Christmas Is Coming...in 6 Months!

In the Bent Creek Yahoo! group, we had an ornament exchange to mark 6 months until Christmas. Each of us received another stitchers name and their likes so we could stitch the perfect ornament for them. I was excited to be stitching for Dara, who loves to stitch over 1 on 40 ct. She mentioned that Brightneedle was one of her favorites. I had never paid much attention to their designs. So I spent a day or maybe it was two, flipping through my Just Cross Stitch Ornament issues. I decided to stitch the most recent one from the 2006 Just Cross Stitch (JCS) Christmas Ornaments issue called, “To Thee Hope”.

I did not have any 40 ct fabric but I had a nice 32 ct antique white Lugana. It was amazing to see the colors and the design come together. The picture in the JCS magazine does not do justice to this lovely piece. While I was stitching it, I remembered a piece of floral calico that I bought for a quilt backing that did not work for the quilt I was making, but it was ideal for the backing on this ornament. I even made the cording which was a first. I could not find the cordless drill so I had to use our professional “more power” drill.
I envisioned twisting thread all over the place. To my surprise it went very smooth. The final result was good because Dara said she loved her ornament and notice that it was over 1. Yeah!!!


The ornament that I received was from Renee. It is sooooo cute! She also stitched it over one and did I say how cute it was. I love it and had to laugh because I was making plans to stitch it for myself in the near future. Just in case anyone is wondering the design is “Be Merry” from Val’s Stuff and the pattern was in 2006 JCS Christmas Ornaments issue. I am not sure I can tell Renee thank you enough. I will always treasure it.