Stitching Friends Forever

Mistletoe in February

RJ's Grab Bag Post

You must be wondering why I'm posting about mistletoe in February?   Well love is our February theme and this is a little love story with a beautiful stitch to go with it.   So with encouragement from Mary I went with it.   Hope you like it too. 
                                                                              

I looked at this cross stitch pattern by Heartstring Samplery  in the fall over and over again. There were three band samplers to choose from but for some reason this one kept calling me back.  It was BIG and would take a long time to make so I kept passing on it. But, then one late night, I hit purchase and I was soon stitching  "it must have been the mistletoe"  every free moment I had.   It had to be done for Christmas because I realized why I loved it so much…it reminded me of a very special  night in my life.   It was made with lots of love and tons of hours of work for the most incredible person I know.  

This photo really dates us…my flip hairdo, George’s wide wale corduroy suit and a silver tree were a must!  I’m glad there was a photo because it turned out to be a night to remember.  It was our senior year of college and  we were going to a holiday party at George’s frat house right before Christmas.  I was excited about the new dress my Mom had made me and having a fun evening.

As we drove off from my house, George told me the car heater was not working.   I was soon freezing because it was a very cold and frosty night.  After awhile we were driving through a beautiful neighborhood and he stopped the car in front of one of the pretty decorated houses.   He pulled a blanket from the back seat and asked me to put that on my legs to help warm me up.   Then he gave me a pair of his leather gloves to put on my hands.   When I slipped my fingers into the one glove, I felt something hard.  I pulled it out and it was my engagement ring!  Of course I said yes.

 It was turning into a very special night.  After a kiss, I saw snow starting to fall.  There is something so unique about new fallen snow…romantic and pretty.

As we started driving again, the heater suddenly worked.  When we got to the house and were walking up the stairs, he brushed a snowflake from my nose.  It was truly a magical night!

We opened the door and one of the brothers had hung mistletoe in the hall.   I had my first kiss under the mistletoe.   I already knew I loved George but it must have been the mistletoe that made me love him even MORE!!!

I was almost done when I ran out of Juniper thread.   But, my trusty sidekick Mary had a brand new skein that she immediately put in the mail.   It looked like this but finished up quickly after receiving the floss.  I only had one line to go or so I thought.

But now I had a framing issue.   The stitch turned out to be about six inches wide and twelve inches long and I could not find a frame to use for it.   After some thought, I figured I could buy a frame with an 11 by 14 opening and the 14 would be perfect for the 12 inch length but I would have a lot of extra linen on each side.   So I decided to take a line from the stitch, turn it on it’s side, center it on each side of the finished stitch and keep stitching until I reached the top and bottom. 

It turned out perfectly and left an inch of linen showing all around the stitch.   It was my favorite line so I enjoyed stitching it again.  

My luck really kept going when I went to Super Joanne’s and found a really pretty frame half price plus I had a 30% off coupon to use.   It even came with the double mats which made the frame quite large and was just what I wanted for a Christmas stitch to sit on the mantle for the holidays.  It was stitched on 40 ct. raw linen and it popped well against the cream mats.  

In this photo I got the shadow of the chandelier and in the next photo the shadow of the fan.   No matter where I put it something would pop up.   

After I framed it, I attached the photo of George and me to the back and included a letter  telling how this stitch reminded me of that very special night.   I hope someday it will get passed down in the family and someone will enjoy reading about it.  

It must have been the Mistletoe
by  Heartstring Samplery
40 ct. raw linen
Juniper overdyed floss by Weeks
Frame from Joann's 

I truly loved stitching this beautiful pattern that Beth Twist designed.   It was one I didn't want to put down and actually didn't want to come to an end.   I enjoyed stitching with one color, Juniper by Weeks and how each line changed to such lovely designs.  

You can see more of Beth's beautiful designs here  Her patterns are very easy to follow and a real joy to stitch.   And if you have not heard the song "it must have been the mistletoe" you can listen to it here.  Once I heard it , I hummed it almost the whole time I stitched the sampler. 

                                                                            ♥♥♥

As the month of February ends, we are preparing for lots of new things for the month of March.  Our theme is sewing and we have some neat projects to show you.  We also begin our newest Sal with Meg.  If anyone else would like to join us, just drop us an email for details.  And, we have a special new  surprise feature that should be alot of fun and we think you will enjoy.    Hope you are all doing well and getting alot of stitching in.   We will be by to see what you have been up to.   As always, thank you so much for stopping by.   We really appreciate your visits and your comments.

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