Free Christmas Cross Stitch Patterns!

This week I updated my PC Stitch program and realized I had some patterns I was playing with last year.
I made a few changes and kept them simple, so you can make them into quick little pillows. I hope you enjoy them and would love to see your finished pieces. I have not tried them, so I hope they work up without any problems.

A little snowman

 A puppy and kitty, sitting under the tree. You can add an eye with a little french knot.

Christmas quilt, punch needle and Izzy!

I finished two more pieces today. The first is a free pattern called Home for Christmas by Hatched and Patched. It was a fun piece to make and I used wool for the applique to make it easier. My tongues are a bit whonky though.

The second is my snowman punch, I ended up making it into a pillow. I like how it came out and pillows are nice since you can sit them on shelves or use in bowls and baskets. The design is by Brenda Gervais.

The kitties are being their usual obnoxious selves, pulling down garland, walking off with candy canes and knocking down anything in their path;) And sometimes they are quiet and find a nice cozy place to sleep.

( Sidenote ) For those of you who voted for Dora in the kitty contest, I want to thank all of you. She won second place in the voters choice, so I will be getting some new fat quarters, thread and a round cutter!

Gingerbreads, Baskets and Berries!

I have been decorating and that means, digging out old things and reinventing them.
I found this wooden box in a sale rack and it I decided it was perfect to add some greenery to. I picked up the garland after Christmas so a big savings and it is perfect to put in containers and then primp up boughs to fill it out. Then I decided to try some gingerbread men from a free pattern from Primitive Quilts and Projects. I traced the design out a bit smaller and wider and used wool to make the details. I used a coffee muslim and then stained them with java ink. My gingerbread men look as whacky as if I tried making real ones;) I have it sitting on an antique stool, but put it here for the photo. I had to lighten the photo, they are much darker in person. I will add some red berries when I find some more.

I also went shopping, sometimes we want something new or in this case, something old. I found this old basket in a consignment store. The original price had been marked down four times, so I got a good deal. It was perfect to sit on an empty chair and fill it with greenery. I used another garland and then cut some pine boughs from my neighbors yard;) Then I cut some red berries and added those, so it makes a nice grouping for the basket. And as you can see, Moki likes it too. Nothing like the smell of fresh pine;)

Birds and Braids!

I found this free pattern on Wee Folk Art and thought it would be a fun and fast project. I wanted to use it as a holder for my crushed pine, so instead of stuffing it, I used batting and sewing the crushed pine into the batting. That way I could blanket stitch the piece, without the pine, falling out.

I need rugs and the hooked rugs are getting destroyed by the animals, so I looked online for some new rugs. I did find some I liked, but then I thought, I can make braided rugs, why buy one, lol. Soooo, I got the one I started, and went back to work on it. I use my scrap, heavier wools on braided rugs, so the colors are dependent on what I have. I am trying to keep the blacks and darks mixed in, but pops of color always look nice on a braided rug. I was planning on using it in the living room, not sure yet, but it will be put to use somewhere. Braided rugs are great for obnoxious kitties. Moki loves the one by the back door, he rolls in it, rolls it up and snuggles in it. Now he is inspecting the new one and finding it to his liking;)

Finished Christmas Pieces and Winners!

I finished two pieces this week, they are going to be presents, I sure hope the recipient likes them.
The first is the snow lady I made from a pattern by Primitive Blessings. This is a free pattern and I added a few of my own touches.

 The second is a punch needle with a design by Brenda Gervais. This was a free group pattern so it is not available as a pattern, but she does the most wonderful designs. I gave it a light antiquing and added a yarn trim.

 And now for the winners! Yes, two winners today. I loved reading all of your answers, it was so fun to see what others saw. I saw a dog with a bonnet on it's head. So, I picked the first person who said they saw a dog, which was Barbara of Cat Patches. Barbara has a weekly contest of her own, so be sure to visit. The second winner was done by the random generator, the winner was #31, Steph of Front Porch Primitives. You will want to visit Steph's blog, she has a wonderful tutorial for a prim candy cane. Ladies, please email me with  your choice of epattern or ebooklet.

What is it, Giveaway!

I am working on finishing some projects so nothing new today.
This weekend we got some nice walks in and I took some photos of some unique items.

Here are two photos, you can comment on one or both and comments will be entered to win a free ebooklet. I will pick a winner from the comments on Wednesday night.

This is a common site at low tide, what is it?

On the way back, we walk through the woods and  pass this rock. I never noticed the shape before, what does it look like to you?

Birthday Buys and the Bay!

Today I wanted to go to our folk art store and treat myself. I saw lots of nice things, but I always talk myself out of buying things, lol. I found this panel and thought it would be fun to practice machine quilting on and make a quick quilt for the kids, at least that is the plan;) I may just use the center panel and the rest as pillows, we shall see.

I also saw this Japanese fabric bundle and thought it would be perfect for some of the pieces in the wool book, even though it isn't wool, it would work great for the applique pieces and I have always wanted to try some.

Then we went to the ocean, a place called Black Rock. There is a path that you can walk on that takes you to the main beach and you can go down smaller paths and walk along the rocks.

We walked along the beach for a bit and spied this fellow, he had found a fresh lunch today.

The problem was, he did not like us near and would move off and the ocean would sweep in and carry it away.

Now where did it go?

Found it!

Heading back from a wonderful walk, we and our shadows.