I got a lovely green trim at Joanne Fabrics to use instead of the green yarn supplied in the kit for the Christmas Lights Garland.
The last 12 bulbs are done.
And, the Garland is hanging. I’m surprised that a 6 foot trim isn’t longer when actually hanging, but that’s because of the droops.
They were fun to make. I almost picked up 7 mesh plastic canvas to make more, but I decided that other projects await me!
Then, at Fireside Stitchery, I found a skein of the DMC dark green yarn. It was being discontinued. So I got that, just in case I decide to make some another time.
Filed under: ANG New Jersey Needle Artists Chapter, Christmas Ornaments, Festival of Trees, Melita's Other Completed Pieces, Other People's Designs
The Festival of Trees (see yesterday’s post) became a great opportunity for me to finish 4 more Gold’n Cross Stitch 24 KT Gold Plated Ornament Kits including:
Candy Cane (XGC-361) with HO HO HO spelled out.
Reindeer Santa (GC-3661)
Teddy Bear/Beary Xmas (GC-3677)
Rocking Horse (GC-3673)
All those are still available on Etsy and others I don’t have, but I resisted getting more!
Here are the 4 new ones stitched:
These are the other Gold’n Cross Stitch ornaments I took for display: https://melitastitches4fun.com/2012/01/02/other-3-ornaments-finished/ and https://melitastitches4fun.com/2010/12/20/on-the-5th-day-of-christmas-6-gold-christmas-ornaments/
Filed under: Christmas Ornaments, Melita's Designs, Other People's Designs
Thanks to my ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter Stitch-in on Saturday, Saturday night’s movie, and football on Sunday, here’s a couple of days’ work on the Christmas bulbs (7 count plastic canvas kit from last year). Three before the meeting, four during the meeting, and five after the meeting, which means half are done!
And, half of Bill’s Chottie’s Plaid bookmark is stitched. I’m curious about how much his plaid will differ from mine. The yellow band is the biggest difference (6 vs 2).
Filed under: Christmas Ornaments, Christmas Ornaments, Melita's Other Completed Pieces, Other People's Designs
My Christmas Crafttree sprung up in 2016 and again in 2018 (I described how I made it previously: https://melitastitches4fun.com/?s=Craftree&submit=Search).
Well, it finally makes a return in 2023 with my needlepoint ornaments. Even though I lent 35 needlepoint ornaments to the ANG NJ Needle Artists chapter for the Festive of Trees display (more on this another time), I filled this tree with 22 needlepoint ornaments, 3 snowflakes falling, and both Linda’s Santa (left) and my Santa (right) looking approvingly at the tree!
This year, our 3′ Christmas tree (from Brooks Drug Store in 1984 which was my first year as a pharmacist and our first Christmas together) that goes on a table holds the non-needlepoint abd some hand-crafted ornaments (beaded, ceramics, and crocheted) that we have collected over the years, been given, or inherited. It may be a small tree, but it still can hold up to 100 ornaments. I have about 65 ornaments and 20 icicles, not including the 2 dozen multi-colored tinsels. I usually alternate yearly between ornaments and icicles (with a few special ornaments).
We bought a “tall, skinny” tree one year from a catalog, but it was defective, and we returned it, believing that meant we were supposed to keep our little one! Forty years old next year? How’s that possible?
Our guard dog, Buddha, is named for our dear friend, Johhny G, who passed away way too early on this day in 1994 at 39 years of age.
We miss each and every one of our family and friends but have lots of fond memories!! Wishing he and others who have passed rest in peace.
Filed under: Christmas Ornaments
Three competing Christmas projects: The Chottie’s Plaid bookmark for Bill, Amanda Lawford Christmas Tree Top Angel, and now the Christmas Lights Garland kit that I got for Christmas last year. It just surfaced (from within a pile I was going through). But, I have one month (32 days) before this year’s Christmas and decided this will be the project to bring to our ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter Stitch-in this Saturday.
The kit came from Herrschners. It’s on 7 mesh plastic canvas and uses plastic canvas yarn (quite bulky; each skein is 10 yards). Very pretty colors.
It’s supposed to make 20 lights but I can make 24 from the way I cut the canvas. The only thing is that they gave me 2 light green skeins instead of 2 dark green skeins. The 2 foot strand to connect the bulbs will have to be done with the light green yarn unless I find a sturdier cord (which would probably be a good idea).
I finished 3 in order to be sure that I have everything I need to stitch them on Saturday. I’m also trying to figure out the length of yarn I need so that I don’t have to start multiple strands unnecessarily. Getting the angle on the overcast edges was a little tricky.
I have much to be thankful for (including not cooking the Turkey dinner again this year) and hope you do too. Enjoy your day!
Filed under: Christmas Ornaments, Embroidery Guild of America, Fiber Art Now, Fiber Forum, Other People's Designs
I couldn’t find a ball of DMC #8 Pearl cotton in a particular color locally. So, I ordered it from Herrschners in mid October. I was surfing the website and found a garland of Christmas lights on plastic canvas. So I ordered the kit as well. I couldn’t get just one ball of DMC #8 Pearl, right?!? I had Bill put the kit away and today I opened it having forgotten all about it! I have a string of wooden light bulbs. These will be cute too.
Since I am not ready to be a full member of EGA’s Fiber Forum, I signed up for EGA’s Friends of Fiber Forum ($10/year) https://egausa.org/fiber-forum/. It’ll be a great start to see what goes on with the group.
I also got a year (4 issues) of Fiber Art Now (https://www.fiberartnow.net/). The website has tons of things to explore once you subscribe including their digital archive.
Quite a diverse selection! From plastic 7 count canvas to fiber arts.
Since I had too many ornaments for our little table top Christmas Tree, I finally decided to create another tree to hang some hand-crafted ornaments. I still have a few that didn’t fit. The board is the center part of a black poster board trifold with the side panels removed. One side panel is taped on the back to add some spacer for the push pins. I used black duct tape to protect the edges and green duct tape to make the tree.
All the ornaments have been hand-made by myself, my mother, and my grandmother or bought at a craft show except for the 3 wooden ones near the top because I wanted a couple of more snowflakes and a big star to top the tree. Most are cross stitch designs but the bottom center one is my own needlepoint design with one of my favorite Christmas pins.
Filed under: ANG Keystone Garden Chapter, ANG Main Line Stitchers Chapter, Christmas Ornaments, Christmas Ornaments, Melita's Other Completed Pieces, Santacicle
Here’s Santa’s row – they are so cute together hanging in the hallway. The one on the left is my Santacicle by Janet Casey Ziegler from a class at my first ANG seminar.
Linda’s Snow Globe Santa by Janet Casey Ziegler is in the center.
Peg Dunayer’s Triangle Santa ornament from Needlepoint Now (Nov/Dec 2007) was finished through Nimble Needle and I absolutely love it! The sparkles just make it a little more special. My ANG Keystone Garden Chapter stitched as a project in 2014 and when I got it back I forgot to post it too – been slipping on my blog.
Wishing one and all a happy holiday and a healthy New Year!!
Filed under: ANG Keystone Garden Chapter, Christmas Ornaments, Melita's Other Completed Pieces, Other People's Designs, Santacicle, Snow Globe Santa, Triangle Santa Ornament by Peg Dunayer
This Snow Globe Santa by Janet Casey Ziegler was stitched by Linda from my ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter. I was thrilled when she gave it to me last Christmas but I forgot to place it on my blog. So, here it is for posting this Christmas!
And, I was just as happy to get a Christmas Basket this year from Linda. Yes, she’s also a beautiful sewer.
I did make pillowcases for a charity, Ryan’s Cases for Smiles, earlier this year. Linda helped me with them too because it had been 40 years since I’d used a sewing machine. The two we made are in the upper left corner of the picture. Then, I made 2 more at our Community Day at work using a regular machine and a surger. It was fun. One of the women in my group enjoyed the event so much that she is getting a sewing machine for Christmas. Linda kept her eyes open for sales & found a great deal from Steve’s in King of Prussia, the Anna model, half off for just $200 and a great machine for a beginner. It almost makes me want to take up sewing!!
But, I have tons of needlepoint projects started and ideas of my own that I want to work on and 3 big events with classes coming in 2017. Linda and I are both attending Blue Bonnet for Toni Gerdes’ classes Fire & Ice and Bronze Purse in February and Nashville Needleworks in April with Laura Taylor for Embracing Horses. Then, I will take a 4-day canvas embellishment class at ANG Seminar in Anaheim with Cynthia Thomas after taking her Creating Diagrams and Stitch Guides using Microsoft Office class. I didn’t forget about my husband, Bill. We’re extending each trip to take in local sites. And, we have a non-needlepoint train trip across Canada planned for July-August (actually, I will stitch but no classes). We’ll be married 30 years in Oct 2017 – lots of fun times ahead!
Filed under: Christmas Ornaments
This is called “Poinsettia Ornament” and is a companion to another ornament called A Hilton Holiday also designed by DebBee’s Designs.
When it comes back from the finisher, I’ll post both together.
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