Brown/Blue Spotty

25 January 2014

Secret Santa & Christmas Ornament Exchanges

We're almost at the end of January and it's only 334 days till Christmas ~ just thought I'd get that over with and I promise not to mention it again ~ if I remember!

Our Tuesday Stitching Group have had a Secret Santa exchange for quite a few years now ~ 3 years ago we changed the format and rather than buying a gift for our partner we now each make our gifts.  So for Christmas 2013 I was to make something for Doreen ~ I was organised early and gathered a pattern and supplies however project # 1 and I didn't get on so I abandoned the idea.  A new project search was started and I found something that I thought would be perfect ~ I had a great time working on it and was quite pleased with myself.  Then disaster struck when I somehow managed to scorch it with the iron!!!!!!   I have been ironing since I was 10, ironing was my chore at home from that age and I have NEVER scorched anything (other than myself on a few occasions) in my entire ironing career ~I was completely devastated and disheartened and running out of time too.

Despite the setback I managed not to either fall out with or destroy project # 3 and was really quite pleased with how it turned out ~ and Doreen was delighted with it which is the most important thing.


Eliza's Pyn Pillow by With My Needle mounted on a hand painted and lined box.

This is the gorgeous gift I received from Carol.  I love it  ~ there are a number of reasons:
It's gorgeous
It's a heart ~ well 5 hearts if you count the individual ones
It's made from remnants of the fabric that the group used to make a quilt as a wedding gift for myself and the LM
It includes pieces of the fabric from my wedding dress ~ Carol had a sneaky word with my Sis2 at our wedding party and DH was involved at some stage too
Did I tell you it was a heart?  What's not to love?  Oh, and it as lights too!

I should remember to take my camera to our Christmas dinner next time and photograph all the gorgeous gifts that were exchanged.

I joined two ornament exchanges in 2013 ~ one on the Friendly Stitchers Yahoo Group and one on the Needlecraft Haven Yuku Group.

These are the gorgeous ornaments I received ~ on the left hand side from Mary in the FS Group and on the right hand side from Clare in the NH Group.  I really enjoy participating in these exchanges and now have quite a haul of beautifully stitched pieces from stitchers from around the world ~ I omitted to take a picture of my bowl displaying them all.



My ornament to Mary on the Friendly Stitchers Yahoo Group ~ Noel 2013, a free design from Mamilou Creations.
This was stitched on 35ct Barely Bronzed from Sparklies with DMC threads - I made one substitution as I didn't have one of the called for colours.  The bottom of the design had some wording which I omitted and added a strip of lacy trim in it's place.  For the back I used some lovely green spotty fabric from my stash and the hanger is made from a couple of ribbons, one stitched onto the other.
This is Christmas Morning by The Stitcherhood, a design from the 2012 Just Stitches Ornament Edition.  Stitched on 32ct fabric ~ colour unknown, I must get better at keeping my fabric with better detail.  Just two colours of DMC were used for this design which I stitched for Becs on the Needlecraft Haven Yuku Group.  I used a fabric which had a wreath design in red/green for the reverse with a hanger made from the same DMC used for the stitching.

I'm looking forward to this year's ornament exchanges already!

Kate

5 comments:

Lesleyanne said...

Gorgeous projects and exchanges. Love your Heart.

Christine said...

What lovely ornaments and exchange gifts Kate

Barb said...

Great ornies there Kate both given and received. Love the heart what a fabulous idea.Oh sorry about the scorching episode , bet you were mortified. Glad all was well in the end though.

Vickie said...

They are all so pretty, but the very meaningful wreath you were gifted is my favorite.

Julie said...

Bad Kate, naughty to mention the C word to early in the year lol.

Lots of lovely stitched and handmade items have come to you but I do love the little box you made for your secret santa, that is really lovely.