Whew....So far so good!

Hi fellow stitchers!  I think I'm glutton for punishment...LOL!!  I've decided to try all four themes this year...and though it was a real challenge, I think I did ok this month.  I sincerely hope I can find time this month to fully finish these, but I kind of doubt it.   I'll try to do better next month.  

For Theme One I chose to stitch the 12 Days of Christmas from the 2001 Cross Stitch Designs book by Better Homes and Gardens.  I know the fabric looks dark in this picture, but I used 32 count Ice Blue fabric and stitched over two.  Here is a Partridge in a Pear Tree.  

For Theme Two , Christmas Movies- Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer I chose a design from the 2007 Nov/Dec JCS Issue called Sparkling Country Ornaments.  I chose the reindeer and changed the nose color to red.  

For Theme Three-Any ornament from the 2014 JCS Ornament issue, I chose Snowy Days by Little House Needleworks.  It is stitched on 25 count natural over one.  

For Theme Four - Nutcracker - I chose to stitch the Nutcracker from a design called Merry Christmas from the 1991 Nov/Dec JCS Issue.  This is stitched on 32 count white over two.  

It's been a challenge finding patters for some of these...but kind of fun in a way.  The way I'm going I may have to have some ornament give-aways on my blog toward the end of the year.  I'll let you know if I do.  haha  See you next month...till then Happy Stitching!

Cheryl's January Ornament

My ornament is adapted from the "Woodland Christmas" chart by Fern Ridge Collections.  The chart was featured in the 2014 Just Cross Stitch ornament issue.  So this ornament fits the January theme for both themes 2 (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) and 3 (JCS 2014 issue).

I stitched with one strand of variegated floss on 28 ct fabric.  The pattern features diamond eyelet stitch, diagonal satin stitch, French knots, cross stitch and back stitch.

I stitched the tree and deer part of the chart, and added the "NOEL" to the bottom center.  I completed the ornament as a padded flat finish with dark green felt backing, a satin ribbon and some gold and brown beads.

Happy Stitching!

Serendipitous Jo's 12 Days of Christmas 2021

Once again I followed the 12 Days of Christmas theme.  For 2021 I stitched the Stoney Creek 2019 Ornament series as my monthly project.  I also started the large Bothy Threads' design but won't be completing one block of those per month!

As per previous years, I started the 12 Days on Boxing Day and stitched one day for the next 12 days. Then each month I returned to the relevant Day and finished it.  Until October when I focused on Hallowe'en stitching.  The final three Days were stitched across November and December.

10 Lords a'Leaping

11 Pipers Piping

12 Drummers Drumming

The plan is to finish them as a concertina books to be displayed next Christmas.  Here's a slideshow of all 12:

For my Bothy Threads project I completed my goal of the first Three Days:

Suzanne's January 2022 Ornaments

 Hello Everyone! I hope your new year is off to a fine start. I was under the weather during the Holiday break so I got lots of stitching done, but nothing else. Just a regular cold, thank goodness. 

I am working on the Nutcracker theme and hope to pop in some other themes throughout the year. 

I found this Nutcracker Round Sampler on Etsy. Tashas Patterns

It was very inexpensive and I thought it was cute to work on a little each month. There were two nutcrackers in the pattern. I'm stitching this on 18 count white Aida with the called for DMC threads.

I also found the following nutcrackers in an old Cross Stitch & Country Crafts magazine (Nov/Dec 1989).

There is a Santa Nutcracker in the pattern also, but I didn't work on him yet. All of these are stitched on 28 count white Aida over 2 with the called for DMC threads. I finished them all the same with a rick-rack edging. 

I have one more nutcracker which is a freebie from Rhona Norrie TangledThreadsandThings.com. It was a freebie from her newsletter. She has a series of A Year in Christmas Stitching. I left off the words and border. Stitched on 14 count white Aida with called for DMC threads.

I finished this in the same style as the others. I thought I would give them to my neighbor's grandsons for next Christmas. I think I'll save Drosselmeyer for me. 😉

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's stitching this year. Take care!