Join me for my 8th annual Christmas Open House beginning Monday, 13 December! If you haven't checked out my previous Open House weeks, they're easy to access through the tabs at the top of this page. Lots of Christmas stitchy goodness, tried-and-true favorite recipes, and just good ol' Christmas cheer!
See y'all Monday!
Fabrics:
3rd picture: 28 ct. Wood Violet Jobelan (Wichelt) (another Christmas project... purple!)
6th picture (top to bottom): Gingerbread, Nocturne, Dapple (all 28 ct. PTP)
8th picture: Nocturne (maybe a January start?)
10th picture: Gingerbread (my 2021 ornament!)
Happy Stitching, from sleepy Tiger Lily and her tired mama.
Almost finished with this pretty little year-long series, available in this Etsy shop. I'm stitching mine with the recommended DMC, on 32 ct. Vintage Country Mocha.
October (There is a bonus Halloween cup I haven't stitched yet; you can see it at the link above.)
Another Christmas finishing project to share with y'all!
Design available in this Etsy shop.
Fabric: 28 ct. Whitewashed Board by Fabric Flair, purchased from this shop.
Threads: GAST Carriage Black (2 skeins), GAST Bayberry, CC Cherry Cobbler (2 skeins, just in case)
Wooden frame: Hobby Lobby
Gotta get back to my sewing room. I'm up to my ears in Christmas in there and I'm finding it very absorbing, very soothing, amidst the stress of this year. I'm blazing away on my annual Christmas Open House, I've got some other Christmas finishing to do, and I've got a Christmas design that I've wanted to stitch forever that I'm having a fit to get started. And I need to decorate my sewing room. And this coming week I'm putting up the trees and decorating the house. It's happening, y'all!
Happy Stitching!
I. Love. This. Stitch.
This design sums up my approach to the holidays to perfection. If you're new here and haven't read my posts on Choosing a Quiet Christmas, here's Part One and here's Part Two, to give you an idea of where I'm coming from. I am a big fan of turning off the "Christmas Machine" and making the holiday exactly what you want it to be. If you love the Christmas Machine, by all means, enjoy! But if the holidays are a dreaded source of stress and exhaustion, I do hope my ideas will help give you your own ideas about how to change that for the better.
We normally wait until Thanksgiving weekend to do the Christmas decorating. I am not a Black Friday girl. I am a Chill Out and Decorate for Christmas Friday girl. We celebrate Thanksgiving and then we roll into Christmas. This year, though, I'm feeling I want Christmas to last longer. I want to enjoy the decorations longer. I want to listen to Christmas music longer. I just need more Christmas this year. It's been a rough year for us, as it has been for so many of you. A few weeks ago, I announced to Mr. Wonderful I wanted to put up Christmas decorations in mid-November this year. He's cool with it, of course. So that's what I'll be doing in a couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to it. This year calls for Christmas Therapy, I think.
Design & Finishing Info
Fabric: 28 ct. Muffin (flea market find; I don't know the manufacturer)
Threads: GAST Buckeye Scarlet & Otter Creek
Buttons: Jo-Ann Fabrics (gingerbread men; cookie assortment; micro minis)
Red trim: Hobby Lobby (home decor/upholstery section)
Rolling pin: Hobby Lobby
Wood plaque: Wal-Mart
Still busy in the sewing room! Here are a few more finishes. I just finished stitching these lovely cat's eyes, available here. Stitched on 28 ct. black even weave.
This is Happy Halloween by Silver Creek Samplers, mounted on a wooden plaque from Michael's and embellished with a bit of a branch from our yard and some wooden leaves. My notes on stitching this are in this post.
And here is a wee fox ghostie! Isn't he cute? From this Etsy shop and stitched on 28 ct. PTP Dawn.
From my previous post, more pics of these finishes, just because I think they're pretty.
Happy Halloween, Happy Stitching... and On To Christmas!
I have been playing in my sewing room! Prepare to be enabled!
Squirrel freebie from The Blue Flower
Fancy Pumpkins is available here. (NOTE: I purchased mine from Etsy but the shop owner has since moved her business to her own website. I have not purchased from this website. ALSO: My changes to this design are in this post.)
Halloween Kitties, from an Etsy shop that is unfortunately no longer available. Stitched on PTP Dawn.
Fall Mandala available in this Etsy shop as a set of four seasons.
Spooky Village pulled from Halloween Quaker by Lila's Studio, stitched on 32 ct. PTP Murky.
Happy Stitching!
The hoard is organized! My in-use DMC collection is wound on bobbins and lives very tidily and compactly in four floss boxes (variegated, Color Variations, and Coloris have their own box). Here's how I'm storing my stash of extra full skeins: divided by number and tucked in a baggie with an index card with all the numbers listed on it. Fits in a small box and doesn't take up much space, and so easy to quickly find what I need.
Between this and my toilet paper hoard, I think I'm all set. (By the way, I have been an enthusiastic TP hoarder for many, many years, which is a long standing joke in my family. But when the shortages struck last year, who was laughing then? Mmm hm.)
Happy Stitching!
Just in time for spooky season, I have a scary story for you! Y'all know that over the last 18 months or so, I occasionally pop on here with a PSA about the availability of stitching supplies, shipping delays, etc. I have no inside information; I just report what I'm seeing and provide a heads up for my fellow stitchers, just in case.
You've probably been reading about--and experiencing--shortages of varying degrees and price increases caused by a perfect storm of problems: pandemic-related policies/restrictions/closures, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, etc. Domestic products are being affected, and imports even more so. And what's our favorite import? DMC!
With this in mind, this past weekend I began pondering doing a long overdue DMC inventory and making a list of what colors I needed to restock. I checked the prices at the big craft stores in my area and they were around .46/skein. I decided to wait a bit and see if I could find a "20% off total purchase" coupon, and then I got busy with other things and didn't get back to it.
Imagine my shock when today I rechecked the prices at my local stores and saw they had jumped to .60/skein! In four days! I'm not gonna lie, a wee bit of panic set in. I've never seen DMC that expensive. I have no idea if this is temporary or just the beginning of the increase, and while I'm not excited about paying .60/skein for DMC, I'm even less excited to pay .75/skein or whatever may be coming.
I did a lightning fast inventory, found a coupon, and made a mad dash to the store. My 20% off coupon didn't end up working, but the sweet clerk scanned her 25% off coupon, which got my floss down to .45/skein. SCORE!
If you decide to do a restock, make sure to check online for coupons.
Here's your DMC checklist
Happy Restocking and Stitching!
Got a fox! I was tickled pink when this month's teacup appeared! Click on the "tea" label at the end of the post to see the previous months.
Summer is Coming Mini Quaker from Stitches Through the Years.
All four seasons, top to bottom: Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer
These have been an absolute joy to stitch and I am so pleased not only with each individual piece, but also how well they work together. It is simply a gorgeous series. Gorgeous. I mentioned when I showed my first finish (Autumn) that I'm not really a Quaker fan. In fact, these are the first I've stitched. I'm still not sure I'm a Quaker fan, but I am definitely in love with these. So much so that I'm sad to see this series end. Although I did put a little bee in the designer's bonnet, so maybe...
