Cross Stitch Finishes: Christmas Pillows

Last week I finished these two cross-stitch pieces.  I decided to finish them right away so I could enjoy them in the few days that were left before Christmas.

I started with the Merry Christmas piece.  I had started stitching this early in the year.  It is based on a freebie from The Primitive Hare.  You can find it HERE but will need to scroll quite a way down the page.

It originally said Merry Primitive Christmas.  I took off the word “primitive” and added a tree from the book Brenda Keyes Ultimate Sampler Motifs book.   Then I used the same snowflakes from the original pattern and added more.

My finishing idea was like this…the red strip was cut 1″ wide and the bottom was 2″ wide.  This design is really nice if I’m putting my pillows in a dough bowl and want to vary the height of the pieces.

I put interfacing on the back of both pieces.  I use the same kind of interfacing used for making a T-shirt quilt.  I don’t know the name of it.  I just go to the store and ask for that.

I sew 1/4″ from the edge of the front piece leaving a space at the bottom for turning.  Then clip the corners and turn it right side out.

So cute!!

I use a combo of crushed walnut shells and polyfil to stuff.  HERE are the walnut shells I buy.  for the most part I stuff polyfil into the corners and fill it up with crushed walnuts then add polyfil a the closing to help keep the walnut shells in place so I can sew the opening shut.

I got these rusty stars from Amazon.  I also got these rusty safety pins.  I tied a knot with some leftover fabric and pinned it all together.  Simple but it works.

Here it is in my decor.

This is the other piece I finished.  This is Samplers and Primitives project Primitive Christmas.  I’m not sure but I think this is a company that does PDFs only.  You can find it HERE on Etsy.

I stitched this …on a scrap of linen that was labeled as Ale by Picture this Plus.  I used the Belle Soie silk in the color Cranberry.  I made some mistakes and improvised my way through.

I put this together the same way I put the other one together.

Here it is all finished…but is it?  I thought it looked kind of plain.

I had cording that I hadn’t used yet.  We made it when we were at the cross-stitch retreat in July.  The colors looked great together so I took that as a sign that I should use it.  I used invisible thread and stitched in on.

I was super nervous about how to end the cording.  This is what I came up with.  I started it leaving a 2″ or so tail…then finishing it with a tail too.  I tied it once and then stitched the knot down to the piece.  I ended up really liking it and will use cording again for sure.

Krenek makes a cording tool and it was easy to use.

Here is my finished pillow in my dough bowl.  I am REALLY happy with it.  Considering all the reworking I did on this piece, I’m surprised it turned out this good.

Those are the two new additions to the decor around here.  I sure wish I had more pieces done but considering last year I had zero and this year I now have six little Christmasy smalls, I’m thrilled.  Last year I did some of these by stitching small Christmas things on the 25th of each month….then petered out mid-year.  This year I plan to pick that up again and hopefully stitch through the whole year.  If I do, I’ll probably have three or so more stitching pieces for next year.  It’s slow but that’s okay.  I’m loving every stitch!!