Getting ready for Christmas and some finishes..........

I've been running around non-stop trying to get ready for Christmas. Can't believe we are less than a week away already!  Traveling for work 3 of the last 4 weeks really put a kink in getting any shopping done and decorating the house. Here it is Dec 20th and I have not even got out most of my Christmas cross-stitch pieces.   I did get my Christmas trees up the day after Thanksgiving before I had to head out of town to Minneapolis for a few weeks.    Since I got back I've been trying to do a bit of shopping each night.  I'm almost done now and packages that needed to get mailed are winging their way across the country.

It was tough for this desert-climate girl to get used to below-zero temperatures and snow in Minnesota but I made it through. I don't mind the snow too much but the bitter cold and having to warm up the car, scrape the windshield and all - no, I didn't enjoy that!  I was glad to get home to sunny and warm Arizona.  (It's actually raining today but it's been beautiful all week until today) 

While I was in Minneapolis I did get to see some relatives and I made a quick visit to Stitchville USA before catching my plane home. They moved to a new location since my visit about a year ago - what fun it was to see it all - so overwhelming! I've never seen a shop with such a fantastic linen and fabric selection - I picked up a few colored linens but didn't get too carried away this time. 

I do have a few finishes to share that I've gotten done in the past month or two.   Just didn't have time to post about it. Here is Halloween Rules - I had fun stitching this one, it was my TV project. I plan to send it off to Jill Rensel to have her do her framing magic sometime after the holidays.   I look forward to hanging it up next autumn.

Lizzie-Kate's 'Halloween Rules'

stitched on 32-ct Zweigart 'Stormy Night' linen with recommended overdyed floss

 

 

I also finished up this little holiday project below - couldn't get the color of the linen quite right in the photo of the whole piece but it was fun stitching in just one color for a change.  At first I thought I might make a cube out of it but I think it's too wide (16") for that so I will get it framed instead.

Imaginating Designs -  'Winter Silhouette'

Stitched on 36-ct Lakeside Linen 'Midnight' with DMC white

My favorite part - the little church in the pines (this shows the linen color more accurately)

 

I've been seeing a lot of other finishes of LHN Needleworker out there on blogs in recent months and mine is finally done too.  I just loved stitching this piece even though I made a mistake which I left in. (can you find it??)  It still looks good to me though. 

Little House Needleworks - 'Needleworker'

stitched on 36-ct Lakeside Linens 'Vintage Basketweave' with recommended flosses

 

Here's a photo of our mantel...I made these stars that spell out "JOY" back in November when I went to a quilting retreat.  The pattern for them made each of the pillows about 11" wide but I reduced the size and made them smaller.  They are done with wool applique blanket-stitched onto the fabric starts.  I added twisted cording to give it a little more personality.

 



Finally, here's some finishing work I did about 6 weeks ago for a stitching friend....a pincushion, a Christmas ornament and the lovely "Beggar's Night" from Threadwork Primitives. I love them all and was happy to work on them!



Hope all of you enjoy your holiday time with family and friends!