Happy Dance!

 A major Happy Dance at my house - all of the stitched items which have collected in my work basket over the past six weeks or so are now finished up.  There were twenty four stitched pieces in all. Twenty one are now Christmas ornaments, and the other  three are in tiny gold frames.  I now remember why I usually finish my ornaments on smaller batches. A group of 24 is very daunting, and a lot of work!

 

This set is my  favourite one:

And I also like this set, for neighbourhood children:

These are for two English boys and their much-loved cat:

These are for family pets:

And these are for family and friends:

I have also stitched a snowflake Christmas Tree, from a design by the Ukrainian designer 'CrossstitchForFun'. I used an ice blue evenweave fabric and three shades of blue floss, because the niece I am stitching it for has a distinct preference for blue. I am really pleased with how this turned out  though if I were stitching it for myself I would have added a light scattering of silver delica beads. My niece, unfortunately, does not share my love of Christmas bling.  It will fit nicely into a purchased frame with a 9" x 7" (22.5 cm x 17.5 cm) or possibly 10" x 8" (25 cm x 20cm) mat. I am about to start another for a different niece. It will be in white floss on a dark fabric. 

Gifted Gorgeousness report for March

 It's the middle of March - time for the Gifted Gorgeousness report, hosted on the 15th of each month by Jo at  Serendipitous Stitching.  Anything stitched with gifted supplies, or stitched to be gifted, qualifies for inclusion in the GG report.

It's been a hectic month. I've done some stitching of Christmas designs to turn into Christmas ornaments but no finishing up of the ornaments. I currently have 22 stitched design in my work basket. Some of them have been shown in previous posts, so I'll only show the 'new' ones here.  Usually I try to keep my finishing batches to 8, or 12 at a pinch.  22 is daunting, even for me! 

First up, four bead decorated trees, just because  stitching them relaxes me.

I did try to go easy on the beads, but I wasn't very successful.  I did omit the usual beaded borders on a couple as a compromise.

This little angel will be going to a friend who likes 'quirky' angels. I adapted the design from a Christmas Borders leaflet.

This one is for my youngest sister. I adapted a Sam Hawkins design, by changing the floss colours and facial features  and adding the text and border.

I stitched two more of Barbara Sestok's 12 Day set. I know it diesn't look like it but the fabric is the same for both of them - an ice blue 24 count evenweave.

I hope to be able to finish up the 22 ornaments soon, but it may not happen. My household is very disrupted at present. My partner's cancer is more widespread than we had hoped for, and metastasised from an aggressive cancer we thought was beaten 10 years ago, so we are well and truly on the cancer treadmill once again. 

Smalls Report for February

The end of February is just around the corner, so it's time for the Smalls Report, hosted on the final Friday of each month by Mary at Mary's Thread.

I was hoping to have some finished ornaments to show for this Smalls report, but it's not to be. There are now 13 stitched designs in my work basket waiting to be made up. And I am still waiting for a delivery of the cardboard and felt I need to finish them up.  

I have stitched little heart wreath designs for four neighbourhood children.  The heart wreath designer is Claire Crompton.  I swapped beads for the red cross stitches on the chart. The top pic is a closeup, and all 4 are together in the bottom pic.

I stitched a Sam Hawkins design for English brothers, grandsons of an old friend.

This sampler style design is for a great-nephew. I used Claire Crompton's holly  alphabet for the name.

The final one I have to show is  a Kooler Design Studio design stitched  for a niece. I did make some changes to the wording.

Gifted Gorgeousness Report for February

 I promised myself that this year I was not going to comment on the speed at which it was passing - but, really! Mid February already! It seems like a minute past Christmas to me. The good thing about it being 15th February is that it's time for the Gifted Gorgeousness report, hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  If it's made with gifted supplies, or stitched to be gifted, it qualifies for inclusion in the GG report. Most of my stitching falls into both of those categories.

 This year has been a difficult one for me already. Within the past 5 weeks my partner has been diagnosed with a brain tumour, had it removed, and received the news we were dreading: it was a fast-growing metastatic tumour, so there is a Stage 4 cancer somewhere else that has not yet been found. We are now waiting for further investigations and an appointment with an Oncologist. This is our third fight with cancer in the past 10 years - my partner's second. I am grateful that I have my stitching to help keep me strong.

I do have some finished ornaments, and some unfinished stitching to show this month.   First, the angels I had stitched last month. Four adapted from L&L's Amish Angel (1986) freebie, and the odd one is from the L&L 1987 Christmas Angel freebie.

I also made little gingerbread people Christmas ornaments for some of the children on my stitching list.  I chose gingerbread people this year because I noticed last Christmas that this group of children really loved the gingerbread babies I bake. I adapted the chart from Barbara Mock's 'Christmas Quickies II' leaflet.

I made a (belated) start on my 12 Day set in February, and have finished Days 1 and 2. The designer is Barbara Sestok and the chart is in the BH&G book, 2001 Cross Stitches.

I have stitched some ornaments for much-loved four-legged members of my extended family (including my Angela). I used the holly alphabet from Clare Crompton's book 'Christmas Cross Stitch' to stitch the pet's name, and substituted beads for the red criss stitches on the chart.

My final picture is for an ornament for a great-niece. The wreath chart is also in Clare Crompton's 'Christmas Cross Stitch' book. I substituted tiny star beads for the red cross stitches in the chart  and added a heap more of the stars, because Miss Chloe, like me, likes a bit of Christmas bling.

That's all that I have to show this month. I look forward to  seeing all the lovely GG stitching. It is one of the high points of my month.

 

Secret Stitching Bloghop

 Jo at  Serendipitous Stitching is once again hosting the Secret Sweetheart Blog Hop on Valentines Day. This is the first of many blog hops that Jo traditionally hosts throughout the year. They are all different, and all great fun.

Look at this absolutely beautiful heart. Did you stitch it? As I look at it, I would love to say that I did, but the truth is that I discovered some time ago that blackwork is NOT my special skill. Much as I would love to have stitched this, I know that to do so is way beyond my comfort level. That makes me enjoy this one even more.

I have guessed the name of my Secret Stitcher, so I will be watching to see who claims it, to see if my guess is correct.

Valentines Day is a special one for me, as it is the birthday of my gorgeous niece Ciara. She lives on the opposite side of the country, in Western Australia. Happy Birthday, Ciara!

Smalls SAL - January

 It's the last Friday in January, so it's time for the monthly Smalls SAL report, hosted by Mary at Mary's Thread.

 In January I made a good start on my 2022 stitching list. I stitched and finished 17 Christmas ornaments, and I also stitched another five designs to be made up into Christmas ornaments.

These four teddy ornaments are for the 2 year olds on my gift list. Dale Burdett's Santa Teddy is a favourite of mine, and I always enjoy stitching it.

The LA Santa Alphabet (from 'Alphabets Galore' book) is also a design I love to stitch. I do make a few little changes to the charted design.  And I always stitch the child's name and the year on the ornament - it's on the ornament back if you can't see it on the front.

I found this Susan Bates  wreath alphabet last year in a 2019 magazine  'Enjoy Cross Stitching at Christmas' Issue 22, and I used it to make ornaments for one group of 9 siblings and first cousins. These ornaments are for another set of siblings and first cousins, from the other side of the family. The children's given names are stitched on the back of the ornament. 

The other five designs I have stitched are angels. Four are inspired by L& L's 1986 Angel freebie, the Amish Angel. I say 'inspired' because I have made some changes. I replaced the cap with hair, altered the face, and the dress style, replaced the garland with hanging stars, and added backstitching. The wings and sleeves remain as charted. 

This angel is pretty much as charted, apart from some floss changes, a few added beads, and added backstitching. It is L& L's 1987 Christmas Angel freebie. The colours are not true in this photo - the fabric is a pale cream.

I am quite pleased with my January stitching. I can't say the same about 2022, unfortunately. We are only 28 days into the year, and already it has brought major disruption to my household. We are entering our third fight with cancer in 10 years. My partner has been diagnosed with a brain tumour. It's early days, and right now we are in the waiting phase - waiting for appointments, waiting for information, waiting for treatment options.  Stitching is my 'go to' stress reduction technique, and I have really been abusing it!  

Gifted Gorgeousness Report for January 2022

Mid January already. I am pleased to have some stitching to show. I am also very happy that Jo is again hosting the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL on the 15th of each month at Serendipitous Stitching.  Most of my stitching qualifies for inclusion in  the GG SAL, as most of my stitching is destined to be gifted, and virtually all of my stitching is done with gifted supplies.

In January I started stitching my 2022 Christmas gifts.  For some of my great-nieces and nephews I chose the wreath initial chart by Susan Bates, from Issue 22 of 'Enjoy Cross Stitch at Christmas' magazine (2019). I will most likely be making a few more of these this year.

I have now made them up into Christmas ornaments.

This year I have four toddlers on my gift list. I will be making each of them a Santa teddy ornament (designer Dale Burdett, 'A Mini Christmas', DB132).  This is one of my favourites, and I would go so far as to say that there would be a Santa teddy ornament on the Christmas tree of every family whose children regularly visit me at Christmas.  So far I have stitched three of the teddies. Lola's teddy hasn't yet had its external borders or back stitched.

I look forward to checking all the GG posts. It's one of my pleasures each month.