Smalls Report for January

I've been working hard on my Smalls in the past month, and I am pleased to be able to say that all the little ornaments I stitched in late December and January have now been finished up. There were 22 in all. This year the Smalls SAL is being hosted by Mary at Mary's Threads blog.


These 5 ornaments are for the dogs in our extended family. If you have excellent vision you may see the 'bones' decorating the heart wreaths. I adapted the design from a Pat Waters wreath in 'A Christmas Collection' by substituting Smyrna crosses over 4 for the cross stitches over 2, eliminating some of the decorations, and rounding off the edges.

Here are the four Jeremiah Junction nutcracker Christmas ornaments I stitched for the grandchildren of a friend.

These three Dale Burdett Christmas teddy ornaments will be in the Christmas stockings of our family toddlers having their third Christmas in 2019.

Four Christmas stocking ornaments for Christmas visitors. They were inspired by a design in LA's Christmas Caboodle leaflet, but I totally changed the stocking, which I stitched with Smyrna crosses over 4. The tiny teddies are adapted from  Graphworks Mini Motif Designs Christmas Vol 8.

My favourites - two beaded Christmas tree ornaments, my own design.

Three little angel ornaments, stitched for neigbourhood young girls. I was inspired by TIAG's Amish Angel, but the only parts that survived unchanged (apart from changes to the floss colours and decoration) were the wings and sleeves.

And, last but not least, a quirky Sam Hawkins ornament for a neighbourhood young boy.

Here are all 22 Christmas ornaments together in one picture.

I have made a good start on my Christmas stitching. I still have lots to cross off the list, so I plan to be stitching as much as I can in February.

Gifted Gorgeousness Report January 2019

Already half-way through January - how did that happen! There goes my NY resolution #1 - not to complain about the speed at which time is passing. I knew I couldn't win on that one! Today is the reporting day for the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.

I have made a good  start to the New Year. My radiation burns are now healed, and I am pretty much back to my usual activity level. This week I resumed my hydrotherapy exercise sessions, and I already feel the benefit. I am a happy camper!

I've been busy with my needle in the past month, and there are now 21 stitched designs waiting to be made up into Christmas ornaments.  I don't quite know how that happened - usually I stitch a batch of 4 to 6 designs and then finish them up. I guess a lot was happening in my life, and it was just easier to keep on stitching. I will be busy finishing up the ornaments in the coming weeks. I did show pics of some of these stitched designs in my Smalls post for December, but I have since added the bead trims, and stitched the matching back pieces, so they are now ready to make up.

This is my latest 'finish' - my first bead decorated Christmas tree for 2019. It will be the first ornament in my box of take-home gifts for 2019 Christmas visitors.

This group is for the extended family dogs. If you have good vision and a touch of imagination, you may see bones decorating the wreaths. I adapted the wreath design from a Pat Waters design in 'A Christmas Collection II' leaflet. I replaced the cross stitches with Smyrna crosses over 4 with 3 tweeded strands, omitted some of the decoration, and smoothed out the edges.

I have stitched several of this design every year for over 30 years, for different children - obviously I like it! I really enjoy changing the stocking designs. I think I have stitched one for every child who has  come into my life. The original design is from LA's Christmas Caboodle leafket (1986). The tiny teddy is adapted from a design in Graphworks Mini Motif Designs Vol 8.

This Dale Burdett teddy ('A Mini Christmas' DB 132, 1990) is another favourite to stitch. I have stitched many of these over the years.

I loved stitching these little angels for two neighbourhood sisters. The starting point was TIAG's Amish Angel freebie, but really the only things that survived relatively unchanged were the wings and sleeves.

Another angel for another little neighbour, and a Sam Hawkins design for her brother.

And, finally,  the four nutcrackers I stitched for the grandchildren of a long-term friend.

I have to be quite stern with myself now, and get these designs finished up into ornaments before I stitch any more designs. So, tomorrow will see me washing, ironing, cutting cardboard and felt, and getting the job started.