Boughs of Holly

Hi, all!  I hope you had a very merry Christmas.  Today I want to share the EGA holiday party from earlier in the month.  For this ornament exchange I decided to stitch a portion of the pattern Blessings Be Thine by Blackbird Designs.  I loved the little sprig of holly and the stars.  I stitched this on the same fabric I used for the Gold Crown ornament in my last post, 32 count Buttercream by Silkweaver.  The design called for a combination of GAST and Weeks threads.  I ended up using a DMC goldish yellow for the stars because the oatmeal thread it called for matched too closely to my fabric.  I love how it looks though.  Here’s the back.

The red and white trim I used actually came off some packaging (maybe from Christmas cards?) forever ago that I saved.  When I saw it in my finishing box I thought it would be perfect to use for cording around this ornament.  It’s funny that I chose to stitch a holly design for this exchange because there was another holly ornament in the exchange this year too!

We were again at a member’s home and I was again amazed at all the beautiful holiday stitching she’s done.  Let me take you on a little tour.

This is teeny tiny over one.

Also over one.

Super cute Santas.

And this idea I may have to recreate myself.  She stitched several needlepoint designs and then mounted them on boxes she covered with ultrasuede or something of the sort.  She had them stacked on a little table in her entryway and they were absolutely darling, as you can see.  What an ingenious way to showcase beautiful pieces with a fun finishing technique.

See what I mean?  Darling!  They look like beautiful Christmas packages!

Adore the little sheep stocking.

And then we were onto our ornament exchange.  This tiny little bell ornament was the first one I had in my possession.

This is the ornament I went home with.  The woman that stitched him bought the kit when she was traveling recently from a shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Since I was just in Ann Arbor, I thought this was meant to be!  And I don’t have anything like him on my tree, so I am so happy to add him to my collection.

Here are all the ornaments together.

A couple of close-ups.  See the other holly ornament?

Look at that beaded ruffly Christmas tree!

And here’s a closer view of that darling stitched and beaded elf!

A sweet scissor fob that can easily be repurposed as an ornament.

This one was made by our hostess and I believe may be the same designer as the pieces on her boxes.

My friend, Karen, was wearing this sweet little necklace that we all had to get a closer look at.  Two-sided and over one, how cute is that?

This is the piece that several members stitched on and finished as a gift to our guild president who was ending her two-year post. Isn’t it beautiful?

Inside…

And the little needlebook and beaded fob.

I hope you enjoyed seeing all the beautiful ornaments from this year’s party.  Now, I’d better get started thinking about next year!

I am grateful to be surrounded by such inspiring stitchers!