Golf Christmas Ornament...

Just what every golfer wants, right?  A golf ornament for the tree!  This is a gift for my father-in-law.  He seems to like the things I stitch... This measures a little shy of 3" across.  I've had the canvas for a few years now.  I used silk & ivory and Impressions and did the whole thing in basketweave stitch.  The flag is a red silk.  It is finished with a flat back.  

Mary Engelbreit ornament finished...

This is an older needlepoint canvas - I started it some time ago but had a hard time with the lettering and outlining.  I think the canvas was quickly painted and it was very "interpretive" on my end to get it to be legible.  That said, I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I love the peppermint cording too!  For the back I used a red sculpted velvet with a hard back.  It is about 4" across.  Design by Mary Engelbreit.

Two Melissa Shirley Ornaments Completed...

"You bring the tree, I'll bring the wreath!"

I just love these ornaments.  They are hand-painted canvases from Melissa Shirley.  I used odds and ends from my thread stash for the different colors.  The tree Santa is stitched in red Very Velvet and the wreath Santa is stitched in Trio.  Love them!  They are about 3" across and I finished them with hard backs and blue velvet.  

Santa Baby and the holidays...

Thought I'd share some of my holiday decorations up.  I love Christmas and decorating for it!  We wait until early December to decorate.

I just finished up this Quilt; it is called "Santa Baby" and is by Buggy Barn.  It is from the Positively Crazy book.

It measures 84" square.  I backed it with Minky in a chevron pattern.  I quilted in the ditch using a walking foot on my sewing machine.  No batting - I love the weight on this and it looks great in the living room!

This is our upstairs living room - the tree has about half of my stitched ornaments on it, red glass balls, and our Lenox collection (we buy one a year).  My two Amanda Lawford Santas are to the side.  Hanging is the Cricket Collection bellpull, and on the table are my Melissa Shirley Nutcracker Pops.  The couch has the sweater pillow.

Downstairs on the fireplace I have our family stockings hung.  On the mantel are some of the odds and ends I've stitched over the years.  

Happy Christmas!

Christmas Cracker Design & Finishing Instructions

Book includes instructions for the design and complete finishing instructions for crackers, including directions of how to adjust for different tube sizes, curling the ribbon, and doing a beaded edge.  Available on Amazon for Kindle apps and readers.  

Crackers are so much fun.  Designer Melissa Shirley has lots of cracker designs: Golden Crackers, Valentine Crackers, USA Patriotic Crackers, Easter Crackers, Thanksgiving Crackers, Halloween Crackers, Christmas Toys Crackers, Giant Christmas Crackers, and more traditional Christmas Crackers.  

"Christmas Candy" ornament by Jemini Designs

This ornament is from Just Cross-Stitch Ornament issue 2001.  It's designed by Jeanette Rees of Jemini Designs.  The original pattern called for floss blended with Kreinik Blending filament stitched on 14 count Aida.  I don't stitch on Aida (hate it) so I traced a circle onto 18 count mono canvas then used fabric markers to draw on the arcs and filled in the red and green.  I then used Kreinik 1/16" ribbon to stitch the colors and two strands of #4 braid for the white.  I am trying to use up stash and the two strands of #4 tangled terribly. Never again!  It does look good though.  

I finished the ornament with a flat back with silk dupioni and padded front.  Love it!

"Night Before Christmas" by Birds of a Feather

"Night Before Christmas"

by Nancy Davis and Connie O'Brien of Birds of a Feather

This design is from the 1998 Just Cross-Stitch ornament issue magazine.  I stitched it in cotton threads, both solid from DMC and overdyed threads from Weeks Dye Works.  It is stitched on 32 count natural linen from Zweigart.  I used my giant ball-o-blue-yarn for the twisted cording, along with a sparkly blue Kreinik metallic, which I accented with a clear glass bead as I attached it to the ornament.  I stitched this in 2010 and did the finishing in October 2012.  

Birds of a Feather, when I used to collect their patterns, was run by Nancy and Connie.  I stitched several of their pieces and they have really fun designs.  I see on their website now that they no longer have counted cross-stitch designs and do only painted canvases.  

"Tweet Gift" by Full Circle Designs Finished

"Tweet Gift" by Lynda Watkins of Full Circle Designs

This ornament was a lot of fun to stitch because I used up lots of little bits of overdyed threads I had in my stash.  It is stitched on 32 count linen.  For the finishing I used a textured red velvet for the back and made cording in colors to accent the design.  

I knew I wanted some kind of greenery at the corners.  My original vision was pinecone buttons but I think the holly berries are even more cute.  It has a flat back and flat padded front.  To attach buttons like this, wait until after the ornament is finished and then use a matching thread to couch them onto the ornament.  It is a little difficult as you can't stitch through the matboard but it is more frustrating if you sew them on first and then try and do the finishing because your thread will catch on them over and over.    

Full Circle Design's website is not working at this time but you can see other designs

 they have at ABC Stitch.  

Blue Dogwood Designs Postcards from Seattle

This is a fun little series of hand-painted canvases from Kay Fite of Blue Dogwood Designs.  Kay lives here in Washington and paints her own canvases.  I stitched them in basketweave using wool threads, overdyed cottons, Kreinik metallics and whatever other little bits of threads I had that I liked. I stitched and finished them in 2012. Finished with silk backs and custom cording.  

Beau Geste Ornaments finished.

A whole group here!

These ornaments were designed by Deborah Wilson for Beau Geste.  It was an ornament-of-the-month club from The Needlepointer shop.  There *were* twelve ornaments.  When I did my finishing frenzy I realized that I am missing two.  Hopefully I finished them last year (possible?) and they are packed away with my Christmas stuff.  Alternatively they are hiding somewhere and will hopefully turn up.

These are all finished with white silk dupioni on the back, with a flat hard back.  I padded the front of the ornaments.  I made cording to match each design using a metallic and a cotton fiber, or silk and metallic, etc. I love these!

http://summerlouise.com/albums/stitching/designers/deborahwilson.html has another set of ornaments I stitched from Beau Geste called "Shiny Brites".

" 'Tis Red" by La-D-Da 2010 Ornament Finished

'Tis Red

by Lori Markovic of La-D-Da Designs

This shade of red, DMC 814, is my absolute favorite color. Whenever I see a new type of specialty thread I pick up a skein in this dark red because I know that someday I'll use it.  I may also buy white, but that is not nearly as exciting to me as red.  The thread I used in this is an overdyed silk from Victoria Clayton that I saw and loved and I may have bought an entire hank of it.  (shhhhh)  The ornament is stitched on 36 count white linen from Zweigart.  

La-D-Da has one of my favorite designs that I've never finished.  I still need to mail it to my friend Suzanne because she said she'd finish it for me.  Super nice, yes!  I finished another ornament from Lori some years back as well.  

I embroidered the back with the year on my sewing machine, using a crisp white rayon that really shows up with the red silk dupioni.

The beaded edge of the ornament is created after the ornament is completed by alternating bead colors, in this case a dark clear rose and white, in the string and placing 8-10 beads on a single stitch.  The smaller stitch size forces the beads to curve in an arch away from the edge.  A simple embroidered ribbon bow finishes the top.  

"Amour" by The Collection

"Amour"

by Sallie Luedtke for The Collection

"Word Weights" are fairly simple hand-painted canvases.  They are quick to stitch and make great stash busters.  They have photos of several on their website.  I did the finishing on several of their other weights several years ago.  

I stitched this one for my daughter, Madeline, who likes all things girly and pink.  It is made in Rainbow Gallery Neon Rays for the background and Neon Rays + (sparkles!) for the word.  I finished it with a hot pink silk dupioni flat back, padded front, and custom cording to match the colors in the design.  I then bought sparkling glass hearts at Michael's Crafts and used some nice 4mm Japanese glass cube beads and seed beads I had in my stash for the bottom trim.  Beads and Beyond in Bellevue, Washington is a great bead store for those stash builders.

Larkin Jean Van Horn, a Seattle artist, had a nice little book for beadwork that explains how to do some of the fancier bead trim techniques.  It's nice to be able to refer back to it when my skills have gotten rusty. 

"Believe" by Madeline Lake Santa Ornament.

"Believe" by Madeline Lake

This little canvas was a screen printed canvas from the 2006 Needlepoint Wall Calendar.  This was such a clever idea - a little screen printed canvas with a laser-cut paper mat and a color photograph.  When the year was over, the canvases could be taken out and stitched.  I wish that they had kept making them.  

This design was a stash buster for me - I used bits of red and green thread, a blue paternayan wool for the background and worked the beard in stem stitch.  The cuff of the hat is turkey work and the scarf has little fringe on the end.  The snowflakes are plastic stickers or beaded stickers that I couched on - I picked them up from Michael's Crafts.  I finished the back in blue velveteen and it is finished flat.  

A fun tip - I bought a large skein of this blue knitting yard at Pacific Fabrics in Everett, Washington several years ago.  It is a smooth nylon blend - label long gone - with shiny and matte threads running through it.  It has been a great blender for all kinds of twisted cording and also is lovely on its own - knitting fiber aisle is a great place to check for twisted cording fiber.   Just stay away from pearl cotton in skein format as it knots terribly.

Catherine Coleman "January" Ornament finished.

"January"

by Catherine Coleman

Catherine is a talented charted canvaswork designer.  This piece, called "January", was still available at Stitcher's Paradise at the time of this writing.   I've worked several of her designs and always learn something new as I work each one.  She layers the stitches in a unique way with interesting threads and stitch orientations.  

I finished this ornament with a hard, flat back and a padded front.  The model was finished as a kissing ball ornament with a styrofoam form inside but I find that those take up a lot of space in storage.  Since I need more space for more ornaments I like to finish most of mine flat.  However, while I was stretching the canvas around the matboard form the blending filament used for the beading popped and *pop* *pop* *pop* off came a bunch of beads.  I rebeaded it with a stronger thread but note to self - blending filament for beading does not work if the piece is going to need to be blocked or stretched later.  Had I matched the model and finished it as a kissing ball it would not have been an issue.  Oops!  

Shelly Tribbey "Snowman" Ornament finished.

"Snowman"

by Shelly Tribbey

Shelly does some of the cutest needlepoint ornaments I've seen.  Hand-painted canvases are super-fun to stitch because there is no chart - you just pick threads you like and get stitching.  I stitched this canvas in November/December 2006 and did the finishing in October 2012.  

The scarf and hat are Rainbow Gallery Fuzzy Stuff and the ornament is backed in blue silk dupioni.   I made the twisted cording from red and white cotton thread and blue Fuzzy Stuff.  I love the velvet rick-rack ribbon  bow from Pacific Fabrics in Bellevue, Washington.  I wanted to accent the hat and pick up the red in the twisted cording I made and I think the waviness of the ribbon suits the piece better than a straight ribbon would have done.  

"The Gift" by Darlene O'Steen of Needle's Prayse

"The Gift"

by Darlene O'Steen of The Needle's Prayse

This ornament was published in the 1998 Just Cross-Stitch Ornament issue.  This magazine became very hard to find by the year 2000 and still usually sells at a premium on the internet.  Darlene wrote an incredible book called "The Proper Stitch" which includes two samplers: "Our English Heritage Sampler" and "The Proper Stitch Sampler".  I made her Cranberry Sampler in 2007 and plan on making the other two someday as well.  

I finished the ornament in October 2012 with a silk dupioni back and cotton twisted cording.  I may keep the bows or remove them later... I tend to be very traditional in my own finishing and am trying to get to like bows.  

Sorry for the water drop in the photo - it was raining here in Washington when I took the picture!

Teresa Wentzler's "Father Winter Ornament" finished.

"Father Winter Ornament" by Teresa Wentzler

I have always been a huge Teresa Wenztler fan.  I've stitched several of her designs over the years and enjoyed them immensely.  Her sense of color and balance are masterful.  Plus, she's super nice and incredibly generous with her craft.  This pattern is free on her website.  You can see her other wonderful pieces on her website as well.  

I originally stitched this ornament in July 2006 on 28 count green evenweave fabric using DMC cotton threads and Mill Hill seed beads.  I finished it in October 2012 with a silk dupioni backing and white trim with pink seed beads.  I love the beads!  

Arabesque

"Arabesque"

by Summer Louise Truswell

The Arabesque is a traditional design with roots in early Muslim history.  The repeating of the geometric elements is styled after plants or animals to create an infinite pattern.  My “Arabesque” design is inspired ancient Venetian plates.  Two beautiful colorways are included in the pattern: striking red and gold, or more muted blue and gold.  Learn padded stitching, blanket stitches to create unique shapes, and how to create subtle layered backgrounds that add interest to your designs.   

Available for instant download, or order as a paper book:

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/arabesque---line-drawn-needlework-design/14438743

Visit Summer Truswell Needlework on Facebook for the latest updates:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Summer-Truswell-Needlework/135452483137524

General Release of Folk Santa Spinner Design

Just in time to stitch for Christmas!

Santa is flying his reindeer through the air in this whimsical Folk Santa Spinner. Learn to line draw a canvas, pounce background color and then stitch away. Learn realistic shading with basketweave, how to make antlers look like velvet, and easy metallic thread techniques that will really make your ornaments sparkle! A little bit of beading and some specialty stitches make this a fun design. Suggested materials includes 18 mono canvas, beads, silk, wool, cotton and metallic threads to stitch both ornaments, and complete instructions with color illustrations. 

 This design was premiered and taught at American Needlepoint Guild's National Seminar in Milwaukee.

Available for instant download:

http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/folk-santa-spinner/6020039

Visit Summer Truswell Needlework on Facebook for the latest updates:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Summer-Truswell-Needlework/135452483137524

An "Old" Finish...

I stitched and finished this last year.  It's a Hand-Painted Canvas from A Collection of Designs.  Last night at guild we were talking about the birdhouse ornaments and when I went to e-mail the picture this morning I realized that I never put it on my album!   This was a fun piece to stitch and I was almost done with the stitching before I realized that it was a birdhouse.  ;)