Spring, please come soon!!

The middle of February already! How did that happen? I always look forward to this short month of February as I feel that the worst of winter is over. And what a winter it's been here in the East! I can't remember having snow on the ground continuously (for most of January and February) in a long, long time. Thankfully, our deep freeze seems to be waning--it will be in the 40s this weekend. I know, I know... for those of you in the South or in California, you are thinking that still sounds quite cold. But... after weeks of not coming anywhere near the freezing point, 40° sounds darn good to us! 

So, what has been keeping me busy since I definitely avoid going outside at all costs? Well, three things--reading/listening to a couple of good books, stitching (of course), and spending way too much time browsing online looking for a mother-of-the-groom dress for my youngest son's wedding in June. Oh, boy... what a process! I've already tried on 7 dresses and my petite stature is not doing me any favors when it comes to long gowns. They are just overwhelming/swimming on me! They do make a few petite dresses, but none that I've really liked. Thankfully, both Macy's and Nordstrom offer free shipping for the dresses and then I can return them at my local stores so that is very helpful. It's just an extremely frustrating process. At age 71, I'm truly feeling like the grandmother of the groom rather than the mother. Sigh... I may have one possibility, though, so I'll be taking that dress into Nordstrom to see if alterations can easily be made. Any advice for mother of the bride/groom dress shopping? All suggestions are welcome! 

Anyway, back to my stitching... I've managed to stitch and finish my ornaments for January and February and both just happen to be Prairie Schooler designs. The first one is from the "Old World Santas" (Bk. No. 80) chart and is stitched on 40 ct. raw natural Newcastle linen. I changed the colors a bit and eliminated the base that Santa was standing on.

A new "Old World Santa" finish for January

As you can see, I wanted to make this an oval finish so I added lots of Smyrna-stitched snowflakes surrounding Santa. I then used handmade cording (DMC 221 to match Santa's robe) and a burgundy checked ribbon to embellish the top. 

Oval and round finishes are my favorites. 

If this finish looks familiar it's because this is the fourth Santa in this series that I've finished the same way. Love seeing them all together! There are four more in this chart, but I only have enough gingham ribbon to finish one more. Of course, I can always change it up... we'll see!

Such a handsome quartet! Do you have a favorite? Mine is the Santa with the walking stick and the little bird (on the far left).

February's ornament brought this cute galloping deer carrying Santa and his bag of toys. This is from the "Santa Rides" (Bk. no. 47) chart.  I rarely change colors in Prairie Schooler designs, but I did this time. I used DMC 610 (rather than the charted 844) for the deer so he would resemble the local deer that visit our backyard. I also changed the color of the motifs surrounding the deer, to white. They were charted as a sort of pale yellow color (DMC 3046) and I just didn't care for that look.  

Another Prairie Schooler Santa finish for February

To finish it, I created a simple pillow ornament bordered by green cording with just a touch of green ric-rac peeking out between the (40 ct. raw natural Newcastle) linen and the accent fabric.

"Santa Rides" his deer with some color changes

I tried something new to hang the rusty bells from the right side... I took three strands of DMC and braided them to create hangers for the bells and I love the look! Will definitely be doing this again. Here's a close-up for you...

To hang the bells, I simply braided some strands of DMC floss.

So, one-sixth of the 2026 ornaments are finished--ha ha! One-sixth sounds so much more impressive than 2 out of 12, doesn't it? On to March--time to select a new chart! I have an huge folder of ornament charts that I love browsing through to find my next project. 

Two down--ten to go for 2026!

 

So, do you celebrate Valentine's Day? I think this is the first year in a long time that I didn't stitch a single thing for the holiday. But, I did do a bit of decorating in the corner of my kitchen. These are my "mostly red" ornaments, the  "mostly pink" ones never saw the light of day this year, I'm sorry to say... They're still buried in a dresser drawer and, at this point, they'll just have to be patient and wait another year! I bought the sweet felted mice on Amazon and thought they made a perfect addition to my tiered tray display this year. If you have any questions about the stitched pieces, just let me know... I was too lazy to link them to previous posts this time :) 

Such a bright, happy corner of my kitchen!

 

I love the sweet white mouse couple carrying the fuzzy red heart!

Sending all of you a little L-O-V-E today! Aren't their little gold bow ties and hairbows adorable?

Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

 

"V is For Valentine" (by Heartstring Samplery) hanging on the wall is one of my favorites!

Giveaway time... I received a wonderful package of birthday gifts from my friend, April, in Virginia, a couple weeks ago. In the package she thoughtfully included some small-sized charts that she said I could use for giveaways. Wasn't that sweet? So, why not start today? The first one I'm offering is just perfect for this time of year and is called "Spring Delivery" by With Thy Needle and Thread. Would you like to be entered into the drawing to win this darling chart? If so, please leave me a comment below with the answer to the question: "What is your favorite fabric to stitch on and why?" I think you all know mine: 40 ct. Newcastle linen! I love the feel of it, the weight, the muted colors. I don't like fabric to distract from the design itself which is why I often use basic colors like white, ivory, gray, or various shades of brown. But, the primary reason I love it is because I am able to stitch with just one thread--so much easier, in my opinion!  If you do want to be entered to win this chart, please make sure to include you email address (if I don't already have it). And thank you again to my generous friend, April--your charts will be much appreciated by the lucky winner of the one below and those offered in the future!

I'm giving away this sweet chart by With Thy Needle and Thread. If you would like to be entered into the drawing, please follow the guidelines above. I'll post the winner on my next post.

I'll leave you with some wintry photos...hope to have sunnier spring photos the next time I post. Thank you, as always, for taking the time to read my little blog and say "hello" in your comments--I truly appreciate each of you! Happy Valentine's Day to all who celebrate and I hope everyone enjoys the rest of this short month. Take care all! Bye for now... 

It's been such a cold year that even the deer have become frequent visitors to our bird feeders. Isn't this buck magnificent?! We usually only spot female deer so seeing this handsome guy was quite a treat.

 

No, my little grandson wasn't running around in the snow. These are all deer tracks shown in this night time photo! We call it our deer superhighway :) 

With the sunshine comes melting icicles. Can you spot the tiny water drop falling from the middle icicle hanging just outside our bedroom window? Spring is coming soon (hopefully)!  

♥ HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL OF MY STITCHING FRIENDS! ♥