Reflections of Christmas on a Slow Sunday...

Hello - big sigh here... it has been a week... I've been dealing with a family member who has physical and mental medical issues and it has been exhausting... it has required a ton of my attention and left me sad and mad... getting old isn't easy and we all deal with it differently ... and then combine that with past drama and well... you can figure it out... as I write this on Saturday I'm sitting out on my sunroom porch with the space heater running and  I'm trying to take a little  break and steel myself for the upcoming Christmas week... I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I feel like something is going to happen and it will require more attention... again, big sigh.

So let's  move on and look at my big shelf display... even I am a bit surprised by how much I crammed into 5 shelves....here's an overall view...

from the top... the Quaker Noel Row from Bent Creek... I brighten this up a bit and it wasn't until about 3 years after I stitched it I realized there is No Letter L...No L... Noel... so clever...

below is my needlepoint creche scene I stitched in 1984... the designer was Polly Carbonari ... I used a bunch of decorative stitches, perle cotton and a little glitz...I think it has stood the test of time quite well... and I never had a moment's thought where it or I would be 41 years later.

This shelf has 2 Blackbird Designs  samplers... the one with the green background is Feliz Navidad which is Nick's favorite Christmas song and the one with the light background is Merry Christmas... more classic designs that are timeless...IMHO... 

and I have The Christmas Bird by With Thy Needle & Thread... I love that it is stitched on the cocoa colored linen.

Moving down from left to right... the little deer were a Prairie Schooler freebie  I found on Pinterest years ago...

and then there is an angel from Peppermint & Holly by WTN&T and  a Pineberry Lane lady from A Sprig of Holly in front of the The 12 Days of Christmas from Prairie Schooler...

and rounding out that shelf are the Angels PS No. 42... I like that I have some Christmas pieces stitched on turquoise backgrounds ... I like the little pop of color here and there... 

Next shelf has Oh Christmas Tree from All through the Night and Up on the Housetop PS No. 25 and another Pineberry Lane lady from Merry Littles. 

And last but not least is In Santa Claus Land by WTN&T keep a small stack of Christmas quilts company...

And speaking of Christmas quilts...nice segue, huh...LOL... I'm gifting this quilt... Fat Quarter Four Patch done in the Basic Grey collection Jolly Good to my son and daughter in law... 

Here's the whole layout before it got quilted...

And here's pic after I got it bound... Delinda of The T Shirt Quilt Company did the quilting...

And here is the panto ... I think it complements this quilt so well... 

and we aren't going to delve too deeply into the fact that this quilt has been waiting for a binding since this time last year... big sigh... 

A shout out to LindaKay who left a comment last week asking where the PS snippet pillow came from... I found it... Prairie Schooler No. 135... you can see it here... I took it out of the middle of the chart. 

So I think I'm ready for the festivities of the week... we will open presents with Elliott on Christmas Eve and then Santa visits his house Christmas morning with just Mom and Dad... as for Christmas Day his parents host an open house where everyone brings appetizers and sweets ... low key and relaxed... and we all need that, don't we?

I need to finish up the pillow case for Elliott... I was going to work on it Friday night but I was too pooped and I don't want to mess it up as the fabric I got is out of print now... space robots... right up his alley...and maybe then I'll sew a little for me... all the running around last week left very little time or energy for craftyness. I did cross stitch a bit, I picked back up the American Sampler by Primrose Cottage and I knitted another sock... lately knitting has been my comfort craftyness... pretty yarn paired with minimal mental attention required... hard to believe the year is almost over... next week will be a good time to look back and see what got accomplished... more than what I remember, but less than what I wanted... to be sure. 

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today... I'll bet there will be some pretty Christmas stuff there.

 A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to everyone who comes and reads my ramblings every week... I hope I entertain you a bit ... and I hope that the Christmas holidays bring you peace, love and joy!

happy stitching-

carol fun 

carol fun