Dec. 25, 1865 Prim Christmas Freebie

Hello , sweet friends. Welcome. 

The other day Mr. Pinker was out and about running some errands . It was a perfect time for me to sit back ,prop up my feet and work on a little stitch. 

"I think I am in the mood for a simple prim stitch , " I said to no one in particular. In 2 shakes of a lamb tail , I had created  Dec. 25, 1865 which I quickly stitched up. 

Hmmm how should I finish this piece I wondered. I thought about a mini quilt, but then an idea came to mind. Quickly, I grabbed my cell phone and "ring- a- linged " Mr. Pinker.  "Are you still in town?" I sweetly asked Mr. Pinker . 

"Yep, he replied, "What can I do for you?"

"Can you run down to Ace Hardware and pick me up a little whisk broom? Stat! It is an emergency!!!!"  Hee Hee.

"Can do , " Mr. Pinker replied. 

With that I waited on pins and needles until Mr. Pinker returned home. As soon as he drove up , I rushed to the door and grabbed the Ace Hardware bag.  "Wheww, you must have a cleaning emergency . Where are you working? Do you need any help?" 

"Cleaning? ! Have you gone mad?" I asked with a grin. " I have a full fledged finishing emergency going on here. I have a cross stitch that needs to be finished. " With a skip and a jump , I went to my finishing table.   I swear through the eyes in the back of my head I could see Mr. Pinker roll his eyes as he strolled out of the room. " Thank you, dear,  You made this ole' gal as happy as a clam,  " I yelled over my shoulder.  

Mr. Pinker then went downstairs and I got to work. 

 I hope you do not mind if I share a short tutorial on what I did. It was super  simple and so relaxing because there were no rules.  Since I may turn this into a mini quilt later, I left my edges raw and cut my fabrics to a certain size.  

I stitched my Dec. 25, 1865 on 14 count coffee/ tea dyed aida that I dyed myself. This is a CHOOSE YOUR OWN color chart, but if you are interested, I used DMC 898. 

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If you are interested in stitching this piece,  just grab , the images. For printing tips, refer to the post Tips for Printing which has loads of tips from my sweet friends. 

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Now onto the tutorial. 😀❤🧹

RECIPE FOR FINISHING DEC. 25, 1865

* Note: If you finish your piece on a whisk broom, use the  measurements that make you happy especially if you want your broom wrap to go all the way around . 

NEEDFULS:

🧵 stitched piece

🧵 chenille candy cane. I made mine from 1/2 of 2 long chenille sticks. I then twisted them and tea dyed them. Super simple.

🧵 5" wool fabric

🧵7 1/2" finishing fabric or larger if  you want it to wrap completely around. Mine does not because I will remake mine into a little quilt later.

🧵 DMC 3371 

🧵 needle

🧵whisk broom

🧵pins

🧵 scissors or rotary cutter

🧵 ruler

DIRECTIONS:

🧵 1. Cut stitched piece to the measurements of 4 " x 4 1/2" . 

🧵2. Lay stitched piece  diagonally  on 5" wool brown piece. 

🧵 3. Layer stitched piece , 5" wool onto 7 1/2" fabric. Center. Pin. 

🧵 4. Using 2 strands of  DMC 3371 , make large uneven wonky "X's" unevenly spaced along the edges of the stitched piece. 

🧵 5. Using the same floss stitch large uneven running stitches along the edge of the wool fabric. 

Lots of wonky stitches. You may want to fuse your fabrics together. I did not. 

🧵 6. Place the coffee dyed chenille candy cane diagonally on stitched piece . Tack in place using large wonky "X's" . I tacked mine in 3 places.  (   I had made the chenille candy cane a few years ago from 1/2 of 2  chenille stems. I also tea dyed the candy cane. )

Wonky "X's" secure the candy cane. 

🧵 7. Since down the road , I will make this into a little quilt. I just wrapped the piece around the dust broom and pinned it in place. 

Just pinned the corner n the back- nothing fancy here. 

The wrap does not go all the way around. 

                

Finish however you like - This would be darling to put in a frame. Tack to a piece of wood  or whatever your sweet heart dreams up. 

So what do you think? Dec. 25, 1865 made for a quick stitch for the day that is for sure. And thanks to Mr. Pinker , I was able to get it finished in a short time rather than let it linger too. 

Now today, I plan to finish working on this darling design called "All is Calm" by  sweet Darlene Deon of Darlene Deon Designs. ( Click here to visit Darlene's Esty) . Anywhoo, a finish has come to mind so my  nimble fingers need to get to stitching, and then just maybe I will entice Mr. Pinker to brave the cold and go down to the garage to sift through my totes for a finishing piece.🥶🥶🧊😀 Hee! Hee! 

Have a beautiful day, sweet friends and thank you for taking them time to see my little finish. 

As always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa

Always work hard and have fun in what you do ...- Simone Biles

Hugs and Stitches!!!  And Snowman Kisses. 

Dedicated to my sweet Baby sister, Amy . I love you, Amo.  . ❤