Christmas finishes thru the years...

I wanted to share with you a few of my favorite Christmas finishes from over the years...

This Prairie Schooler design was stitched over one on black linen when my eyes were a few years younger :) One of my favorites.

I love this little pocket ~ a Maggie Bonanomi club piece from Country Sampler. Looking at this photo, I'm thinking I should put some greens in the pocket...

I have several Shepherds Bush patterns, but don't seem to finish many. I love the tone on tone colors.

Another very favorite finish from Blackbird Designs.

This Maggie Bonanomi design is from one of the first Boxwood & Berries workshops at Country Sampler. I'm always sad when it is time to put this piece away for the year.

Sorry about some of the odd camera angles ~ I'm tring to show the pieces without glare from the glass.

These stockings were stitched right after our youngest son was born. The pennies feature wool from a favorite wool skirt that I used to wear at Christmas.

This piece was finished BK (before kids) when I had more time and was better able to concentrate.

I have three pieces that I am working on this year. I'm still hoping to finish by Christmas, but time is running out and wrapping and baking take priority. If I finish any I will be sure to share!

"What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring him a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet, what can I give him? I give him my heart."
~Christina Rossetti, 1830 - 1894

Blessings, Patti

Tradition

At our house Christmas doesn't have a "theme" or a "color". Nor does it change from year to year.

Each year the Bedford Falls "It's a Wonderful Life" village is placed on the mantel.


Our nutcracker collection is placed on the bookshelf.

As is our collection of miniature nativities.

Our tree may not be the most beautiful, but it is full of priceless memories ~ ornaments from my mother, mother-in-law, grandmothers, antiques, vacation souvenirs and those handmade by little hands. Each ornament brings back a flood of memories...

I did decide to try something different with our second tree. Usually it holds mainly ornaments that I made over the years. This year instead...

I took my favorite folk art birds and placed them on the branches along with straw ornaments from a dear friend in Germany, prim pipe cleaner candy canes and a few antiques...

A Schneeman angel tops the tree.

And creations by some of my favorite artists: Jenn of Rabbit Hill Primitives, Stacy Nash, Audrey of Bay Rays Child, more Schneeman and Ginny Henson just to name a few...

And the base of the tree is gently skirted by an antique wool quilt.

Another new idea for this year...

I pulled this wonderful old victorian window (with every glass pane intact) out of the garbage down the alley a few years ago. It hangs in our hallway. It finally hit me that I should decorate it this year :)

Traditions are what memories are made of... but I guess it doesn't hurt to try something new from time to time...

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4

Blessings, Patti

Room at the Inn

This is an event that I have wanted to attend for several years. Finally, my youngest son and I attended today. Room at the Inn is a viewing of one person's private collection of 352 nativity scenes from around the world.

Susan Greeley bought her first nativity scene in 1980 and hasn't stopped. They are from countries around the world and are made of every medium that you can imagine (and even some that you would never guess!) including recycled newspapers, soda cans, one entirely made of nuts & seeds and the one above made of banana leaves.

Every child receives a scavenger hunt of things to look for in the nativity scenes ~ The adults have as much fun hunting as the children :)

One of my favorites was this beautiful little book from Nepal. I loved the angel on the cover. and on the inside...

It was truly breathtaking!

What a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon during Advent! And to share her collection with as many people as possible admission is free. "It is gratitude for God's gift to us in Jesus Christ that prompts this event." says Susan Greeley in her exhibit brochure.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

-James 1:17

Blessings, Patti

December brings...

December brings

Glad Christmas cheer,

May joy be yours

Around the Year.

~Tasha Tudor

December 1st also brings an update to the offerings at TDIPT Mercantile. It's a lovely place to do a little shopping for Christmas presents for others or yourself :)

Click here to see my final offerings for the year.

Blessings, Patti

A Blessed Thanksgiving

A few finishes just in time! I love this sweet reminder designed by the sweet Beth Twist of Heartstring Primitives. Finished and quickly hung on the fireplace.

I have my priorities today. The desserts may not be quite finished, but the table runner is :)

Don't look too closely as it isn't pressed yet. And don't look at the back as I haven't bought the backing fabric yet. But at least it is presentable...

Things may seem stressed and hard sometimes. But we have so very many things to be thankful for. For me today it is our family, our health, our friends, our faith and our freedom.

I'm also thankful for all the blogging and TDIPT friends that I have made.

Blessings abound!

Patti

!!!Go Hawks!!!

Today was the High School Class 8A Semifinal football game for my almamater and my oldest son's current school. How exciting! They were the state champs last year, but with so many star players that graduated last year it was very exciting to make it so far in the playoffs again!

Over 8,000 people attended the game. Did you see the fire fighters sitting on the fire engine? Look at the ladder behind them - several families climbed up and watched from their rooftops.

It was an exciting game and we won!!! Next Saturday is the state championship game at the University of Illinois!

I realize now that I have more photos of the marching band than the football game. Can you guess why? Yep, my son gets to travel down state as well with the marching band :)

Go Hawks!!!

Blessings, Patti

A bountiful harvest

My little pumpkin pincushion got a workout this weekend as I tried to finish a few autumn and Thanksgiving stitcheries.

Harvest is a Stacy Nash design. It is supposed to be finished as a pinkeep drum, but I'm not very good at drums. So it became a pillow instead. I added a few motifs and a sweet little vintage turkey charm that I've been trying to find a home for.

I love Betty Dekat's primitivebetty turkey design so much that I had to stitch it a few more times :)

This is my first original cross stitch design that appears in the TDIPT artists new booklet.
You can see the booklet here.

I have one more Thanksgiving design that I want to stitch and then I'll be moving on to Christmas :)

Wishing you a lovely autumn week!

Blessings, Patti

Etsy Update

Well, I finally did it... I added a couple of offerings to my etsy shop. Click here to stop by and take a peek :) I've listed my newest key here ~ using the best turkey design ever by the talented Betty Dekat of primitivebettys.

Happy Friday!

Blessings, Patti

A final Halloween finish!

This sweet design is by the very talented Betty Dekat of primitivebettys. It was a Halloween Party freebie from the Stacy Nash Group that we belong to on yahoo. I stitched this piece on Halloween as I handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. I was so excited to find a piece of pumpkin colored linen in my stash. I finally finished it off last night ~ filling it with crushed walnut shells, edging it with black rickrack, and adding a few vintage touches.

It's now time to move on to Thanksgiving stitching.

Blessings, Patti

You're Invited!

What a special month this is! To celebrate our Holiday Open House, twenty TDIPT artists (including me) have created Giveaway prizes. All you need to do is leave a comment on the TDIPT blog for an opportunity to win. And you will receive another entry in the drawing when you make a purchase of any TDIPT November offerings.


The TDIPT artists have also created a sweet holiday booklet filled with recipes, patterns, and decorating tips. I’ve submitted my first little cross stitch pattern along with a recipe. Both are based on my favorite fall poem “When the Frost is on the Punkin” by James Whitcomb Riley. All proceeds from the booklet will be donated to charity.

One of my TDIPT offerings is still available ~ a sweet pinkeep celebrating the golden harvest.

I will be creating a few more Christmas items for the TDIPT December 1st update for any last minute Christmas shopping.

Wishing you a golden first week of November!

Blessings, Patti

Happy Halloween!

Well, we made it! The pumpkins are carved. The Halloween candy was purchased and handed out with only a half dozen candy bars left over. The trick or treaters are done and now I wait for the teenagers to make their way back to our house for a sleepover...
Yes, that is a knife sticking out of the laughing jack-o-lantern. Definitely my son's humor!

Now we will watch my kind of scary movie - Abbott & Costello meet the Invisible Man :) and I will hopefully finish my "Hallow's Eve" piece above by Betty Dekat of primitivebettys.

Happy Halloween!

Blessings, Patti

I'm running out of time...

The pumpkins aren't carved yet. I haven't bought the Halloween candy yet. And I'm running out of time! Hopefully it will all get done...

Don't you love those three little faces? This was the last Maggie Bonanomi club kit. At least this was finished on time as the next kit will be arriving any day...

I've been trying so hard to be good, but I did make two Halloween decoration purchases this year:

A Schneeman white jack-o-lantern.

And another white jack-o-lantern. I didn't realize I had a theme going on here until just right now. This piece is by the very talented Jenn Tavoletti of Rabbit Hill Primitives . I just love her work and she has a delightful blog as well.

These Halloween faces all make me smile.

You probably won't hear from me again until after Halloween is over. TDIPT Mercantile will be updating around the witching hour on Halloween. There will be lots of exciting news then.

Until then, I wish you more treats than tricks on Halloween!

Blessings, Patti

A haunting Halloween is heading this way...

It's almost Halloween and I thought I would share some of my favorite cross stitch finishes from over the years...

Blackbird Designs had a wonderful Halloween book out a few years ago and I think that I stitched almost every design.

I did this design teeny tiny over one. It continues to be a favorite. I was informed by my youngest son that he would like to trick or treat with his friends this year without his mother tagging along. He's in middle school and I know it is time, but I am so sad... it's the end of an era for me...

This was stitched before kids with lots of specialty and glow-in-the dark threads. I don't stitch pieces that take this much thought any more lol.

I am behind schedule for Halloween this year. We haven't even bought our pumpkins yet. No time for a trip to the pumpkin farm. Luckily the neighborhood community church partners with an impoverished community and picks up and sells their harvest for them. That's where we will go this year...

In the past few days the sun has either been too bright for pictures and non-existent. The pics aren't the best, but you get the idea.

My hope is to post one more time before Halloween with some fabric finishes. Hope your Halloween preparations are well under way...

Blessings, Patti