Santas and other Seasonal Stuff for Sunday

I have another 2 Santas to show this Sunday - Viking Santa and Old Man Santa - I know they aren't clever names but its the best I can do at the moment.


I was going for an Eric the Red vibe with this one - bushy red beard and I used bits of a metallic leather to "lace" up his boots. I think the little tree and red bird are a nice touch.



Old Man Santa got a full helping of decorative stitches - long stitch in mohair for the beard, sheared stitch for the fur trim, scotch stitch in 3 different fibers for his robe.



On Friday night I was quite optimistic with my sewing plans and some of them came to fruition. I got the binding on my Flurry quilt and I got the Mary Engelbreit Schnibble quilted but I didn't get any pictures of them yet. And I even got a table runner made for the table in my front foyer. It was a simple disappearing nine patch done with a Christmas line of Basic Grey from a couple of years ago.



I should have taken the picture before I put it on the table but you can see it beneath my Nativity set which is another needlepoint project from years ago.



I stitched this Nativity set when my oldest son was about 1 year old. I wanted a set that wouldn't break if he "played" with it and I loved the look of these figures. They were designed by Polly Carbonari- she did a lot of cross stitch designs too. They have a very simple folk art appearance that looks like a child might have drawn them.



I stitched these up using wool, perle cotton and metallic threads with everything outlined in a black perle cotton. Joseph has a dimensional beard. Mary and the baby Jesus are done very simply.



Here are the shepherds and the camel that the three wise men brought.



And these are the three wise men with the donkey that Mary rode.

Now there is one thing about this set that makes me shake my head every year when I put it out -how come the camel is pointing in the opposite direction of the wise men? I always want to put the camel near the wise men but somehow it never looks right. Oh well, I just chalk it up to the charm of the set.

Friday night I was quite productive, followed by Saturday where I got nothing done! Is that cosmic payback? I didn't feel well all day and just vegged. Today I did get a few things done - grocery shopping and I worked on my Christmas cards. I can't believe how fast Christmas is approaching. December really should have more days in it.

Here's hoping we all have a very productive week ahead!
Happy stitching-
carol fun