on the witch's hat was because of a grubby mark on the calico - I quite like it - but I'd already made up the other quilts by the time I did it! It's stitched using a tweek on the lasy daisy stitch - check out the tutorial here - it is in German, but the pictures are quite self-explanatory.

Happy stitching!