"May Cthulhu Eat This House Last" Cross Stitch

Edited : pattern no longer provided
Im am ashamed to tell that it has only recently dawned on me that I was potentially hurting businesses of people who had created amazing patterns and rightfully tried to earn money from their work. It was very wrong of me to copy their work and share the pattern I had made from it. Hence, I have removed the patterns I had provided before and present my sincere apologies to anyone I may have hurt. From now on, I will only share patterns that I have created completely from scratch.

I was browsing the web for some Cthulhu-related cross stitch patterns and I found this project. I really loved the sentence and the gap between the nice and neat embroidery blessing and the horrific truth that we will all end up in Cthulhu's great belly (yes, I am aware that it should be "first" instead of "last").

I decided to make a different version of it, without the house. I got the inspiration for the membranous wings and the elder sign from this pattern - although I changed it a bit.
I found this fantastic website to help me choose a font fit for cross stitching. You may also choose another font (you can find plenty of free alphabet patterns on the internet). Remember that upper case-only alphabet don't usually look good when used for a whole sentence.
Originally I was going for a spookier font but I actually like the innocent look on the Madrid font.

Step 1: "May Cthulhu Eat This House Last" Cross Stitch

Protect your home from the Mighty Cthulhu! For now...

Step 2: How to Cross Stitch

You will need :
- Embroidery floss (dark green, light green, bright red, light red, black). I used some leftovers I had from previous projects so I don't know what their reference numbers were.

- Aida cloth or other fabric fit for cross stitch. The size of the image in the end will depend on your type of cloth and how far apart the holes in it are.

- An embroidery hoop and a small screwdriver will be very helpful but you may do it without hoop (if you use a hoop though, you will need a screwdriver). I prefer wooden ones to elastic plastic ones.

- Scissors and a needle (embroidery needles are usually bigger and less sharp than sewing needles, and their eye is bigger).

Cross stitch is made of little crosses side by side which make a big picture (a bit like pixel art).

The hoop is used to stetch the fabric and make it easier to stitch on it. Take the two circles apart. Put the smaller one on a table and place you fabric over it. Use the screwdriver on the bigger circle to widen it. Put the bigger circle on the smaller circle and trap the fabric between the two. Ajust the fabric before tightening the bigger circle.

Your embroidery floss is made of 6threads. Cut a length of floss. Take two threads out of six and pull them through the eye of your needle. You don't make knots before cross stitching as you do when you sew.

Take a scrap of fabric and practice as follows before actually starting your project.

Pull your thread through a hole in the fabric, from under (the wrong side) to the top (the right side). Your needle must not catch the threads of the fabric. Pull the floss out, but not entirely, and leave a little length under the fabric.
Try to visualize the little squares in the fabric. You are at the bottom left corner of one square, now put your needle across it in the top right corner and pull through (then again, not entirely). You should have made a diagonal half-cross. Put the needle (now it should be under the fabric) through the hole that is just under your last one. As you do this, the floss will make a small loop under the fabric. Trap the loose end of your floss in it. On the right side of your fabric, you are now at the bottom right corner of your square. Put the needle across it into the top left hole. It should make a tiny cross.

When you have large areas to cross stitch, make all the half-crosses before going back and finishing them. It allows you to save floss and to make it look neat. All your crosses should be in the same direction (from bottom left to top right, and then from bottom right to top left, or the opposite, but stay coherent).

You can find several videos on Youtube on how to cross stitch if you think I am not clear enough.

To stop your thread and use another one, finish the half-cross you are doing, then go on the wrong side of the fabric. Stick your needle under a strand of floss, and then under the small loop you just created. Tighten and cut the floss.

To frame your embroidery, measure it and take margins into account. I advice you not to pick a bright colour frame which may draw attention from your embroidery.
Follow this nice instructable on how to frame a cross stitch.