Merry Christmas Eve, Eve!

Well, are you ready? I am, because our Christmas will be very simple and quiet this year. With my sons all visiting their significant others' families for Christmas, it will just be me and my husband. We have been invited to lunch on Christmas Day with my middle son's girlfriend's family (who live about 40 minutes away) so that will be a nice treat. I'm making the desserts for their lunch--a pumpkin roll and a flourless chocolate cake. I've made both before so, hopefully, all will go well when I attempt to bake them tomorrow! 

I've been wanting to take some photos of my tree, but the weather has not been cooperating! We got about four or five inches of snow over the weekend and my sunroom is so blindingly white from the reflection that it has made picture taking difficult. Not that I'm complaining! I'm thrilled to have snow and finally have a white Christmas after a string of green ones. Anyway... here are some photos--at night and during the day. Hope you enjoy my tree filled with over 200 cross stitched ornaments--lots of time and patience and love has gone into making each one.

Since we are going to be alone this year, I didn't get many of my decorations out. However, I did make sure to put up my cross stitch tree! Can't have those little beauties stuck in their under-the-bed box for another whole year without seeing the light of day, can I? It's a lot of work putting up even that one tree, but I've so enjoyed sitting in the evening with the fireplace lit and just relaxing by the glow of the tree.

Just look out the windows--can  you see all the snow covering the ground and the tree branches?

I just love the ornaments from the Little House Needleworks Hometown Series and need to get back to stitching them in 2025.

I grouped my sweet stitched angels together this year.

I scattered my many Prairie Schooler Santas throughout the tree, but a good bunch of them seems to be gathering in this spot!

As you can see, my ornament stitching is quite eclectic.

I need to stitch more tiny ornaments for the very top of the tree.

The view from our sunroom into the family room where we spend most of our time. My stitching chair is right behind that wicker basket on the right.

The view from our kitchen into the sunroom.

All is calm... all is bright

So, do you have snow where you are? For those of you who don't, I thought you'd enjoy a few photos to view from the warmth of your home. I really don't mind the snow at my age because I no longer have to venture out into the icy cold and treacherous roads for work. I actually enjoy sitting inside and watching it fall. 

The snow was coming down so quickly, we could barely see the house across the street!

This is the view out to our pond from one of the upstairs windows.

One of my favorite things about snow is how well the red cardinals show up against it. Can you also spot the more muted female cardinal in the upper left branch?

I just want to take a moment to thank all of you who visit my blog and leave such nice comments. I don't always have the time to thank each of you personally, but I so appreciate your support and friendship! Next month, I'll be entering my 17th year of blogging--can you believe it? Thoughts of stopping come and go more and more often as I age, but for now, I'm still hanging in there! Not sure if I'll be back until 2025, so, if not, I wish each of you a blessed Christmas and a new year filled with good health, happy times, and lots of stitching. Thank you again for being here! Bye for now...

Wishing each of you a peaceful Christmas!

♪♫♪ Noel, Noel ♪♫♪

Well, I'm back with one last finish for 2024--and it's probably my biggest! May I present the lovely "Noel Sampler" by With Thy Needle and Thread. Now, I'm not much of a sampler stitcher, but this one really caught my eye with that beautiful red house, the noble looking deer, and the tiny figures. It is stitched on 40 ct. porcelain Newcastle linen with most of the suggested threads. I love that this piece used only DMC threads! I did darken up some of the snowflakes and made a few of the letters either darker or lighter than charted so they would show up better on my chosen linen. 

"Noel Sampler" designed by With Thy Needle and Thread

Don't you love a nice red house at Christmas time?

The main change I made to this finish, was to stitch an entire family down at the bottom left instead of just a man and woman. I chose to stitch three little boys instead of the trees that were charted to represent my three sons. No, they're not triplets--I just made them the same size because it was easier :) Today, as young men of 42, 39, and 36, they are all about the same height with my middle son being just a bit taller than his brothers. I did give them hair color to represent each, though--the oldest has the darkest hair, the middle the lightest, and the youngest has hair in a nice shade of brown.  I also chose to stitch our dear all black cat, Shadow, instead of the dog that was charted. Shadow was my sons' steadfast companion for 14 years and such an integral part of our daily lives and holidays. He was a huge guy weighing in at 20 pounds--not overweight, just giant! The veterinarian once told me he could double as a black panther if anyone was making a movie.

My little family. I was the only girl--even the cat was male!

Below is a collage of three photos from the early 1990s  of my three boys with their beloved Shadow cat. 

Such wonderful memories of Christmas in the early '90s!

I truly love how this sampler turned out and hope to have it professionally framed. It may actually stay up on my wall year-round... We'll see! Do any of you leave out Christmas stitching all year? It seems a shame to put these big pieces away for eleven months of the year after all that hard work. 

As you know, this was the year of my plan to stitch some larger pieces for Christmas in addition to the small ornaments that I'm usually sharing with you. I'm happy to say that I finished five larger pieces this year! Would you like a recap? If you'd like more information on what fabric or threads were used, just click on the title for each one.

"REINDEER GAMES"

In April, I finished "Reindeer Games" by Erica Michaels. Such a fun and unique design!

"CHRISTMAS IS COMING"

In May, I completed "Christmas is Coming" by Shakespeare's Peddler. I just love stitching words so this one was a real treat.

"SANTA STOPS HERE"

August brought the darling "Santa Stops Here" by With Thy Needle and Thread. The colors and charming house made this one a joy to stitch!

"GLAD TIDINGS"

And in November, I finished "Glad Tidings" by The Drawn Thread. The silk threads I used added such depth to the color in this piece.

So, which one is your favorite? Oh, this is a hard choice for me, I truly love them all! Two are quite whimsical, two are very classic, and the fifth is just plain sweet. However, those darling stocking-capped birds in the Drawn Thread "Glad Tidings" finish have captured my heart so I'll pick that one. Now to get them finished and up on my wall by next Christmas. Wish me luck! You all know I'm a terrible procrastinator when it comes to framing pieces. 

Seven days left until Christmas... I can hardly believe it. I still haven't sent out cards and also have shopping to do. But, because we'll be having a belated Christmas celebration with my grandson in January (he'll be in Texas with his mom's side of the family on Christmas Day), I feel like I have a bit more time on my side. Tomorrow, I will work on my cards and finish decorating my tree. I'm finally getting my energy back after that prolonged virus--almost three weeks of feeling yukky. Thank you all so much for your well wishes in my last post. It sounds like this virus is making the rounds in all parts of the U.S. and I hope it's gone for good soon! Anyway, thank you so very much for stopping by during this busy time of year--I do love hearing from you. Take care now, my friends. I'll be back one last time before Christmas. Bye for now...

2024 Parade of Ornaments!

Can you believe it's time for yet another Parade of Ornaments here at Stitching Dreams? It seems like the 2023 parade just marched past, doesn't it? This marks the 15th annual parade on my blog--amazing! It's a gloomy, rainy day here in western Pennsylvania, but I'm hoping the sight of the colorful ornaments that I've stitched over the past year will brighten my day (and yours!). The Grand Marshall (that would be me :) is, unfortunately, a bit "under the weather." For two weeks now, I've been battling a very persistent cold/flu type of illness and just when I think it's gone, it returns. I guess it's about time that I make an appointment with my doctor. But, I'll at least push through and get this posted before settling into my stitching chair  for some quiet time. 

I hope you'll enjoy the 2024 parade... sit back, relax, and make a note of your favorite ornament as each one marches by. I always enjoy hearing about which one you liked best. So, without further ado... cue the music and let's get started!

The 2024 "Parade of Ornaments"

What's that you say? The ornaments are a bit too small to see clearly? How about if I zoom in for you...

January ~ March 2024

April ~ June 2024

July ~ September 2024

October ~ December 2024

 

Once again, my love for all Prairie Schooler designs is clear--five of the twelve ornaments are PS! They are just such classics... A bit like old friends--so comfortable and easy with those reliable DMC colors that always look like the cover photos. Honestly, I'm tired of purchasing overdyed threads and seeing that, when they arrive, they look nothing like the colors on the actual charts. I have no local needlework shop so I have to order everything online and I feel like I've spent a lot of money on overdyeds that I end up not using because of the color differences. How about you? Give me a good old Prairie Schooler DMC charted piece any day!

If you'd like more information on any of my monthly finishes, just click on the title of it below the photo and the link will take you to my post with information about fabrics and threads for each one. 

 JANUARY

"Christmas Card" by Crocette a Gogò

 FEBRUARY

"Christmas Green Chic" by Crocette a Gogò

MARCH

"First Snow" by Annie Beez Folk Art

APRIL

"Avery's Cycling Santa" by Homespun Elegance

MAY

2024 Prairie Schooler Annual Santa

JUNE

"Santa Please Bring Me" by Homespun Elegance

JULY

"Birds and Snowflakes: Chickadee" from Just Cross Stitch Magazine (February 2020 issue)

AUGUST

"Gathering Holly" by Annie Beez Folk Art

SEPTEMBER

1995 Prairie Schooler Annual Santa

 

OCTOBER

"Songs of the Season: Deck the Halls" by Prairie Schooler

NOVEMBER

"A Merry Mini Surprise" by Prairie Schooler

DECEMBER

"A Merry Mini Surprise" by Prairie Schooler

So, did you choose a favorite (or two)? Mine is February's gingerbread boy--I just love his sweet expression and the rusty jingle bells at the bottom. That Merry Christmas ornament from January is right up near the top, though. I really do love ornaments stitched on black! I always have people telling me they look forward to this post and to my Christmas tree (which I don't even have decorated yet!) and I'm happy that my little monthly ornaments can provide some inspiration. This was the fourth year that I've led the monthly ornament stitch along on Instagram and it's been such fun meeting many new stitchers from around the world. Perhaps you'd like to give it a try and join us in 2025? Just use the #12in25ornamentstitchalong to tag your ornament finishes on Instagram so we can all enjoy them--hope to see you there!

For even more inspiration, you may want to click on the following years for past ornament parades: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010. Whew! That adds up to a lot of ornaments over the past 15 years, doesn't it? And during my very first year of blogging, I was actually stitching an ornament a week (although not all Christmas ornaments--just ornament-sized things). You may want to go back and look at that year, too, by clicking here: 2009. 

Such a soft, pretty glow in our hallway at night

A final look at the 2024 dozen

I will soon be moving my monthly ornaments on my stairway garland to my Christmas tree and replacing them with ornaments that I've received over the years from stitching friends. For you long-time parade watchers, you probably noticed a big change in the background of my photos above... no more red dining room! Yes, after a decade of "talking" about painting it, we finally got it done in March (well, when I say "we," I mean my sweet husband). Now, to be honest, I do miss it--but only at Christmas time. I absolutely love the soft blue-gray color (called "Zero Gravity" by Behr) that we chose--we also painted our guest room that same color.  It really lightened up the dining room and makes it feel so much bigger! I still need some sort of window treatment and art work, but I like to take my time in choosing those things.  Here is a glimpse into the dining room from the front hall.

A peek into my newly painted dining room...

And here is a photo of it that I took in March right after we painted it the soft blue/gray color...

Nothing like a freshly painted room to lift your spirits!

The old dining room color was great for Christmas, but I only liked it that one time of the year. It was just always so dark in there! This is what it used to look like...

Before: pretty, but very dark! The older I get, the more I need light colors in my life.

How about you? Do you have any big painting/remodeling/decorating projects lined up for 2025? We'd like to paint over all the yellow walls (that you see in the hallway and up the stairs) with a soft beige color. Painting up the stairs will be something we'll have to hire someone to tackle--no way do I want my husband attempting something like that! 

Our Thanksgiving was fine, but since I was sick, I pretty much just pushed through and couldn't really relax and enjoy the holiday. We had 14 guests and by the time the day was over I had totally lost my voice! In fact, it didn't return for three full days! Poor little Mister B just didn't understand why his Nonna couldn't talk to him... It's still not quite back to normal so I guess I'd better give in and go to the doctor.

Since we had fewer people than normal, we had Thanksgiving in the kitchen this year rather than moving everything out of the sunroom like we have in years past. It was a bit crowded, but much easier on our old bones since we didn't have to move all that heavy furniture.

These pretty fall flowers were a gift from my oldest son and daughter-in-law

Yum... Just some of our Thanksgiving meal: turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, carrot  soufflé , green bean casserole, corn casserole, pumpkin cranberry bread, applesauce mini-muffins, fruit salad, and strawberry pretzel salad. For dessert I made a selection of cookies and a pumpkin and pecan pie, but forgot to photograph them.

The one thing about being sick is that my appetite isn't the greatest--no weight gain for me over the holidays this year! At least so far :)  I hope you are all staying healthy during this busy, busy time of year. I still haven't sent a single card, decorated my tree, or baked a batch of cookies. And not a single present has been purchased except for my grandson... But, that's okay--I'll just do what I can and leave it at that. Wishing you all an enjoyable countdown to Christmas. And thank you, as always for your very kind comments and emails. Take care, my friends! Bye for now...

My final two ornaments for 2024 and a visit to the Black Forest

And here we are... nearing the end of November already! I just wanted to pop in and wish all of my U.S. readers a very Happy Thanksgiving. Are you ready for the big day? I have one more pie to make (I've already made a pecan pie and apple/cranberry pie and will make a crustless pumpkin pie tomorrow). I also made a few kinds of cookies as well as pumpkin cranberry bread and applesauce mini-muffins. That is my favorite thing about the holiday season (besides getting together with my family!)--baking, baking, baking!

This is such a busy time of year so I chose to make my final two ornaments quick ones. I just love this pair from the Prairie Schooler booklet "A Merry Mini Surprise," don't you? For both ornaments, I changed the colors a bit. I used the traditional PS red, DMC 221, and for the green, I used DMC 3362. Like the first ornament I made from this booklet, I chose to finish them into rounds so I added various snowflakes to form a circular shape.

Two more mini Prairie Schooler Santas for 2024

I chose the Santa carrying the bag of Christmas greens to stitch for my November ornament. The little embellishment on the ribbon is made up of some small leaves that I removed from my dried boxwood wreath, three artificial berries, and a solitary jingle bell. I just glue them on to the ribbon one piece at a time using Aleene's Tacky Glue.

My November ornament

And finally (hard to believe another year of ornaments is over), here is my December ornament. Good Old St. Nick has certainly earned a rest after a busy night of delivering toys to all the good little boys and girls and has taken off his cap. Have you ever seen Santa without his cap? I thought he might be bald, but no--he has a full head of beautiful white hair! I imagine him as waving goodbye to the old year. A very fitting December ornament, I'd say!

And my ornament for December--farewell 2024!

I'll be writing my annual "Parade of Ornaments" post soon where I'll show each of my monthly ornaments for the past year--hope you'll come visit me then!

The next leg of our Rhine River cruise finds us in the beautiful...

Black Forest area of Germany

Oh, I just loved this day; after all, I was in my happy place--the mountains! Once again, it was not the best weather--the day was chilly and foggy with a bit of rain, but we still enjoyed our day in the fascinating Black Forest Open Air Museum at Vogtsbauernhof. To give my U.S. friends an idea of what this was like, it was similar to visiting Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia--only much older. The buildings that had been assembled on the 17 acre grounds were moved from various parts of the Black Forest to represent different time periods and building styles. There are lovely little cottage gardens and farm animals spread throughout along with educational displays and exhibits. Here are some of my favorite sights--hope you enjoy them! If you click on the names of the various houses, you can see more photos of the interiors of each one. And, as always, the photos themselves are clickable for a more detailed view.

The bus driver told us that this was one of the very oldest homes in the Black Forest. It is still inhabited after centuries of use and he said the old man and woman who reside there will sometimes come out to wave to passersby.

I thought this photo that I took from the bus window on the way to the open air museum resembled a watercolor landscape.

The inviting entrance to the open air museum at Vogtsbauernhof

The idea for the open air museum began with this  farmhouse called the Vogtsbauernhof. It is the only building still standing on its original site and dates to the year 1612. The interior decor was left much the same way as when the last owner moved out in 1965. Not exactly what one expected to see when entering a 17th century home!

This trio of geese was quite entertaining as they honked at us tourists!

The "Little Castle" from Effringen is the oldest of the buildings dating back to 1407. It is quite shocking to wander inside and see that the home is decorated in the style of when the last owner left in 1972! Imagine the harvest golds, oranges, and greens that were popular back in the '70s and you can picture it quite well.

I love everything about this scene--the ivy covered walls, crumbling stone, potted red geraniums, and the watering trough. Memories from long ago.

Such a sweet scene from the white-curtained window. I imagine it is much as it has appeared for centuries.

The Ortenauhaus built in 1775 is the only building built strictly as a dwelling place for families. In the other buildings, the farm animals occupied the lower floor! Can you imagine the sounds (and smells!) that must have drifted upward into the family's living quarters?

What a tidy little garden. I imagine it must have been very pretty when it was in bloom.

A view of the Ortenauhaus outbuildings through a massive wooden door.

The Leibgedinghaus, built in 1652, was what a typical retirement cottage would look like. The farmer's children were obligated by law to house their parents when they became too old to work the farm and would move them into a home like this until they died. You can see some of the interior shots above which included an eating area and a bedroom.

The bright red geraniums found on many homes added  spots of color to the cloudy day.

The Hippenseppenhof represents the oldest type of Black Forest home with the steeply pitched roofline. Note the crucifix displayed on the exterior. We saw similar scenes on many of the homes in this area.

The upper floor of the Hippenseppenhof building had several display areas illustrating the history of this particular section of the Black Forest. The interesting hats pictured above are called Bollenhut which translates into "ball hat." The red balled hats were worn by unmarried Protestant women beginning in the mid-18th century. Married women wore the ones with the black pompoms. The hats consist of 14 of the fluffy balls arranged in the shape of a cross. There is a short 20 second video right here, if you'd like to see them (and the rest of these fascinating costumes) up-close.

The upper floor also held a collection of carriages from years passed.

Just a few of the farm animals we met on our walk that day.

The Hippenseppenhof even had its own tiny chapel where the farmer and his family would gather to recite their daily prayers.

I so enjoyed walking the grounds of the open air museum at our own pace and not following a tour guide. I honestly would have been happy to spend more time there, but, as always, we needed to be back on our ship in time to sail for the next port. Before we left, we were treated to a wonderful lunch complete with the famous Black Forest Cake! We also spent some time in the gift shop selecting presents for our family and admiring the spectacular cuckoo clocks which lined the walls. I was tempted to purchase a small one as my mom and dad always had a tiny one in the corner of our kitchen that I fondly recall. But, in the end, I decided to simply remember theirs...

Just a tiny portion of the the hundreds of cuckoo clocks that were for sale.

It was such a lovely day in spite of the gray misty weather! The mountains always bring me a sense of peace not unlike the times I sit down to stitch.

Farewell Vogtsbauernhof--we certainly enjoyed our visit.

Did you enjoy the Black Forest visit today? I hope so! I may take a break from my river cruise posts and get back to them in January. The coming month is just so very busy, isn't it? I still have posts set in Switzerland and Italy to share with you--it was a very busy 2 1/2 week tour for sure! The main reason I write about them is so I'll remember more of the details in my old(er) age, but I hope you get something out of them as well.

And now we move on into December! Are you ready for the big day? I'm way behind having had Thanksgiving hosting duties, but I can't wait to pull my decorations from the attic and get started decorating on December 1st. I'll be simplifying things this year as my sons will all be with their significant others (although I'm sure my middle son who lives locally will stop by for a while with his girlfriend so we won't be totally alone). I may even get a new Christmas stitching start going! Who knows... Anyway, I hope your last month of 2025 is a good one (it seems like I just wrote that about 2024!). Thank you so much for stopping by, taking the time to leave such kind comments and write such nice emails--I appreciate each and every one! Happy Thanksgiving all! Bye for now...

Wishing each of you in the U.S. a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with friends and family!