Christmas Ornaments Part 2

Here is the second installment of ornaments for this year. These are all pillow-type finishes. Top row (l to r)-LHN Fa La La and LHN Pear Tree. I would have beaded the edges of these two ornaments also, but I didn't have extra matching fabric for the backs.

Bottom row (l to r) Aury's 2009 and 2010 Fourth of July ornaments. Tip:When finishing a heart shaped ornament, don't leave the slit for turning next to the tip. It could end up like mine--a little crooked at the tip. I am thinking about removing the blue gingham ribbon on the small one and putting a trim all the way around. It would hide the tip somewhat. What do you think?

Here is the backing fabric-
More to come tomorrow!

Christmas Ornaments Part 1

For some reason I have been really stitching Christmas ornaments this year. I think I have stitched more ornaments this year than several past years combined. These are the first ones to share (from l to r):Blackbird Designs from JCS Christmas 2010 magazine, Country Cottage Needleworks Visions of Sugar Plums, LHN He's A Flake, and Blue Ribbon Designs freebie Noel.

These are all finished with a beaded edge-a new finishing technique that I just learned this year. See my first effort-a freebie scissor fob by Brooke's Book here. I love the way they turn out! Sorry for the poor quality of my picture-just click on it for a better view.

I decided not to start another project this year. I want to finish up another WIP if possible. So I pulled out Mary Wigham and worked on her last night. I'll post an update on her soon.

Happy Dance!

Little House Needleworks

Traveling Stitcher

32 ct mystery linen

Called for Crescent Colours threads

Another 2010 finish! Now on to "finish-finish" some more items that I will be sharing soon.

Beaded Ornament Finish & New Start

There was stitching going on this weekend at my house! This is what I can share-

You saw this one before when I finished stitching her. But, today she is "finish finished." This pattern is a LHN Freebie, but I didn't write down where I found it. :( And I wrote Christmas Girl on the pattern but I'm not sure that is the name of the pattern.

If anyone recognizes this pattern and will email me, I will post the info and link, if possible. She is my second experiment with beaded edging and this one went much smoother than my first try. Thanks to Snippets and Stash for her tutorial and to Carol at Stitching Dreams for pointing the way to the tutorial.

I actually have some blue/green beads that I want to use for a beaded edging so I picked out an overdye thread that matched pretty well and now all I need is a pattern for a Christmas ornament that would look great monochromatic. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Here is my new start-it is LHN Traveling Stitcher. The needlebook is finished and the rest has a good start.

I am wanting to stitch the LHN boy skater ornament in JCS 2010 ornament issue. But I don't have the pattern for the girl skater ornament. Does someone have that pattern I could borrow or trade for?

Hey, did you hear about the Crazy January Challenge 2011? Check this out-I am thinking seriously about joining in!

October ANG SOTM

This is the ANG Stitch of the Month thru October. I wasn't planning to do a Christmas themed piece. But it certainly looks like it.

I marked the outside border wrong. It is one row too small. But luckily the marks will be covered up with the stitching. Now on to November!

Happy Belated Birthday, Dear Katy!

Happy Birthday, Dear Katy!

Here you are on your wedding day-2007

You are at such a great age-24

And the newest member of the family to learn to cross-stitch

Here is how I think of you- Halloween 1994

We love you!

Two Updates & A Birthday Gift to Myself

Here is the latest on Gay Ann Roger's Snowflake Girl. I got temporarily distracted from her, but finally finished the prework. This is not for a class, but the instructions had a prework section. I love her already!

Sylvia's SAL is almost finished! The November block was quick to stitch and the whole thing is just cute. Talk about monthly instant gratification for those of us who get bogged down in big projects.

Lastly is my birthday gift to myself. It is a pumpkin pincushion that I bought off of Etsy from GlassDragonBearsEtc. It measures approx 3 1/2" X 3 1/2".

Now you see where I got the desire for Tiny Pumpkin Etui. I got mine from Denise at Threadneedle Street. She still has a couple more for sale-$24.

Edit:Thank you, Marlene, for pointing out that everybody doesn't know when my birthday is :) It was Halloween.

New Stash and 2 Finishes!

Here is the latest stash I have accumulated. The small pumpkin is Tiny Pumpkin Etui by Praiseworthy Stitches. It is a kit to stitch and finish a pumpkin pincushion. My LNS told me to be careful or I will be a collector of pumpkins. Too late :) I got the last of the Carriage House Samplings I was admiring as Kathy will be retiring soon. She will be missed.

Here is more stash. I have become an admirer of Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread after I saw the Gathering Acorns finished on Becky Bee's Stitching Hive. That Becky is such a stitching inspiration-wow!

Here is my first beaded edge finish. It is a scissor fob. There were a couple of little boo-boos on the corners and I don't think the ribbon is quite centered, but I learned and am anxious to try it again! The pattern is a freebie by Brooke's Books.
I used the called-for DMC floss and 32 ct belfast linen and think 36 ct would have made it a little smaller and more "scissor fob" size.

And last but not least, This is the Day by Hands to Work is finished! I filled in the number box at the bottom of the sampler and thought it turned out nice. But the alphabet at the top doesn't have any filling except on the crown. Don't the leaves on the tree make a big difference? And I love the way the over 1 stitching in the box at the middle left turned out-thank goodness for lighted magnifiers!

Winner of my 100th Post Giveaway!

Without further ado, here is the bowl with 197 entries for my giveaway. Awesome!! I am blown away by how much response there was! I didn't bother to fold up the pieces of paper because the "official" person doing the drawing can't read :)

Here is my grandson drawing the winner after he thoroughly mixed up the papers within. The winner is alyssa marie 80!! Congratulations!

I have emailed Alyssa and am waiting to hear back from her so I can mail out her winnings. Thanks again for everyone's enthusiastic response!

Have a happy Halloween weekend and don't eat too much candy!

Last Day to Enter My Giveaway!

Today is the last day to enter my 100th post giveaway!

Click here to enter.

I will be posting the winner tomorrow. Good luck to everyone!