Sunflower Santa

When I first saw this whimsical Prairie Schooler chart, I wasn't sure that I wanted to stitch it, but as I studied it further, it really began to grow on me. I love the idea of Santa taking a rest and tending his sunflower garden during his "off" season! My April ornament, from PS Book 48: "A Christmas Visit," is stitched on 32 ct. natural light linen with the recommended DMC threads. This was the first round ornament I ever attempted and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. At four inches in diameter it is a bit larger than I would have liked and I think if I stitch any more patterns from this book, I'll try stitching them "over one."


Like many of you, I'm stitching an ornament a month and I'm so happy to be keeping up with my finishing. It would be so easy to stick them in a drawer and move on to a new project, but I know I'll be thrilled when December rolls around and I have twelve already finished ornaments to add to our Christmas tree. Pictured below are the four I've completed. See how large the newest ornament is in relation to the previous ones? The earlier ornaments were all stitched "over one," so they're all quite small... Do you have a favorite? I still love that tiny stocking the most...


I was overwhelmed by all of your kind comments on my PS Spring sampler last week! Did any of you notice the mistake that I made in it? If you look carefully at the upper left leaf next to the robin in my previous post, you'll see that I forgot to fill it in with the light green. Luckily, I noticed it before I got around to framing it!


Have any of you ever framed a piece and then noticed a mistake? Well, I have--or more accurately, my then ten year old son noticed it! It was on one of my earliest works from back in the '80s--a pair of pictures with two doves nestled in a cherry blossom tree in each. Well, my oldest son was walking up the stairs one day, and I don't know if they were just at his eye level or what, but the next thing you know, he is running to gleefully tell me that I made a mistake on one of the borders. (Click on the photo above for a better look and see if you can spot my mistake... By the way, those mats on the pictures are both the same shade of gray as is shown on the left--not sure why they look different!)

Sure enough, when I went to examine it, he was right! If you look at the bottom right corner of the picture on the left you'll see that I forgot to close off that part of the border...I can laugh about it today, but at the time, I just cried. I think those were the first pieces that I had paid to have professionally framed and I was just sick about spending all of that money and time and then they weren't even stitched properly! A few years ago, I gave them to my mother-in-law because they fit in perfectly with her decor--she is thrilled to own them. She asked me to write the entire story about my son's eagle-eyed discovery on the paper backing of the frame so it will be there forever. That little bit of family history actually makes the pieces even more special...

Last month, I received my lovely pinkeep as part of Andrea's PIF... Now it is my turn to pass on the kindness. Since there were more than three people who wanted to participate in my PIF, I did a random drawing and the following stitchers will be receiving something from me within the next 365 days:

Lee from New Zealand!

Shari from Indiana!

Melanie from The United Kingdom!
I will be emailing the three of you to get your addresses very soon. I'm really looking forward to creating something special for each of you!


I am so very appreciative of all of your comments and visits...thank you all for being such a wonderful group of friends. Wishing each of you a wonderful and relaxing weekend...