March and April Ornaments

This year I have decided to follow the 12 Days of Christmas theme for the year.   I was gifted the charts designed by JBW for Christmas 2019 and started them on Boxing Day for the 12 Days of Stitchmas SAL.

I changed the colour of the hen's beak after I took this photo

When I had finished Day 4 I decided to bead the first three days using Mill Hill petite beads 42013

Beads!

There are a number of issues with the charts.  There is a mix-up between the symbols for the border and the writing.  Some of the DMC conversions are incorrect (dark and light shades of yellow switched).  The leaves in Day 4 were wrong.  The corrections are being put on the website so check there before stitching.

Suzanne's April Ornaments

Hi Everyone! I hope you all are safe and well. This is our fourth week of stay at home in Pennsylvania, USA and it will continue at least through April 30th. Even though I don't "know" any of you, I pray everyone is taking care of themselves and their families. 

I didn't have the 2018 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue so I decided to use the Christmas Carol theme "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". 

My first ornament is from a January 1989 For the Love of Cross Stitch Magazine Victorian Ornaments designed by Kathy Orr. I stitched it on 14 count mocha aida finished as a half circle flat ornament. I have a little bit of this edging left from my mother's stash and thought it was perfect for this ornament. 

My second ornament this month is a freebie designed by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum. She has many free angel patterns that can be found here: tiag.com/otherproducts/xmasangels. I had a little mishap finishing this one. I wanted to finish it as an oval but I just couldn't cut the oval well and smooth the fabric over it. So decided to move onto plan B. Since my material was already cut into an oval, I thought a drum shape would fit within the cut fabric. My picture doesn't show the detail of the wings which has such pretty color changes. I only had green felt in my stash that was soft enough to hand sew, but I like it. It has a little bit of gold metallic thread for the halo which also doesn't show up in the picture too well. 

Thanks so much for this community of stitchers and I look forward to seeing everyone's April ornaments.

April Antics

Whew!  You would think, since we are all hunkered down, that I would be getting more stitching done even more quickly!  Well, that might be the case, except I'm quarantined with  my dear husband.  While it's nice to spend more time with him, he keeps finding things for me to do!  It's all good though!!

So...I'm only working on 2 of the themes this year.  The first is the 12 Days of Christmas...this month is the 4th day...or 4 Calling Birds.  This particular set is from the Stoney Creek Magazine which offered the 12 days in 4 separate publications.  This one came from the Spring 2019 (I think).  I love this particular set, so colorful.  The only change I made is the bell charm.  I didn't have the Mill Hill embellishment they suggested, so I dug around in my charm box and found this...and in all honesty, I think I like it much better.  It's stitched on 28 count white evenweave over two. 

The other theme is theme three and this month is from the 2018 JCS Ornament issue.  I chose Dashing Through the Snow by Lucie Keaton.  I stitched this on 28 count Pearl Grey linen over two.  I changed the floss a wee bit, using the cotton DMC 321, DMC B5200 and a red Petite Treasure Braid by Rainbow Gallery.  Since the quarantine stared here in Maryland, I've been working hard to use things from my stash.  It's kind of fun working around things and getting creative.  So far so good!!

And that's all the news that's fit to print.  I hope you are well, keeping safe, and finding ways to see joy in the journey!  Happy Stitching!!

My March ornament (a little late)

I did finish this ornament before the end of March, but these days I am slow to follow through.  I think it comes from having lots of time at home and few commitments.  Nothing seems to get done!
These French hens are from a DMC leaflet called 'La Ferme'.

I've also stitched, but not yet finished up, my April ornament.  I chose to stitch kookaburras as my 'calling birds', because of all the bird calls I have heard, the kookaburra is my favourite. Often I wake to the call of the kookaburras, and any time of the day (particularly if rain is near) I can often hear it. I used a Di Noyce chart (from Jill Oxton's Cross Stitch Australia mag) as the inspiration for my kookas, but did make a lot of changes.

My March Finish

I finished my March ornament about a week ago, but just now getting to take a pic of it. This is the 3 french hens from The 12 Days of Christmas by The Cricket Collection. With all the time stuck at home, you'd think we would all get lots of stitching done.....but everything in the world is so sad and topsy turvey right now, and some days I just don't feel much like stitching. Stay healthy everyone and stay home!!

March Ornament

Well I just barely got my March ornament done. I copied DJ and stitched the Peace pin from the JCS Ornament Magazine. I stitched mine on a random scrap of green fabric from my stash with DMC B5200 and Weeks Dye Works Whiskey (the picture is a bit washed out). I feel like adding some beads but can't decide where to put them.

Peace Pin

Jeannette Douglas

JSC Magazine 2012