Happy Tuesday and welcome to the first week of October. Good grief.
Fall is my Absolute Favorite time of year. When spring arrives, I wonder if my favorite time of year is spring, but when autumn arrives, I have no doubt it’s my Absolute Favorite. I love autumn!
As the year winds down, I usually start looking towards stitching for fall and then stitching for Christmas.
Sadly, I didn’t concoct a new autumn project this year. For autumn stitching, though, if you’ve been hanging around with me for a while, you’ve probably seen my Festive Fall (as a pre-transferred towel set and as an instructional e-book, with patterns) and the Autumn Variety pre-transferred towel set that’s also available.
And there’s the Leafy Tree project – available as an e-book now, and coming out as a kit again soon.
Over the past many years, I’ve also released new projects for Christmas – the Twelve Trees for Christmas (I loved working on those!), the Snowflake Ornaments (twelve of those, too), and last year’s Mini Sampler Stockings, which will be re-released this year as an improved kit. (We talked about that here last week.)
Last year, I released a couple Christmas towel sets – Christmas Cheer and Let it Snow – as well as this stamped cross stitch Vinterfolk set.
Previously, and still very popular, the Holly & Evergreen set came out a few years back, and the Folky Flakes set a couple years ago.
What’s New This Year?
This year, I’m releasing the third and final set that go along with last year’s sets, called Glad Tidings.
I’m almost finished with the sample stitching and the sets are in production this week right here in the kitchen of my the studio! Yay!
Why do I make these towel sets?
Because, in my mind, they are a wonderful way to indulge in the relaxation of embroidery. I know many folks want to embroider, but they don’t necessarily want the stress or challenge of a strenuous, meticulous project. They are an embroidery escape, in a sense.
Sure, I love a challenging embroidery project. But I also love to be able to kick back and stitch pretty much without thinking about what I’m doing.
This is the kind of stitching that allows the mind to contemplate other things. To indulge in a good audio book. To watch a favorite movie. To engage in friendly conversation.
It’s the kind of stitching you can take anywhere. Outdoors on a picnic. In the car on a road trip. In an airplane. On a train. In a bus on your commute. To appointments. To a football game. (The lights in a football stadium are great for stitching!)
The designs can be stitched as intricately or as simply as you want.
You can pick your own favorite color schemes.
You can pick your own stitches.
You can use thread from your stash. Or you can have the fun of buying new threads!
You don’t have the bother of transferring the designs. You can follow your own rules. You can stitch slowly. You can stitch fast. You can keep them. Or they make great gifts. (I use the samples I stitch up as gift wrap around Christmas time.)
Right now, for me, stitching up the samples has been the Ideal Undertaking. My eyes aren’t great at the moment, but as they heal, I’ve been able to do this type of stitching without a problem. While I’ve had to lay aside more intricate projects, these have been quite a lovely escape during what would otherwise have been a stitch-less couple months.
So, yes. Glad Tidings! This three-towel set exclaims three Christmas messages: Glad Tidings, Peace on Earth, and Joy to the World!
They feature some Christmas greenery, a beautiful handwritten text, angels, and a dove. If you enjoyed stitching the Christmas Cheer and Let it Snow designs from last year, these are along the same lines, design-wise.
The plan is to have them ready for you next week, because I know many of you like to get ahead on Christmas stitching if you can. Once they’re ready, I’ll announce them here on the website (and in the email newsletter for subscribers – you can subscribe here if you’re not subscribed), and I’ll also include in the announcement the color list and stitches that I used on my sample towels in case you want a springboard for stitching your own.
With chilly nights coming on and the days getting shorter, what’s better than a relaxing embroidery project to sink into at the end of the day?
Embroidery project, cup of cocoa, favorite audiobook…
*Sigh*
The perfect escape!
I’m looking forward to sharing them with you!
Glad tidings, indeed:
– Mary can see well enough to embroider.
– Mary is embroidering new towels for us.
– They’ll be ready next week – an early Christmas present!
I do love the above photo-hints. The angel is precious! I truly need to know the thread you used on the beautiful dove. Can’t wait ’til next week!
Until then, I’ll keep praying that Mary’s eyes continue to heal and give her super-sonic sight for some of the embroidery that Mary loves most.
Hi, Gee – everything is done with DMC floss. For the dove, it’s two strands. It’s coming across, I think, as a blue-gray here. It really leans more towards blue – the same light blue in the angel. I wanted to go with gray, but it tended to look a bit too dull. :-/
Glad to hear your eyes are getting better. It does take time.
I can’t wait to order the towels! They are so much fun to embroider.
Take care Mary!!
Dear Mary
I can’t wait to see the full view of the Glad Tidings project it looks lovely. My favourite themes at Christmas are Angels and the sayings you have chosen for the project. Like you what I like about the projects are they are easy to stitch and simple in their design, so they wouldn’t take much time to accomplish. Thank you for sharing with us your new Christmas project Glad Tidings look forward to be able to purchase the e-book.
Regards Anita Simmance
Can you needle punch on a pre printed pillow case and what side needle with embroidery floss
I’m not too familiar with punch needle and whether or not it would hold up well on a pillowcase that needs washing. You might check with some of the punch needle designers out there! 🙂 Thanks!