Hello, dear friends. I have the Christmas music playing. A little Bing Crosby Christmas has been boosting my Christmas spirit with "Jingle Bells" and "Santa Claus is Comin' To Town" among other festive tunes.
Eighty percent of my Christmas is up, and I am still doing a little tweaking here and there.
I pulled out my cross stitch ornaments the other night . I am amazed how my collection has grown in 2 short years.
My dream is to one day have a tree like Carol's of Stitching Dreams. Click here to see her 2019 tree. What can I say but stunning! Can you imagine all of the hard work and hours that Carol has put into this tree? Well as they say "Rome was not built in a day" so I keep plugging away to one day have my dream tree.
I have to admit I was feeling a little bummed that the Barnyard Christmas series was winding down though I may sneak in another one in the future -I just can not resist.
So Sunday I got in the mood to start a new little series. It is not going to be a lot of ornaments but just a few quick small stitches. I was able to design, stitch, and finish this piece in a couple of hours- all while watching and laughing to The Golden Girls on TVLand. Lol love that Dorothy. To be honest the finishing took less that 30 minutes. Woo Hoo! My kind of finishing.
Well let me introduce you to Prim Winter Home. It is simple but sweet in my eyes at least. I used only 5 floss colors- all of which were DMC . The house is stitched in 221 That is my current favorite color ; next week I may have a different one. The other floss colors were 898, 895, 310, and B5200 or white.
This is a small measuring 33 W x 45 H. Of course I stitched mine on 14 count aida which I tea/ coffee/ walnut dyed. I had to dye mine twice to get it a little darker though I think I needed to dye it a 3rd time.
I finished this little stitch using 3 pieces of cardboard. The stitched piece has 2 layers of batting underneath. If you are interested, here are the measurements of the finishing boards that I used. I allowed a little allowance on the top of the Fabric Covered Boards to allow for the bow.
Stitched Pieced Board - 2 1/2" x 3 1/ 2"
Fabric Covered Boards ( Front and Back) - 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" (Cut 2)
I used scrap fabric to finish the ornament and used jute twine from the Dollar Tree as a hanger and as cording around the edges of the stitched piece. The bow was ribbon from the Dollar General for just $2.00 .
Now some of you who have followed me for awhile may have figured out that I am sort of thrifty . So what I have done for my bits of greenery? I bought a Christmas wreath at the Goodwill, and when I need a bit of greenery for embellishment, I snip a couple of pine boughs from the wreath. It is a lot cheaper for me than to buy little picks. I take a little acrylic paint and add dabs of white to the needles , let it dry and then the snips of greenery are ready to use for embellishment. Walla !
If you are interested in stitching Prim Winter Home , the pdfs are below. As many of you know , I am not a professional designer and am just doing this for fun. I have to work off a number of devices to generate a pattern; therefore I have to put each page in a separate pdf.
For the instruction page, click here .
For the color chart , click here.
For the black and white chart, click here.
I truly hope that you enjoy this little chart. I can not tell you how much that I appreciate you all, visiting and checking out my little charts. Like I have said before the cross stitching community is such an amazing community and has been a blessing. I just want to give a little bit back in hopes that someone might find a little pleasure and comfort as I have. Plus I have always enjoyed a freebie. Lol ; every time a real designer posts a design or a freebie I do get all excited. I know a lot of you probably understand my elation.
I hope you have a beautiful day .Sending y'all a big hug and wishing you many blessings. And as always...
Happy Stitching, ya'll
Melisa
Hey , You know what? I would love to see your stitch. Please tag me on Instagram and use #pinkernpunkinquilting ,and if you are not sure if, I will see it or not please Direct Message me.
Thank you so much for posting this. Bing is one of my favorites and I think I'm going to start this tonight. It's such an odd season that we're in and you are constant gift to all of us. Thank you
ReplyDeleteAah thank you so much for such a sweet comment.These challenging times is what spurred me to start charting and sharing. It has brought me a lot of comfort. It is amazing how just how needle and thread can give a sense of peace and contentment. Your kind words truly warm my heart . Thank you again, Hugs , Melisa
DeleteWhat a darling little house stitch, Melisa! You are so generous to offer stitchers your designs here on your blog. Thank you! What a fabulous pile of ornaments you have created.
ReplyDeleteOh I so appreciate it, Robin. I think I could stitch houses all day long. Lol. I am having so much fun charting, sharing and blogging. I have always loved reading blogs and have learned or been inspired by so many. I am grateful now to be able to do this especially at this time in my life. Hugs, Melisa
DeleteYou are so talented and generous. Thanks sew much
ReplyDeleteYou are so very welcome, Jacqueline and thank you so much for visiting. I hope you enjoy this little chart. I loved stitching the little house. Have an awesome rest of the week. Hugs
DeleteThank you Melisa for another cute design. I'm stitching the 'farm' ones and putting them in a long, wood, bowl/tray I have on the table. They will stay there until the end of January. That way I get to enjoy them before and after my Christmas tree. The red house will be a perfect start for Valentines. Also, I'll make another in yellow and one in blue for spring and summer. Thank you again for this lovely gift. Patty McDonald
ReplyDeleteOh wow, Patty.That sounds awesome. I would love to restitch the farm ones too and make into little pin pillows for a dough bowl. Nancy, a sweet stitcher I follow on IG has made them into pillows which look awesome. And you are right the red house would be great for Valentines. How fun to change the colors for the season. I am trying to make these new ones not as Christmasy so they can stay out a little longer. I can not tell you how thrilled I am to hear how you are going to use these. Thank you so much, Patty. Hugs
DeleteAnother adorable design, Melisa! Honestly, I wish I had a tenth of your energy--amazing how much you design, decorate, stitch, etc. each week! I have definitely slowed down since I retired three years ago :) So many lovely ornaments and I'm glad my tree could inspire you. I began stitching the ornaments back in 2009 when I started my blog so you could certainly have even more than I do in eleven more years :) Thanks so much for your cute design and I hope you have a wonderful week. We have a bit of snow in the air so I may just convince my husband to help me pull out the Christmas stuff from the attic!!
ReplyDeleteAah thank you so much, Carol. I feel like I have slowed down a lot over the years as well. I have to admit I do enjoy jumping from project to project to stave off boredom. You have accomplished a lot in just 11 years and have inspired so many. I hope you are able to get out a bit of Christmas today and look forward to seeing your tree this year. I would almost bet that there might be a new ornament for your newest family addition this year. Lol. Hugs, Melisa
DeleteThank you❤️❤️❤️
ReplyDeleteYou are so welcome and thank you so much for visiting me. I hope you enjoy this little chart.
DeleteMelisa,
ReplyDeleteLoved seeing glimpses of your Christmas decorations!! All I have left to do is the living Room which I am working on this week...This will be the first time I am actually all finished by Thanksgiving which has been a goal of mine for many years....
Thanks so much for taking the time to visit!! I really appreciate your kind words!!!
Hugs,
Debbie
Hi, Debbie. I am so thrilled that you will have all of your Christmas done by Thanksgiving. You will then be able to sit back and enjoy. How wonderful. I hope you will be able to gather and celebrate for Thanksgiving. We will be enjoying our Thanksgiving with our family as usual. Have a lovely weekend and I can not wait to see your living room. Hugs, Melisa
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for cute chart! It's just what I need to get my stitching mojo back - something quick to stitch. And I love the way you finished it - I have jute twine and an old Christmas wreath, so I am going to try that too!
ReplyDelete