Cross stitch advent mittens for Sonja

Sonja was born in November of 2015, so she got her first Advent ornament for Christmas, 2015. I didn't have the whole set done at that time, so I continued to work on them through mid-June, 2016, and here they are.

I used cross stitch charts from various sources (internet freebies, charts in magazines and books, and some from small kits I purchased years ago in the $1 bins at Michael's).

The cuffs of the mittens were machine embroidered with holly and the numbers; and I used the blanket stitch on my sewing machine for the edges of the mittens and cuffs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cross stitch advent ornaments for Iris

 

When Iris was born in 2009, I made some advent cross stitch ornament pockets using free charts from Ellen Maurer Stroh.

Now that I have two more granddaughters, I had to come up with more pocket ornaments. I'm giving them one a year (first Christmas, first ornament, and so on).

Here are the first ones I made for Iris. I'll have to get pictures of 1-7  later (she has them) and add them.

Over the shoulder cell phone holder

Here's one more eyeglass case but I converted it to an over-the-shoulder cell phone holder. This is for me. I find that when I'm waiting for a call and want to keep my phone handy, I could really use a holder for it, especially if I don't have satisfactory pockets available. I'm thinking this will be very useful!

Eyeglass cases for friends

Six more eyeglass cases made. These are for my friends, Linda and Marcia, who wanted three, each, including one for peepers. They picked out their own fabrics. A couple of the cases have special design elements not specified in the digitized pattern. (Note: A "design element" is often accomplished by cutting fabric too short, especially when you don't have enough of that fabric to cut another piece.)

Eyeglass cases for travel trailer

I have a total of 8 eyeglass cases to make. I started with these two for Merwin and myself for use in the travel trailer. These were made with a machine embroidery in-the-hoop design from embroiderygarden.com which sewed out beautifully.

Shell necklaces for sale

Iris and I made shell necklaces at the lake. Some of them she sold at her little stand and others she decided to give away. Then we made more for her to give to her friends who showed up the next day. It was delightful to see how excited they were to get together again.

Anniversary cards

I made an anniversary card for Emelie and Matthias (July anniversary) and Leslie and Anders (August anniversary). I finished the cross stitch charts a while ago. They were free charts from Durene Jones (left) and Ellen Maurer-Stroh (right).