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Thursday, December 7, 2017

December Week One
Styling with Stitches
Welcome

It's the most wonderful time of the year.  We are all busy shopping, baking and planning for the holidays.  But, this time of the year is also a season of Hope which is so important to many of us. May the holidays be blessed and special to all. 
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Welcome
We would like to welcome Meg who is a cross stitcher with a new blog named
Live to Stitch to the stitching community.    She is a lovely lady with a really nice blog with great stitches to view.   Please go over and say hello and enjoy her great photos.  
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Styling with Stitches
It's time for our second pillow pinafore and word play combo.   Mary made an adorable Christmas pinafore and I made the December word play.  We are excited to show you our first Christmas cross stitch projects.   They are fun to make and we hope you will give them a try too.   


RJ's Word Play
I've stitched the December word play by Brenda Gervais.   I wanted to make it a little different than just sewing it together.  There are a lot of trees on this stitch so I added a lot of tree elements to the finish.  I sewed a strip of tree fabric under the stitch and added a wool tree applique with a small jingle bell. In between the stitch and the fabric, I added some green cotton ric rac and stitched some rust bells on the bottom.  Green silk ribbon with a tree charm on the left side is used for the hanger.

This was one of the quicker word plays and a joy to stitch!   Except for the called for linen which I hated.   It came wrinkled and no matter how much I pressed it...it stayed that way.   If I made them again I would use a different linen.  

It is a rainy and very gloomy day so I took a lot of closeups of parts of the word play so you can see it.    I wish I got better photos today.    


December word play hanging on a bookcase

Closeup of top
Closeup of bottom with ric rac, rusty jingle bells and applique

Closeup of tree applique with a running stitch.  I think my trunk is kinda wide...need to fix that.

Closeup of tree charm attached to bow.  It is from Boheminan Findings on Etsy.

December Word Play
by With thy Needle and Thread
35 ct Abecedarian linen
called for overdyed threads
bells from Amazon
charm from Etsy

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Mary's Pinafore
For my first pinafore project, I stitched Letters for Santa by Brenda Gervais.  I wanted to finish the stitch a bit differently than as shown on the pattern.  So, I did not dye the linen or ticking as suggested because I wanted a more colorful pillow for my Christmas Decor. I sewed up a quick envelope pillow cover in ticking and then made my pinafore out of a red burlap runner.  I really scored buying the runner for only $2 in an after Christmas sale at Michaels.   I layered the stitch with a check fabric I had on hand and added  the pompoms as trim.  I used snowflake buttons on the back from my stash.  The burlap is held together by small Velcro ovals made for fabric.  

This pinafore easily stores away and lets me use my pillow for another project. My festive Christmas pillow makes me very happy!

Here it is...my first pinafore!
It will make it's home on my LR sofa

It attaches in the back with Velcro 
I used snowflake buttons for decoration on the back of the pinafore

Letters from Santa
by With Thy Needle and Thread
22 ct. Ariosa linen two over two
called for overdyed threads

pom pom fringe from my stash

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Hope you all enjoyed the pinafore and word play combo.  Next week we will be showing our new Christmas ornaments for this year.   We really appreciate you coming by to see us and taking the time to leave a comment especially during this busy time of the year.     Happy Stitching!           RJ and Mary


I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.
Charles Dickens
  

34 comments:

  1. Both pieces are beautifully stitched and finished and make me feel very festive🎄

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  2. Both pieces are super. Mary, I like the red ticking you used for the pillow and how cool that you scored the table runner to attach your stitched piece to. RJ, I like your word play with all the trees. You might want to try Best Press to see if you can get your fabric free of wrinkles. I know you both will enjoy your festive stitches this holiday.

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  3. Both of the designs are delightful. I have stitched all the Word Play designs. I love your version. I just had a frame made and change it out each month. The little pillow is perfect and I can see that red ticking looking wonderful for a patriotic piece!! Thanks ladies for sharing and have a very Merry Christmas!

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  4. Both pieces are lovely and as always, beautifully finished. Off to visit the new blog :)

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  5. Merveilleux,je suis émerveillée également sur la très belle phrase de Dickens,dont j'aime a regarder le film tous les Noël!
    Délicieux mois de décembre a vous deux.
    Amitiées

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  6. Wonderful finishes as always. I like them.
    Have a nice weekend.
    Hugs Manuela

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  7. I hav often thought about doing the monthly word play series, your finishing is just perfect, whenever I use a ric rac trim it goes a little wonky. x

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  8. Oh you have finished two wonderful works again, I like them both very well. I wish you a nice Advent.
    Hugs to you, Martina

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  9. Fabulous stitches and gorgeous finishing must say pinafore stole my heart ♥️ many blessings to you both this weekend...

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  10. Love the Word Play and I am in a give away for the Letters from Santa...fingers crossed. Pinafores are the way to go in my opinion for some of the smaller holiday stitches. I am working on one right now but it might be next year before it is finished. I took all three houses from Up on The Rooftop by Prairie Schooler and I plan to turn them into a pinafore. I always look at TJ Maxx and Ross to find an inexpensive cushion to use as the base. Thanks for sharing a new blogger. I just found Heidi Cran on Flosstube and I really enjoy her posts. She is one of those crazy stitchers who prefers 40 count but we won't hold that against her.:)

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  11. RJ I love, love, love those little touches. Just perfect! Mary your pillow pinafore is darling. And so is your cat! :D

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  12. Hello RJ and Mary thank you for visiting my blog.
    What beautiful stitching - I love the way you've finished the word play and Mary's pinafore is wonderful. Both of you have finished these beautifully. Love the kitty too.
    Have a good weekend x

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  13. Two more amazing stitches!

    I just love how you finished Wordplay Mary! Perfect choice of finishing materials.

    RJ that pillow looks awesome with the pinafore. I see it is kitty approved also!

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  14. Lovely stitching! The pinafore is a great idea!!!

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  15. Two great finishes. I am collecting the Word Play series, I have stitched two so far!
    Thanks for showing the alphabet in situ, I can see how big it is!
    I have followed Meg's blog as she commented on mine but haven't had a chance to comment back!

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  16. Seriously, I don't know which one of you I am more impressed with. I adore both of the stitches and the finishes!!!! They look great. I love that quilt on the couch too, Mary. RJ, that little tree stitched down at the bottom. Oh my, y'all I am love with both of these.

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  17. Hi RJ and Mary....

    What wonderful stitching as usual! I just love Christmas stitching and you both picked some of my very favorite patterns and finished them off beautifully!

    RJ...I love the December word play and the way you finished it off with the tree theme is just perfect! The santa has always made me smile on this pattern and the tree appliqué was a brilliant idea! It just adds the right touch! Thank you for yet another great idea!

    Mary....Your Letters to Santa pinafore is really beautiful! I just fell in love with everything about that pillow! You know it makes me smile every time I look at it! I love this pinafore idea and I know I am going to have to try my hand at making one! Probably after Christmas though...lol...my stitching basket is overflowing lol!

    Thank you both for all the inspiration! I had a rough treatment this afternoon and your blog was the first smile of the evening! Hugs my friends!

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  18. Oh, I love both of these finishes (and I have both of these charts so I can stitch them, too :)! RJ--the tree applique is just too cute--will definitely remember that little touch for future finishing. And Mary--your pinafore concept is genius! And you can now use the striped pillow for a Valentine's themed pinafore :)

    Hope you two have a lovely weekend filled with the joy of Christmas!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Carol, The pinafore concept was RJ's great idea, she did the first one for our August Styling with Stitches post. My take is just a little different, these are going to be so much fun to do!

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  19. Love the new stitches. Merry Christmas.🌻

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  20. Brenda designs are really beautiful!
    How pretty Christmas stitching! Both of you pick up such a great designs! RJ, your pillow is lovely! So sorry for the linen...
    Mary, your cat is so cute! Beautiful your pinafore finish!
    Happy holidays!

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  21. RJ: Your Word Play is positively adorable, I love the coordinating fabric. It looks like really cool trees, the appliqued tre is perfect, I would not change the trunk I love it.
    It has been cold here icky cold.

    Blessings
    Catherine

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  22. Mary: What a sweet design, the pompous are so sweet, I love the snowflake buttons.
    Your boo boo kitty looks so sweet looking at your pillow.

    Blessings
    Catherine

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  23. Rj, your December Word Play looks gorgeous. What a great finishing idea. I love little pillows with bells or buttons hanging from the edges. And the appliqué tree is just a wonderful little extra.
    Mary, wow, a pinafore. It looks really gorgeous. The pompoms around the sides look very special with this piece, and you have also added a little extra - the snowflake buttons on the back.

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  24. ... and thanks for mentioning Meg's new blog. I always love to discover and follow new stitchy blogs.

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  25. Adorable Wordplay ornament, RJ...I don't notice any wrinkling in your linen...I'm sure that points to your excellent finishing skills!
    And Mary, that pillow pinafore is spectacular! And you even made the pillow!!

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  26. Both finishes are wonderful. I have the Wordplay series , but have not stitched any yet. Really like the pompoms trim on Letters from Santa.

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  27. Gorgeous finishes! You girls always have such great finishing ideas. I love RJ's little tree embellishments and the pinafore Mary made is just gorgeous.

    Thanks for the new blog link, I'm popping over there now!

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  28. Both beautiful projects! The pinafore is stunning, what a great idea to attach it with velcro, so inventive :)

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  29. Oh wow, they are both finished so beautifully! The details you both add make them even better.
    Now I'm off to visit Meg!

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  30. Somehow I missed this post and am glad RJ sent me a reminder to check it out. Both projects are precious...love,love,love!!! They are both fun and festive and perfect for the Christmas season. Keep the inspiration coming ladies!!!

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  31. Wonderful projects ladies.

    RJ .. a lovely finish. Love the added elements to your pillow, the bells, bow and tree applique all add that little bit extra magic.

    Mary .. love your pinafore pillow, so different, you don't see many of this finish about. Beautiful.

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  32. Oh my what a treat to come over and visit with you both ,
    Each of your stitching and finish is so amazing .
    I love how you are adding little iteam's to your work .
    Have a wonderful week .

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  33. Fabulous finishes, ladies. I’ve really enjoyed the blog hopping from the last couple of posts. The last thing I need is another blog to follow, but I can’t seem to help myself. I think I’m doing a better job of keeping up now which leads me to believe adding another blog is okay,right? 🙂

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