February Themes of the Month

February isn't until tomorrow (well, sooner rather than later for some of us!), so I've posted the themes for February, as well as a whole bunch of freebies to go with them.

This month's themes will be Love (of course!), Music, and Winter.

The January themes will remain up until tomorrow, and will then move into the Archived Section. For as long as the patterns remain available online, the links will be active and you'll be able to access them. I do check periodically and remove inactive links, so again, if you see something you like, it's best to save it right away. Also, if you know of any freebies I missed that fit these themes (or would make a good ornament in general), please let me know!!

Remember, you're not obligated to stitch any of these themes or patterns - they're just suggestions to help you narrow things down if you'd like. You're always welcome to stitch and post whatever you like.

I'll also be posting the list of February Featured Stitchers later on today. Stitchers are chosen mostly at random (I use a Birthday List to make a few selections so stitchers can be honored in the month of their birthday). Since the object of the featured Stitchers list is to showcase stitching work, only stitchers with active blogs (updated in at least the last 4 months) or online photo albums will be selected. I've had several comments that people really enjoy visiting each other's blogs, and it's nice to see the most current blogs.

If you are NOT on the Contributor's list, but you have an active blog or online photo album (Flickr, Photobucket, Webshots, etc.), please let me know and I will make sure you get listed. Blogs can be on any blogging platform - Blogger, Wordpress, LiveJournal, etc. If you don't have a blog, but you do have an online album of your work, we can post that instead. (One link per person, please)

A blog or a photo album is not a requirement for membership, but it's always nice to get to know your fellow stitchers whenever you can, and perhaps participating here will help inspire non-bloggers to start their own and share their stitching with us.

I can never pass up a good sale....

I've seen a few people that like doing the Mill Hill beaded ornaments and I noticed there were quite a few kits on sale at Stitches 'N Things. (It looks like most are marked down from $6.50 to $4)

It looks like there's quite a few other patterns on sale as well - lots of Christmas and ornament patterns from several different designers.

I've never purchased from them myself, so I can't attest to their service, but I've seen their store linked from a few different blogs and their website looks pretty good, so I think it's worth checking out.

Thanks

Hi Jen,
Thanks for the invitation to join this SAL. I hope that this group will keep me motivated to get some more ornaments stitched and finished.

Gwen

January Ornament

I;ve not been in this group for long but thought I would make a start rather than waiting until February. It's only a very small design which took me only an evening to stitch and finish. I did put the hanger and tassle on this morning. This is only my second biscornu and the first one was alot larger than this which I use a a pin cushion.

The design I found in the freebie section from The floss box and its a mini biscornu. The piece was stitched on 14 count aida using six strand sweets hand dyed by Jessica Burr colour - sour apple.

I have downloaded a few freebie designs and found a few more in my stash that I am wanting to stitch. Ornaments are lovely to stitch inbetween larger projects

En-Joy

I needed this one to be really quick so En-Joy!!! I enjoyed stitching Lizzie Kate's freebie. Instead of doing all the crosstitches in the border, I elected to do the red and green (in the border) as smyrna crosses which help to speed things up.

Post Labeling

The more blogs I read, the more I realize just how useful labels are, especially in group blogs such as this. I've spent some times going over the posts and adding in labels, but I would like to suggest that we all label our entries to include the following:

• Designer or Publisher (Country Cottage Needleworks, Shepherd's Bush, etc.)


• Source - JCS ornament magazine (ie JCS 2007), book title, etc.


• If the pattern is a free pattern from the internet, label the post with "freebie", and if possible, provide a link or a website so your fellow stitchers can find it if they'd like to stitch it for themselves.


• You may also choose to label your posts with your name / nickname so that stitchers can click on that label to see everything you've posted. This is completely optional, however, and I didn't correct posts to include names if they weren't originally labeled as such.

Let's say you want to see what's been stitched from the 2006 JCS ornament issue. All you would have to do is click on that link listed under "Labels" and it will bring up all the posts tagged with JCS 2006. Or what if you want to see all of the Hillside Samplings or Prairie Schooler ornaments that have been posted. You'd click on that link and they would come up. As you can see, this is a pretty useful feature.

Labeling posts is very easy. At the bottom of the box where you enter your new posts, there is a box for entering labels. Blogger will even auto suggest labels from the current list as you start typing in that box. If your label is not auto-suggested by Blogger, it only means that it is not already on the list, so you should continue to enter it.

Labeling will also help make sure that designers are getting proper credit for their work. A lot of these designers operate on a small business level and work hard at creating these gorgeous designs for us. Their talent and creativity should be honored by giving them the credit they deserve, so be sure to label your posts appropriately and respect their copyrights. (On a side note, I know there are designers who have blogs of their own and participate in the blogging community, and I am sure they enjoy seeing their designs come to life at the hands of so many stitchers).

If you have any questions or issues, please don't hesitate to email me. Thanks!

Hello from Texel!

Thanks so much Jennifer for letting me join the group. My name's Mylene and live in the Netherlands with DH and two kids.

This is my January christmas ornament that i've finished into a pinkeep. Thought at first to do it heart shape but í find the aida not easy to fold. Might try to stitch it on white linen/evenweave next time... i hope. This design is from Jo Verso which was featured in one of the quick and Easy magazines years a go. Stitched on 14ct red Aida with blanc DMC thread.

I hope to stitch/finish an ornament and a x'mas card each month. Cards are also completed for this month and it's on my blog for anyone who wants to have a look. I am sure joining you here will keep me motivated to do so.
Looking forward to see everyone's christmas stitching!

Anne S's January ornament

It's been a while since I've contributed to the blog due to not having my stash around me - but I can finally add a stitched ornie to the SAL ... in the middle of moving house I can't access my finishing materials yet, but at least the stitching's done! This is Fill With Love by Designs by Cathy Jean (2007 JCS ornie magazine).

My January "ornament"

I stitched a design by "With my needle" (Just cross stitch, Christmas ornaments, Special Christmas Issue 2003 (pillow) und 2006 (scissors fob)) using an Anchor thread. It was a birthday gift (exchange).

Not Quite There Yet

I have been reading this blog on and off the last few months. Last year I only stitched a couple of ornaments but I decided to invest more time on ornaments this year. It is nice stitching with a group. So where is the picture of my January ornament? Well... I haven't finished it yet. I stitched over the weekend but no where near the time needed to complete the ornament. As soon as I finish stitching it I will post a picture. In the meantime it has been wonderful looking at everyone else's ornament. They are delightful and inspiring.

On the positive side I kitted up my February and March ornaments last night and made a list of the ornaments I will stitch for the rest of the year. The reason for this is if I have to order floss because my LNS doesn't carry it I want to get it all at once.

I'm New

My Name is Sue and live in Derbyshire which is in the East Midlands UK

Hi ladies and any gents out there, I know that there are male stitchers and would not want to miss out any of them (my husband is a stitcher and knitter).

Anyway as I said I am new to this group, have viewed this site a few times and have admired all those lovely ornaments. Just love all the different finishes. Hopefully will try out some new finishing techniques, I usually just put them into small tuck pillows. I love the flat ones with pins around (how are those made?).

Last year I made quite a few ornaments and gave them out instead of christmas cards but making lots before christmas was quite a challenge, so will be nice to complete themduring the year. I have quite a few JCS ornament issue and so cannot wait to stitch from them.

I love sitting out in the summer on my decking which over looks our pond and stitching christmas items. I love snowmen and will stitch anything, anytime of year, I'm not a seasonal stitcher although I do love stitching christmas items.

The picture featured here is one of my projects that I am stitching this year

I do have a blog if anyone cares to take a peek

http://xstitchcrazyderby.blogspot.com/

Christmas Wish

Hi, I'm Alexandrina. I live in Moscow (Russia). This is my new Christmas ornaments for january. It is not "Joy", it's "Wish" by Shepherd's Bush. I like it so much due to the funny buttons on this design. Greetings from snowy Moscow!

Mill Hill Santas

This is my first post so I hope I get it correct. Just finished 2 Mill Hill Santas - worked on perforated paper. I have quite a collection of these worked plus I have some kits in my stash and will aim to have them all worked before the end of the year.
The one on the left is Mandolin Santa from the Musical Santas series and on the right is Avignon Santa from the Medieval Santas series. I usually put a small, flat magnet on the back and at Christmas cover the doors of my refrigerator with them.

January finished

For January's ornament, I did a freebie pattern - Lizzy Kate's Joy. It has to be one of the easiest patterns I've done in an long time. Start to finish was about 3 hrs (with kid interruptions ;o) ). Thread is DMC and fabric is 18 ct Charcoal Aida.

Hillside Samplings Topiary IV

I started this ornament last July and finally finished it this weekend. For more pictures of its progress see this post on my blog.

First SAL and ornament

Hi stitching friends,

I'm Janet from sunny Malaysia. I was encourged to join this SAL by my dear friend Barbara and here is what I've stitched.

Poinsettia

Design from Cross Stitcher Mag. #192

Fabric: Aida 18ct

Fibre: DMC plus gold beads

My first ornament for the year

Holiday Tree
Designer:Mill Hill
Fabric: 28ct white evenweave
Thread: DMC

a good start

I was worried that I wouldn't be on time with this, the first ornament of the new year for this SAL. Last year, I stitched over 20 ornaments, thanks to this SAL, but I wasn't very systematic about it. I'll have to do better this year!

Thank you, Jennifer, for the suggested themes. As usual, I simply could not make up my mind which of my fantastic holiday patterns to stitch ... and then this one popped up and it was a clear choice!

This is simply called "Christmas Ornament 2001" and is designed by The Needle's Content, a wonderful Dutch designer. Stitched in my choice of overdyed and blended DMC floss.

Amish Angel Ornament

Hello Stitching Pals! I am hoping to do a lot better this year with this SAL than I did last year... starting with my January ornament that I finished yesterday:

Amish Angel Ornament
Told In A Garden
32 ct Dirty Belfast Linen, DMC Floss, RG Petite Treasure Braid
Stitched by Carol S.

27th January 2008

Hello from the UK this is my first post and finished ornament for January. I am so pleased to join you all. I stitched the ornament on 28ct Lambswool linen using DMC threads and finishing it with a small jingle bell in the centre and adding a ready made cord. I used the material to back as in the picture. The pattern is from the Aurelle site http://aurelle.over-blog.com/article-5914556.html