Getting into the Christmas spirit....and a little strolling (573-577)

 

 The holidays are bearing down on us and many are getting into the Christmas spirit earlier than usual. Some of our neighbors are already all decked out for the holidays and I'm of the opinion that whatever makes this year a little more festive....go for it!!! I am still enjoying my fall decorations, but have been working heartily on some Christmas stitching...both gifts and for myself. So...I am going to get right to it (of course I won't be sharing any gifts until after they are received)....this will be a total stitching post! :)

 I have a few finishes from when we least met...the first is a gift I made for a friend's birthday back the end of October. I had found this teeny, tiny black 'dish, salt cellar, container' (not sure what it is) awhile ago and was holding for a design that would fit in it. Debbie's birthday is near Halloween, so I felt it called for a Halloween design. So, October Boo by Twisted Threads to the rescue!! I stitched it on a 46 ct mystery linen, over one, with DMC and mounted in the dish.

 

Next, are two FFO's from last post......Mary Smith  from Lisa Cowell, which was a guild class piece. It was finished as a small pincushion.

 And, Sew a Needle Pulling Thread by Shepherd's Bush. This was a gift from Salty Yarns' Jamboree and was a kit including the pre-made bag.....quick stitch and oh so sweet!!!

 

I finished the stitching on my Coming to America: the Women of the Mayflower by WTNT right on time....almost. I posted a photo of my completed work and a fellow stitcher kindly sent me a PM asking if I realized I had forgotten to stitch the inner part of the bottom border. Ooops...I had completely missed that, so my finish was actually a couple days after landing.I changed out some colors, to show better on my fabric, and stitched the names in three different colors.
 

As a companion to this piece, we received a chart called Celebrate Harvest. Here is my version stitched on 30 ct mystery linen, over one, and mounted on a small board from Hobby Lobby that I painted brown.

I finished the stitching on Reindeer Feed Sack by Carriage House Samplings....stitched on 28 ct natural/evergreen Tattersal fabric with Sulky #1181, DMC Perle #3033 and GAST LE Xmas Tree. I will finish as a "sack" and ordered a cute snowflake hanger I hope will work. 

 I am a little ahead of the game for the holidays....I have the ornaments for my grands completed.....way ahead of usual!!! Our friend, Robin in VA, had gifted me this chart a bit ago, knowing I like to stitch on perforated paper in the car. I stitched one of each of the snowman heads then "headed" (sorry, couldn't resist) to Hobby Lobby to find inspiration on how to finish. I stumbled across these pre-made ornaments and they worked perfectly...just glued the stitched piece on in place of the "O"!!! After last years needlepoint ornaments, this was a very pleasant respite!!! Chart is Snow Pennies by Thistles.

Finally, I read about a SAL on IG, co-sponsored by Terri of Chocolates for Breakfast fame, for any of the Houses of Hawk Run Hollow series. I had started this (HOHRH) back in 2006 and got four houses done before it fell into my dark hole of UFO's. I resurrected it and got one more house completed. It will now be put in time out until after the holidays. I'm stitching on 40 ct Pearled Barley with the called for Soie d'alger fibers.

 

Following Robin's generosity, I am going to pay the chart for the Snowmen forward. If you are interested, please leave a comment with the word "snowmen" in it and I will have a drawing on November 30th for a winner. This was originally done on a 32 ct linen, so doesn't have to be stitched on the perforated paper.

 Thanks, as always, for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship! I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and that you can make the best of our challenging times. We have much to be grateful for and we need to focus on that. Bee well, everyone!

Stasi