Last of the Christmas Ornaments

Hello friends, thank you for the all the lovely messages on my last post.  I am extremely grateful that here in New Zealand, as we are at Level 1, we can continue our daily lives with minimal disruption - go to work, school when it returns, be with family and friends, go on holidays around our beautiful country if we wish, etc. I am aware however, how this virus can change things so quickly, and we've had reminder of this over the weekend with the first community case for over nearly two months.

I've decided to break up all the stitching things I want to share into a series of posts over the week so today it's all about some stitching finishes that were the last of my 2020 ornaments for family and friends. Many of these I worked on over our winter months.

These few are by Lizzie Kate, from various Tiny Tiding Charts. If you'd like to know the specific chart, leave a comment for me and I can let you know.

A small design by Heart in Hand:

Fabric stars using a free tutorial found here:

Some little stitchery hangings made up with embroideries found via Pinterest

My Christmas Song by MTV Designs, 2018 Just Cross Stitch Magazine

Joy by Rovaris, 2018 Just Cross Stitch ornaments magazine

A free design by Needlework Press, which I found via Pinterest:

Lastly for today, Sleigh by Lizzie Kate, a bonus chart on Part 2 of the Holly and Hearts mystery sampler. This was stitched and sent to my dear friend Andrea in the UK. 

As I mentioned, if you would like any further details about any of these ornaments, feel free to get in touch.  Until next time, stay safe and happy stitching xx

Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas to all! These are the last of my 2020 Christmas ornaments, given to family and friends.

This will be my last post for awhile, possibly until mid January, so I wanted to take the time to thank each and everyone of you - thank you so much for visiting my blog, sending me messages and emails, and always leaving positive comments here and on Instagram. It always makes my day to hear from you. Greatly appreciated xx

I know this Christmas for many around the world is not what a lot of you planned and you can't be with your loved ones, friends and family. I hope that whatever your situation, through distance, loss, separation or grief, I sincerely wish you peace and joy, and many happy blessings for the year ahead. And of course, lots of happy, happy stitching and crafting times.

Take care, stay safe and Merry Christmas!

Katrina xx

Catching up with the Girls

On Sunday my friend Val, Hannah and I popped up to Hastings to meet up with our stitching friends for a pre Christmas catch up and birthday celebrations, three of the ladies celebrate their birthdays this week!

We had a lovely lunch at the Serendipity Cafe, oh my, their custard slices are so divine! I so enjoy spending time with these wonderful friends, very blessed. Clare was unable to join us on Sunday so we're planning a catch up when the holidays start.

Afterwards there was time for a bit of Christmas shopping followed by a fresh berry ice cream on the way home.

I can now share a few of the stitched gifts I made for the ladies - these were all stitched over winter.

For Lisa, Naughty or Nice by Lizzie Kate

                                                    

Kath's 2020 ornament, Santa's Helper by Mosey n Me. Kath stitched this design for me many years ago and it's been on my To Stitch list for ages.

                                                 

For Wendy, I made a little ditty bag using a stitched piece by La D Da.

I also gave Kath a stitched pin/scissor cushion. This cute design is by Misty from Luminous Fibre Arts.

See you soon x

Christmas Ornament finishing

My little pile of stitched ornaments has finally received some attention. These have been stitched throughout the year, mostly over our winter months, Sundays (santasundayxs) and Mondays (merrymondayxs), which are stitch alongs on Instagram.

Cool Yule by Hands on Designs - I used the recommended DMC threads on black 32 count belfast linen.

Chicken Joy, a free design by Priscilla and Chelsea, Stitching with the Housewives, I also used black belfast linen with most of the recommended threads.

Warm Wishes is a design by Lizzie Kate from Tiny Tidings XVIII, stitched on cream linen using recommended threads.

Be Jolly is by Hands on Designs and is from the Chalkboard Ornaments - Christmas Collection Part 1, stitched on 32 count black belfast linen.

Be Jolly by Pine Mountain Designs I stitched on 32 count vintage mocha belfast linen using the recommended threads.

 There are still several more to finish, which I'm working on right now.  

See you soon x

Another Week & Prairie Schooler Santa Finish

Hello friends, I hope you are coping well with lock down, self isolation, quarantine or if you are still going to work as an essential worker, my heartfelt thanks to you for everything you are doing.

Another Monday has rolled around and our days seem to be blurring into one another. I've been working from home Monday to Friday for several hours, mostly my usual admin work and also, lots of time on the phone/text to my lovely coworkers, the people we support in the community and other work colleagues.  Staying connected, making sure everyone is ok and offering kind words, or help when needed.

I've had time to get a few jobs ticked off my list, starting with the kitchen, cupboards emptied, wiped out, sorted and tidied. The oven and microwave have also been cleaned. Only the pantry to go in the kitchen now.  I've also cleaned all the house and garage windows inside and out. Confession time, for many years now we've have a chap come in and clean them for us three times a year and he was due in last week, so I decided to get them done myself. Another tick on my list.

Outside jobs done have included potting up some vege seeds and also, winter vege seedlings planted into the garden. The ironing is up to date, and the house has never been cleaner, lol.  I'll share some pics in another post of what hubby has been up to, he's never idle that's for sure. Hannah has been having her dancing classes via Zoom, which she's really enjoying. The weather has been pretty good too, allowing lots of outside time in the fresh air, walks, etc.

Now for some photos:

I'm back tracking now until early March when I spent a fun afternoon with my stitching buddies. For a laugh, we got out all the project bags we had with us for show and tell - what an awesome collection.

I absolutely can't wait until we can meet up again in person and share in some stitching, yummy snacks and lots of laughs with another xx

I'll finish this post with another Prairie Schooler Santa finish, 1993.

Stitched with all the recommended colours on 32 count vintage mocha belfast.

Take care, stay safe and thank you for visiting,  until next time,

See you soon xx

Chicken Joy

Another left over from last year in my unfinished ornaments project bag was this little cutie pie chart, Chicken Joy, a free chart that Priscilla and Chelsea generously had available on Priscilla's blog last year.  You can find it here:

I stitched this on 32 count belfast linen using most of the recommended threads and I finished this on Sunday - this year I'm still carrying on with my #santasundayxs stitching, a hashtag you can follow along with on Instagram. 

I'm finding stitching on the black linen so much easier since I picked up a cheap pair of +3.00 hobby glasses, which I'll only used for dark or high count fabrics. I do have a set of magnifiers that I can clip onto my prescription glasses but it's taken me awhile to get used to these. 

See you soon x