Slow Stitching Christmas Eve and A Plate of Gingers Doodle Freebie

Ho! Ho! Ho! and Happy Slow Stitching Santa Sunday!

Image is from Pinterest    

Do you have your needle and thread ready for some stitching?  

Well before I get into stitching. Move over Santa here comes "Merry"! OH MY WORD!!!! Is this little Annie not as sweet as a two dollar button?!  

This adorable gal was created  by dear Sheila, @thecraftaholiccreations  on Instagram. She makes some of the most beautiful creations for every holiday not just Annies but other characters as well.  Merry is dressed in the cutest  homespun dress with a darling poinsettia apron. She is dressed to the T for Christmas. Isn't she? 

If you have a chance, please check Sheila out on Instagram. I promise you her posts always bring a  warm smile to your  heart, and if you see a sweet creation that you want to adopt, just direct message Sheila and she can help you.  Thank you , dear Sheila. "Merry" will be staying out year round for me. 

A darling poinsettia stitch from my dear friend, Patricia. - Just gorgeous. Thank you , sweet friend.  

Today Mr. Pinker and I will be busy in the kitchen working on a Christmas Eve meal for later in the evening . The whole family will be coming over, but during my downtime when cookies are baking and while Mr. Pinker is at the grill,  I will sneak over the the recliner and try to put in a few stitches in my newest embroidery " A Plate of Gingers"  . Now how cute are these little fellows? Pretty darn cute if you ask me? Hee! Hee! 

Santa is standing guard over those cookies. Dear Joan stitched, Santa. Is he not magnificent?

 Thank you my , sweet friend. 

 Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago I shared A Bowl of Gingerbread which I fully intended to finish into a small wall hanging.  However after much thought, I decided to add 3 more blocks and make a bigger quilt. 

The unfinished block size is 8 1/2" x 10 1/2". I have not decided how I will fully finish them, but once all of the blocks are embroidered I will probably frame them in 2" squares. We will see though. 

I used the following DMC floss colors- 898, 498, 351, 3371, 895,  and 413 in a  A Bowl of Gingerbread. I will continue to use some of the same colors in "A Plate of Gingers". If all goes well, the next 2 blocks will come in January; hopefully, I can let you know next Sunday. 

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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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  Image is from Pinterest    

Now onto the plans for the week. 

Did I Get'r Done... Well   -  Last Week's Goals were.. 

✅🌞1. Decorate for Christmas.  

✅🌞2.Work on Hinzeit's November Point.

✅🌞3. Start new Saltbox. 

✅🌞4. Finish Block 8  in the Mr. Snow SAL for  Thursday's post.

 Image is from Pinterest    

Here I go again! Doing a happy little Christmas Eve jig for I completed 100% of my goals. 💃💃💃

Image is from Pinterest    

Hmm.... What Should I do This Week? 

🌞1. Pick out new quilt top to put in hoop.

🌞2.Work on new saltbox

🌞3. Work on my Easter quilt.

🌞4. Finish Block 9  in the Mr. Snow SAL for  Thursday's post.

🌞5.Pack for camping trip. 

Well that is certainly enough things to get me through the week. With that being said I have to forewarn you. Hee! Hee! This week there will be a flurry of  end of the year posts from me just about every day . I hope you do not mind, but I will quieten down after that. More on that next Sunday that is  if all goes well. Anywhoo, thank you for dropping by this busy Christmas Eve. I wish you the most wonderful and blessed Christmas. 

"Mary's Sampler" which is a freebie from Plum Street Sampler. 

As Always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, ya'll

Melisa 

"Joy to the world, the Lord is come, Let Earth receive her King. "-Joy to the World

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy Christmas as everyday  is not the same without you . I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 

 

My Barnyard Tree is choked full of farm ornaments. 

Links That May Strike your Fancy

Down Christmas Lane- A Parade of Previous Freebies-   A  list of previous free cross stitch, quilting, and embroidery freebies. 

The newest addition to the farm tree is this precious sheep ornie a gift from my dear friend, Robin. It will stay out year round. Love it. 

I am joining these lovely ladies' link parties. I hope you check them out; they always have so many wonderful projects going on and provide the opportunity for other needle workers to meet. 

Frederique at   Quilting Patchwork Applique for Patchwork & Quilts - Saturday

Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday

Kate at Life in Pieces for  Stitching Stuff ( Sunday) 

Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh Scrap - Sunday 

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps for Sew & Tell- Sunday

Brenda at Songbird Designs for Monday Musings

Judy at Small Quilts Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday

Joy at Days Filled with Joy for This and That

Carol at Quilt Schmilt  for To Do List Tuesday 

ANOTHER  REMINDER:I will be sharing a flurry of posts this week as I wrap up the year- just about every day. I hope you do not mind.  There is a reason there will be so many ,and then I will quieten down a bit. - More on that story at the end of the week. 

My daughter said her 1st jump was exhilarating and hopes to make a jump next Christmas! 

Long Winded

 Happy Sunday. Can you believe it is already the 7th of the month? January seemed to inch by , but already February is off to a running start. 

  I started out the week with making a change in my  decor and monthly stitches which included Country Cottage Needleworks, February Cottage. I stitched this a couple of years ago.  I have it displayed on a wreath that stays up year round on my china cabinet door. In the center of the wreath is a Dollar Tree sign. I added a little burlap ribbon to the sign and each month I pin the cottage to the sign with a simple straight pin through the ruffle along with a little bow. It is a quick changeover which always makes me happy. 

Country Cottage Needleworks February Cottage

Our local groundhog, Chuck saw his shadow on Groundhog's Day. So that means 6 more weeks of winter and judging by our weather this week I would believe him. Schools were out for two days for Snow Days though we did not see any snow in the valley.  I did spend the day watching the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray; it is a favorite and sometimes I feel like I am living it right now. Lol Do you feel that way?

I had to pull out this little stitch which  was designed by Erica Michaels and is a freebie available on Rainbow Gallery's website. Click here  to see this series. I still have to finish the series. 

I am making a little progress on "April- An Easter Garden" in the series.  This is my car stitch.

I am going to put a little more love into my Easter quilt tonight which is below "April". 

I have received the sweetest happy mail  lately which includes this darling Annie and Andy pillow from my  dear friend Joan. We both love our Raggedy Anns and Andys. I paired it with an Annie and Andy that my Nanny made me. I love it! Of course it will stay out year round . 

I also received several charts from sweet Stacy. I immediately started With Thy Needle and Thread's Holiday Hoopla- Valentine's Day. I used most of the called for colors. 

                      

Carol of Stitching Dreams posted her finish this week on Instagram  which I loved.She had a round finish placed in a square frame with cording around the stitched piece. So cute.  

 

Last night I braved the cold and went out to the she shed to see if I had a frame in order to copycat Carol. Lol. No frame, but I found something else.   I hope to FFO this piece today.

I hope to begin another chart Stacy sent me this week.  I am thinking "Home for the Holidays" would be a great "Santa Sunday" start though it doesn't have a Santa in it. 

At the beginning of the week I posted Annie and the gals in Roses, Hearts and Chickens I enjoyed stitching this so much. I also posted my Cupid Stamp which was on my hutch. 

 With Thy Needle and Thread's May Day Basket got a little love too. I put in a few stitches into the border. I am stitching it on 14 count aida that I dyed with Pearl Gray Rit dye.  This is a freebie on Brenda's blog , With Thy Needle and Thread , in the April  26, 2009 post. 

My sweet friend, Sharon, dropped me a line on a Niky's Creation freebie called "Valentine which can be found here  in her Jan. 12, 2013 post. I just had to start it. I rummaged through my  flosses, and after some contemplation, I  chose DMC 841, 221, 782, 315, ,938 and 520. I am debating on how to finish it. Maybe a bag or a round finish. I don't know yet. It will come to me. 

I did not make much progress on the quilting front this week. 

Two yellow chickens were appliqued . Angela of So Scrappy has chosen yellow as the February monthly color.  I am linking up to her Scrap Happy Saturday link party. I hope you check her out. She always has a lot of fun things going on there.  

I also pieced some 3 1/2"  rail fence blocks and 3 1/2" nine patches. Gotta a little quilt in mind which I plan to work on more this coming week. 

For Sunday Slow Stitching, I plan to work on binding on a couple of little heart quilts and work on a little stitching. I got a slow start on the red/white heart quilt yesterday. 

I am going to link up to these wonderful ladies as their link parties come available. They always have beautiful quilts and projects going on and are great places to visit for inspiration. 

             Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I get a Whoop Whoop?

                                Kathy  at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday

Beth at

Love Laugh Quilt  for Monday Making

Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework  for Oh Scrap

Judy at  Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  for Design Wall Monday

Why I sure was long winded  today. Lol. You have a fantastic week and go create something beautiful and thank you sweet friends for visiting and making my day. As always...

Happy Stitching and Quilting...

Melisa