January Ornament & a Wonderful Gift!

My stitching group, Every Stitch Counts, is doing a ornament SAL this year to help enable..... er, encourage its members to complete an ornament a month. It doesn't necessarily have to be Christmas related, but I think I'm going to be doing as many Christmas ornaments as I can since my tree this year looked a little naked. This was the first one I did which was a freebie design I found on a fellow bloggers site; so thank you Robin for designing such a cute design! I finished it as a small pillow and considering I'm not Martha Stewart, I don't think it turned out half bad! Now I'll have to pick out my February ornament for next month's SAL and make sure I gather all my supplies so I'll be ready to start.

Holiday Spirit
Designer: Samplerbird Stitchery
Fabric: 28ct Ivory Evenweave
Stitched with DMC3835

Yesterday when I came home from work, I had a box waiting for me on the front porch. I saw that CJ had sent a package to me and I excitedly tore into the packaging to find some wonderful, wonderful surprises. I was blown away by the gorgeous fabrics and threads, the beautiful stationary but I was completely stunned by the magnificent pin cushion hand woven by Miss CJ herself! Words can not begin to describe the warm, fuzzy feeling that swept me away yesterday when I opened her present and after a crappy day at work and a long commute home (my usual 20 minute commute took 1 1/2 hours because of a blizzard) it couldn't have been better timed.

She sent me 2 pieces of Enchanted Fabrics hand dyed fabrics ~ one is called Trick or Treat and the other is called Spooky. I can hardly wait to dig through my pattern stash to see what I can come up with for these fabrics..... Also, she sent me 5 beautiful skeins of Carrie Creations threads, a skein of Dinky Dyes silk in all its purpleness, a floss card of Mandarin Floss in a pretty blue, and a skein of DMC Perle cotton also in a purple shade. The stationary was so fun and will definitely be used! I am a pen pal with a friend of my Mom who had sent her a birthday card the year she died. When I wrote to her to explain my Mom's death, she had expressed her sorrow and said how much she had enjoyed receiving the letters since she lives in a very rural part of New York state. Since then, we write at least once a month to each other and almost 2 years later we are still going strong.


However, I must show off the craftsmanship that went into the basket that CJ wove in a Weavers weekend she attended this past November. Words can not describe how perfectly formed this little pincushion is and the fabric is right up my alley in the shade of green. I will cherish this present always and I love receiving something that is handmade because as a crafter I realize the time, effort and thought that goes into such a personal gift. So again, Thank You CJ for such a wonderful gift!


I will be holding a Pass It Forward (PIF) in the next week or so, if anyone out in blogland would be interested. I'll post all the details at that time. Until then, happy stitching, knitting, or whatever brings you joy in our life; enjoy time with friends and family and most of all, enjoy life!