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Do you like the Christmas Stocking I made?

 I haven't done any quilting in January - instead I've been busy cross stitching.

The online Jingle Ball online event in December rekindled my interest in cross stitching, and seeing all the beautiful hand made Christmas decorations on Instagram definitely got me motivated to stitch more.  

Through the Jingle Ball I became aware of some different designers, so I've been stitching decorations designed by Hands On Design and Erica Michaels.  The one above is part of Christmas Countdown by Erica Michaels and it's going to be finished as a drum - something new for me!

These two below ...

Day 17 of my 2022 Christmas Countdown and it's my Mill Hill Santas.  

I have five finished Santas now.  I do recall saying that I would continue making these Mill Hill Santas rather than joining the Prairie Schooler Santa train, but somehow I weakened and I've now made two Prairie Schooler Santas too! 

Day 15 of my 2022 Christmas Countdown and it's my Beaded Angels.

This ornament is very special to me because it was tricky to make. I went to classes at Nancy's Stitch Studio and learnt how to do beading.  The beads are threaded together with very fine Nymo thread which is extra strong nylon thread. The way they nest in to each other is called Peyote stitch - frequently used by North American Indians.  

To make this ornament we made the same angel six times, and then did some fancy magic stuff at the top to join them all ...

Day 12 of my Christmas Countdown and it's my third and final post on my Mill Hill beaded ornaments.  

Aren't they cute! My favourite is the gingerbread house (of course) but they're all cute.  They're quite quick to stitch, and easily finished by gluing a piece of felt on the back and trimming them.  I like to make a beaded hanger from the left over beads.  

I've still got a few kits in my stash, so there may be more in future years, but this is it for Christmas 2022.  

Day 8 of my Christmas Countdown.

Here's some more of my Mill Hill beaded ornaments.  I do enjoy making these little kits.  They're quite cheap to buy (approx USD10) and everything you need is included - even the needles!

the purple one on the right is Diamond Holiday

Day 6 of my Christmas Countdown.

These decorations are worked on canvas with thicker threads like Perle 5.  The designs are by Laura J Perin and they're called Holiday Ornaments Series #2.  (The page takes a while to load.)

I tend to just place these ornaments on the tree - they don't have hangers.  

Day 5 of my Christmas Countdown.  

These cute ornaments were designed by Thea Dueck of Victoria Sampler.  I still remember downloading the patterns and then searching through mum's box of embroidery fabrics to find this perfect red fabric. I always get the urge to stitch something Christmassy on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.  

They'll definitely be going on the tree when I get it ...

Day 4 and it's time for my first set of Mill Hill beaded ornaments.

I love stitching these little ornaments.  It's a tradition now for mum to give me a new kit for Christmas and for me to stitch it between Christmas and New Year while watching cricket on TV.  

The perforated paper can be a challenge at first, but once you get used to it, it's fine.  Just don't pull the thread too tightly and rip the paper!

I glue felt on the back to finish the ornaments nicely, and I like to make beaded ...

Yes, in case you missed Day 1 yesterday, I'm doing a Christmas Countdown and I'm going to show you a different handmade decoration each day of December until Christmas Day.  

Today it's my Gingerbread Stitching House.  

This was the first cottage that I made from the Gingerbread Village designed by Victoria Sampler.  I quickly became addicted to the Gingerbread Village and have now made almost all of the cottages.

I've made a lot of special Christmas decorations over the years, so this year I've decided to do a Christmas Countdown and show you a different handmade decoration each day of December until Christmas Day.  It will be like opening a virtual advent calendar.  

I'm going to publish my daily December posts at 8pm New Zealand Daylight Savings Time (like I normally do with my weekly blog posts). The beauty of blogging is that the posts will always be there to look back on.

First up - some little house ornaments to ...

 My mom pieced all of these and sent them to me for quilting and binding. 

The first is a wall hanging.

She bought the fabrics and panel in a kit from Jordan Fabrics. I added backing and binding fabric from my shop. 

See mom, I got them done!

 Cheryl bought our Christmas Wreath kit last summer. She's a fairly new quilter so she was a little worried about making the ribbon border, but she did great!

Cheryl and her husband are back again for this summer so she brought this in to show me.

Last week we had our the first Stella Bag and Wallet class. We had a full classroom but only one person got both the bag and wallet finished. 

Cynthia has made a few basic tote bags but this was her first bag "real" bag. She learned how to put in a zipper, both ...

I know I said that I wouldn't join this band wagon, but the more that I looked at all the gorgeous displays of Prairie Schooler Santas, the more I started to weaken.  

Then a shop in New Zealand advertised the 2021 Santa pattern, and my fingers must have slipped because before I knew it, I'd purchased it.  

I haven't turned it into a FFO (finally finished object) yet, because I've fallen down another rabbit hole and need to source the right display basket first.  Yes, stitching the ornament is just a small part of this process ...

I've just finished a genuine Squirrel! Saw the project online, found the pattern maker, bought the pattern December 12 and finished it today, December 28! Getting a whole project done that quickly is not something I do often

 I've had this pattern in my shop for some time. It's called Strippy Tree Skirt. I decided on Wednesday before Christmas that I wanted to make one for myself so I did!

The pattern explains a different method for starting than what I decided to do. I used one of my rope coasters instead. Notice the coaster in the center of the tree skirt in the photo below.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have a lovely Christmas day with family and friends.  

This year I've changed my decorating around a bit. I've only included one house from my Gingerbread Village this year - it's the Retreat Cottage, and it's sitting on top of ...

Hello, friends! It’s just one week until Christmas Eve, and so today I’m sharing my A Quilting Life Christmas Home Tour 2021 edition. This is our second Christmas in our new-to-us home, and I did some things the same as last year and a few things differently. I decorate primarily with quilts, pillows, and table […]

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It's only a week until Christmas Eve, and I'm sorting through my Christmas embroideries.  I think Christmas cross stitch is the best kind of cross stitch. I've made a few gorgeous Christmas cross stitches over the years, but of course there are still many more that I want to do some day. 

Celtic Snow by Northern Expressions Needlework

A Treasured Time by Dimensions Gold

A mystery stitch a long by Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

A free pattern by Victoria Sampler from 10 years ago.

My Gingerbread Flower Shop

Christmas Ornaments ...

Hello, friends! I recently made a new patchwork stocking for a little granddaughter and decided to film my method. And I also have a free PDF stocking template you can print out and use. I hope you’ll enjoy today’s How to Sew a Patchwork Christmas Stocking blog post and video. How to Sew a Patchwork […]

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