Pink & Green Christmas Tree

For a closer look at individual ornaments, click on the Christmas Ornament SAL label at the bottom of this post.

For a closer look at the pink Mrs. Claus tree topper, see this post.

A Little Christmas in July

If you've been here a while, you may remember back in 2019 when I was preparing to move halfway across the country, I did the very sensible thing and joined a monthly SAL. Because why not? The theme of the SAL (hosted over at the Christmas Ornament SAL blog) was an ornament a month from selected years of the annual Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue. I thought this was a brilliant idea for a SAL and decided to stitch my ornaments in pink and green for a Christmas tree in my pink and green sewing room. Shockingly, despite moving and other nonsense, I actually got all twelve ornaments stitched that year. Finishing, however, was another story (which we all know too well). 

I'm proud to say, as of last week, they're all fully finished. These are the last five. If you want to see the previous finishes, click on the Christmas Ornament SAL label at the end of this post. I think the JCS issue information for each ornament is included, but if you don't see it, just ask in the comments and I'll find it. 

More soon...

Christmas Ornament SAL October Finish

Here's my October choice for the Christmas Ornament SAL. This is from the 2003 issue of Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments.

It's stitched on 30 ct. English Ivy from R&R Reproductions, with GAST Antique Rose and Oatmeal, and CC Weeping Willow. The beads are Mill Hill  #2012.

I'm two (!) ornaments away from finishing this year-long SAL and having a set of twelve ornaments for my sewing room tree!

I'm spending all my spare time working on Christmas Open House lovelies. I wanted to do more fall/Halloween stitching, but with the big move this spring and everything that's happened since, the time is just too short. I suppose I could skip my Open House this year, but it's become a tradition for me and I would miss it. So I'm working on it as much as I can, with quick little breaks for whipping up an ornament here and there. November at my house is going to be... interesting. It's going to look like the North Pole three days before Christmas!

Pink & Green Ornaments, Part 1

For the Christmas Ornament SAL, I have nine ornaments stitched (January through September), and I have six finished. (If you're new here, these ornaments are for the Christmas tree in my pink and green sewing room.) I hope to get the finishing on the remaining three done next week. Then I'll be caught up to October, with only three more to stitch and finish. This SAL has been great for keeping me on track with ornament stitching during this very busy year (click on the image in the right sidebar to go to the SAL page).

This crocheted banner thingy is something I picked up at Hobby Lobby during the summer a few years ago. It looked useful as... something. When I'm doing a lot of finishing at once, I quickly run out of space to display my finishes as I complete them. I want to keep them out for a while and enjoy them--who wants to put in all that effort and then immediately store them away? So I nailed this crocheted banner to a little scrap of wall in my sewing room and pinned my finishes to it as I completed them. Now I can see them all together, see how the colors are working, and just enjoy my work.

January and March

February

September and April

June

For info on any of these ornaments, click on the Christmas Ornament SAL label at the bottom of this post. All the info on sources and color conversions is posted.

Christmas Ornament SAL September Finish

Somewhat unbelievably, I'm still on schedule with the Christmas Ornament SAL. This is my September finish, a Brooke Nolan design from the 2010 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue. I'm really happy with how the color conversion turned out. The pictures can't capture how sparkly it is, though. Most of the robe is stitched with Kreinik and this ornament just glitters.

Here are the original threads followed by my choices:

DMC:
3731--->3733
3752--->3727
932--->316
931--->3726
3835--->3053
3350--->3733

Kreinik:
9400--->9200
006--->007
051HL--->713
093--->089
026--->2122

I didn't stitch the halos, stars, flowers, or leaves for the border. I haven't yet decided how to finish it.

Christmas Ornament SAL August finish

My eighth finish for the Christmas Ornament SAL I'm participating in! This is from the 2005 issue of Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments. The model is stitched all in red, but as y'all know, I'm doing pink and green color conversions for the Christmas tree in my pink & green sewing room. I was going for an ombre look for this one, so I stitched it in three shades of rosy pink, from light to dark:

"Feare Not" is stitched in GAST Antique Rose
The middle section is stitched in CC Wild Berries
The band and "Rejoice" are stitched in GAST Briar Rose

I'm pleased with how it turned out. It's a bit big for an ornament, but I may just tuck it in amongst the large lower branches of the tree. It's one of those spindly trees that has a lot of room between the tiers of branches--perfect for filling up with ornaments and goodies.

Only one of the eight ornaments I've stitched is fully finished (click on the label at the end of this post to see them all). I really, really need to have a finishing day--more like a week--pretty soon. But at least I'm on schedule with this SAL. 

Back to pumpkins...

Saturday Sampler: Christmas Ornament SAL Edition

I'm all caught up! Wooooooo! Good job, me! 

So, by way of review: In January, with a move halfway across the country only three months away, I did what any other reasonable stitcher would do, and... 

...joined a SAL.

Yes, I did.

I was on track from January through March (click the Ornament SAL label to see my finishes), but predictably, I derailed in April when we moved. But I'm all caught up and I'm so happy! One more thing: these ornaments are for a Christmas tree that will be in my pink/green sewing room, so that's why they're not in traditional Christmas colors. 

MAY, from the 2001 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue

Fabric: 28 ct. white opalescent linen
Threads: DMC Perle Cotton #8 Blanc, Kreinik braid #4 and #8 Aspen Green 089
Embellishments: Mill Hill beads #00479, Mill Hill Glass Treasure #12052


JUNE, from the 2018 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue

Fabric: 28 ct. Valor (PTP)

Threads: GAST Bayberry, DMC Blanc, Kreinik Braid #8 Aspen Green 089

JULY, from the 2006 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue

Fabric: 30 ct. 18th Century Stone (R&R)
Threads: DMC 315, 316, 778, 3051, 3052, 3726; DMC Perle Cotton #8 Blanc, Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid #60
Embellishments: Mill Hill beads #3005

*****
Off to decide what to start next! Happy Stitching!

Christmas Ornament SAL April Finish (and other stuff)

Settle in... I got stuff.

I finally have a finish to show! Cookies for everyone! This is my April choice for the Christmas Ornament SAL, from the 2002 issue of Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments. (Click the badge in the right sidebar to check out the SAL, or the label at the end of this post to see my other finishes for this SAL.)

Doing the fringe on her scarf was fun. I just winged it, but I like how it turned out.

As you can see, I did a color conversion from green to a rosey pink. She's stitched with DMC in 3687, 3688, and 3803. Her scarf is DMC Coloris 4504, and I gave her white skates instead of black. I don't have the backing on her yet but I was getting a little desperate to show a finish!

I've had a couple of questions about the Rosemary fabric I showed in my last post, specifically, what shade of DMC it is closest to. Here it is with 523...

...and with 524...

...and with both. Unfortunately, this is one of those fabrics that is nearly impossible to photograph accurately (at least for me). I've found that some fabrics just don't show true in photographs; I have no idea why. Anyway, it is a grey-green, but more green than these photos show. I'd say it's smack in the middle of 523 and 524: not quite as green as 523, but not quite as grey as 524. Now check out the very next photo after this one...

Do you see that the Rosemary is slightly more green in this picture than in the one immediately above it? This is as close as I can get to its true color. Here's a tip: if you're having trouble getting a fabric or thread to photograph true, sometimes it helps to throw in other colors to give the camera more to work with in interpreting color. And now you're all wondering about that gorgeous lavender-blue fabric!

I picked this up at my LNS a few weeks ago. It's 28 ct. linen by a new-to-me and relatively new fabric dyer called Colour & Cotton. This is Pixie. Don't know what I'll do with it, but it's such a lovely color, and I'm not usually a fan of blue fabric.

I also just got some more Russian stash. Is this not the cutest bat you have ever seen in your life? (By the way, speaking of photographing fabric, the background fabric in this photo is the same as in the photo above. *shrugs helplessly*) I was smitten with that little face, and that little bowtie. Too, too adorable.

And some wee Russian dollies. Both of these kits are from this Etsy shop. From shipping to delivery was about two weeks, much faster than I expected.

Also from another Etsy shop, this beautiful fox mandala. I want to start this yesterday. I stitched a color block fox design a few years ago (picture in the right sidebar) and it was such a fun, relaxing stitch. This is a bit more detailed, but the same general idea: simple, well-defined sections of color. Very enjoyable to stitch.

And finally, very important news: I have a new friend. This is Mr. Bun. He visits our flower bed on warm days and rests in the cool dirt. He's a very relaxed bun, and doesn't seem to mind our comings and goings at all. There are bunnies everywhere here. But this one is ours.

So that's all the newsy stuff. Otherwise, it has been weird. Or more accurately, I have been weird. I was killing myself to pull this house together as quickly as possible after the move, and dreaming of the day when I could call it done (the move, the house, everything) and just plop down in my sewing room and stitch the summer away. But when I got to that point, I... couldn't? Couldn't stop. I would sit down in my sewing room, stare for a few minutes, then get up and go find something to do. I couldn't settle to anything. Mr. Wonderful says I have to slow down before I can stop, and I guess that's been the problem: full power to full stop. It didn't work. Kinda like stopping a battleship. It takes a while.

But I think I'm finally getting there. I've been puttering around in my sewing room a bit more, and in recent days have been bitten by the fall/Halloween stitching bug, which is strange. I love to stitch fall, but don't stitch much Halloween, so I don't know where that came from, but I'm going with it. I'm not a fan of the modern, adult-oriented Halloween, with all the body parts and gore and other stuff. I call my Halloween taste "spooky cute" (thus, that precious little bat I showed above). So I pulled a few things from my stash that I may incorporate into my summer stitching. We'll see.

And now, even while basking in the triumph of finishing a tiny ornament two months late, it's time to decide what to stitch next. I need to catch up on the Christmas Ornament SAL, but I'm feeling a little rebellious, so who knows? Stay tuned!

Christmas Ornament SAL March Finish

Here's my March choice for the Christmas Ornament SAL, from the 2007 JCS Christmas Ornament issue. It's stitched on mystery 28 ct. pink even weave with GAST Rose Garden, Gold Leaf, and CC Weeping Willow. The beads are Mill Hill 2012. This is my second time stitching this one. The first time it was Mr. Wonderful's annual ornament choice back in 2007 and I stitched it as recommended (you can see it in this post). But I decided I wanted a pink one for my sewing room tree!

The first day of (meteorological) spring looked like this:

So I settled in with this:

and this:

and had a stitchy day. I'm right where I wanted to be by this time, as far as moving preparations go. We have the moving survey guy coming tomorrow, and once he's seen the house and has done his assessment, I can really get going on actually taking the house apart. That part will go pretty quickly and I'm chomping at the bit to get to it. After ten years on the East Coast, we are definitely ready to go. And we're excited about where we're going, so that helps.

But before I go Viking on the house, I plan to relax for a couple of days, go to Market Day at my LNS, stitch, and just breathe. And maybe lie around with my paw over my eyes. 

Christmas Ornament SAL February Finish

I'm 2-0 for the Christmas Ornament SAL so far! Here's my February choice from the 2008 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue. It's supposed to be finished as a biscornu, but I'll be finishing it as a flat ornament... when I get time to do some finishing!

This is stitched on 28 ct. olive mystery linen with Caron Wildflowers in Snow White and Mint. It's embellished with 2 mm pearl beads and a Swarovski crystal from Hobby Lobby.

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

Christmas Ornament SAL January Finish

A small triumph! Amidst all the hustle and bustle of getting ready to move, I managed to stitch--and finish!--my first ornament for the Christmas Ornament SAL. I'm stitching Theme #3 and this is my January choice from the 2009 JCS Christmas Ornament issue, "Peace 2009" by Sue Hillis. It's pouring rain here and that silvery pink metallic just will not show up in this light, but I don't have time to wait for the weather to cooperate with my photography! 

This is stitched on 28 ct. raw linen with Classic Colorworks Sweetest Heart and Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid Powder Pink PB28. The beads are Mill Hill 3005. I found the trim at Jo Ann Fabrics back in the fall (it's a Christmas trim).

All I have left on my February ornament is the beading and finishing, which I hope to get done this weekend. 

Don't look now, y'all--I'm ahead!

(Aaaaaand I probably just jinxed myself.)