First SAL of 2020

Now that the holidays have come and gone I can show you another of the secret projects I'd been working on behind the scenes. I've saved this one for a Stitch Along post because it's needlepoint.

This small canvas was probably meant to be an ornament, or possibly a coaster. The painted area was about 5" across. That was too big, in my opinion, for an ornament to hang on the tree. Plus it would have been relatively heavy. Given the subject matter I decided to just frame it so it could be hung on the wall. 😉

Daughter and SIL have been using the elf on the shelf for several years now. They actually have two elves, and have been quite creative in setting them up for their daughters to discover in various activities throughout December. What could be more appropriate?! The shiny candy-apple-red metal frame was perfect to give the piece the look of an ornament. The inner mat is a deep green, not black, echoing the green in the stitching. I was very happy with the way it turned out.

And I have a post-holiday finish to share today too! You've been seeing this pillow cover for several months now. I thought I had it done at this stage...

But those empty hearts bothered me. The crescent moons felt like they needed beefing up too. I didn't want to satin stitch them however. That would have been too much. So this is what I did:

Little colonial knots to polka dot the hearts and simple straight stitches to fill in the moons.

This is the lower section of the cover, turned upside down.

In this close up you can also see how I dealt with the daisies. They were too big for lazy daisy stitches so I back stitched them and then used an alternate shade of purple to whip them. Half of the petals were stitched with a dark purple and whipped with a lighter shade, the other half were done exactly the opposite way.

At this point this project finally feels complete to me. All I need now is the right size pillow form to put in it!

I haven't chosen my next project for this stitch along yet. This group works on their own projects, often UFO's, in whatever needlework technique suits them. We're welcoming a new member this time around, AJ. Welcome AJ! If you'd like to join us just leave a comment with Avis. Here's to a fun and productive 2020! 😀

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, 
Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, 
Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ