A Cookie for Santa

A Cookie for Santa Ornament
Hillside Samplings
Just Cross Stitch 1999 Christmas Ornament Issue
36 ct Sand Ediburgh Linen, NN and DMC Floss
Stitched by Carol S.

Star Topiary Ornament

Star Topiary Ornament
Hillside Samplings
2000 JCS Christmas Ornament Issue
32 ct Natural Light Linen, GAST and WDW Floss
Stitched by
Carol S.

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.

Margie's June Ornament

For June I stitched Topiary Ornament I from Hillside Samplers. This completes my stitching of the series of four that are available. I really liked doing the complete series and I have to thank my fellow bloggers for making it possible by helping me with two of the four. I plan on looking for more ornament series to work on. And I'm getting a ton of ideas here. :-)

April Ornament Topiary IV

At long last here is my completed April ornament, Topiary IV from Hillside Samplings. Three down and one to go! As always, I really enjoyed looking at everyone's additions. I didn't have much time to comment, but I loved them all. :-)

March Ornament FINISHED

Topiary Ornament III
Hillside Samplings

The missing threads arrived so I finished stitching this during the April ornament weekend, but it took until today to stuff it. It was all worth it. More information about the finishing techniques posted here on my blog.

When Ornaments Fail

Like Margie, I fell in love with Hillside Samplings Topiary Ornaments the minute I saw them. I bought II, III, and IV from a shop in Ohio last summer, but decided to stitch this one (III) because oddly enough our Christmas tree last year was white with purple balls. I think I am going to keep the purple theme through out this year's ornaments.

I really loved stitching the border. Repetitive, but with the lovely variegated thread, each stitch was slightly different. I even loved the challenge of the over one 32 count linen of the date. What I did not like was finding out as I was stitching the greenery was that there was not nearly enough variegated green thread to finish. There was supposed to be a 36" length of six strand cotton done with two threads over two. What I got was 18"! It took me the entire 18" to finish the 9 rows I did finish and there are 19 rows in all. I don't think even 36" would have covered it! Thread is cheap. We all have thread left over from kits. Why would anyone try to short you on such a small item?

Luckily there is a website with an email address. I wrote a note expressing my disappointment last night and received an answer this morning. Yes, some of the kits were wrong and were distributed before they could be adjusted. They will be glad to send me any missing threads. If any of you have any of these kits, please check them carefully before you start.

I'm sorry that I will not be able to finish an ornament this month, but was glad to get such prompt customer service.

Margie's March Ornament

Here is my March ornament - from Hillside Samplings, Topiary 2 using the provided linen and fibers in the kit. This is the second of the four set series I have completed. Next month I plan on stitching #1 or #4 - I can't decide which one I like more. :-) Everyone's ornaments look great! I get so much inspiration from all the finishes.

My first ornament of the SAL

I wanted to get a jump start at the SAL so I don't have to do one next December unless I want to. So here is my first ornie of the year. Topiary Ornament III from Hillside Samplings using the recommended fibers and linen. I also have Topiary IV ready to go and I'm looking for I and II if anyone has a lead.