Little Red Finds........Little Red Books

It was one of those days when you have great luck finding things that you didn't even know you needed.  OK...so maybe I didn't need a darned thing......but never the less, I managed to come across two things I could use.  I just happened to be preparing for another swap-bot swap that was requiring a bit of red cross stitch.  Well......I don't really know if I've ever done cross stitch before......scratch that.....I just remembered doing an orange owl cross stitch picture with my gramma when I was little.  I can picture it now.....the stitches were huge.  They must have been 1 cm across (no exaggeration) I wonder where that picture went??  I have done much more needle point and petite point than cross stitch...but not to say I've done tons.  I'm not sure why I've never done a lot of cross stitch.....but I think I prefer the petite point and needle point designs and am not so fond of traditional 'cute' cross stitch patterns.....who knows.  

The cutest cross stitch I've ever seen was done by my gramma on the sleeves of a Ukrainian shirt that she had made for my mother when mom was just  a little girl.  I remember 2 rows of rainbow coloured roosters stitched up the side sleeves of a soft linen shirt.  It was just the prettiest thing ever.  I wish I knew  where that shirt was now.

The second book I found is equally as fun as the first and is filled with East Coast mitten patterns...how fun it that....more on that one another time...

Since I knew I had to find a suitable bit of red cross stitch to complete my swap project.......I decided that I must have this book, and it is just plumb full of patterns recovered from vintage pieces.  I have a bit of renewed interest in cross stitch now and am making a bit of progress.  I have never been fond of the look of aida cloth, but it has made this first attempt easier...I think.  Well only a little bit more cross stitching needed for another matching piece and I can start to put things together.  Do you have any idea what I might be making?  

I bet you can figure it out!  BTW there is a mistake in my work....but I'm hoping it's not that noticeable.....because OMG is it hard to rip out.......I know this from a bit of practice on this piece already.  So I think I'll call this error my Amish Quilting error.......so it's supposed to be there....OK!