Happy Friday – and only 10 days until Christmas!

I hope you’ve been able to relax a little bit this season, that you haven’t been running about frantic during the pre-Christmas rush, or stuck in among crowds of people – unless that’s your Thing and that’s the way you like it!

The whole noise of the secular Christmas season is not really my thing. I love this time of year, but within a very limited sphere of operation.

I have two antidotes to the frantic pace of the outlying commercial world that permeates the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas in the US: The first one, is, of course, my needle and thread. There’s nothing quite as calming to me as escaping for an hour behind an embroidery hoop!

The second is closely associated: I stay close to home. I don’t venture out to the wider world a whole lot this time of year, except for very special engagements. The height of social excitement for me around now is a cup of coffee with a friend or two, a visit to my sister’s house, crochet night once a week…

But then, I do live in Kansas. So what else is there to do?

Time for the next episode in A Stitcher’s Christmas 2017, a series of pre-Christmas give-aways here on Needle ‘n Thread featuring some of the finest embroidery supplies, tools, kits, designs, and goodies available on the market.

Are you ready? Are you excited? I am, because today, it’s all about crewel work!

I’ll announce the winner of A Stitcher’s Christmas #4 (the slate frame and needle minder), and I’ll tell you all about a beautiful new Tree of Life authentic crewel embroidery kit from The Crewel Work Company!

Peace, love, and joy!

Three words that are appropriate any time of year, but that really resonate during the Christmas season!

Today, I want to tell you a story about an extraordinary gift that I recently received from a very special group of people.

And their gift is not just for me, but for you, too!

We’re almost half-way through the Stitcher’s Christmas series here on Needle ‘n Thread! It’s hard to believe that Christmas is just barely over two weeks away, isn’t it?

So far, we’ve seen some pretty nice Christmas gifts in this series of give-aways, much thanks to the independent small businesses, designers and artisans who have made such lovely gifts possible!

We still have more exciting things to come – not least of which are the goodies in today’s give-away!

So, without further ado, here are the details for today’s give-away, and the winner from A Stitcher’s Christmas #3, the goldwork horde from Tanja Berlin!

Happy Wednesday, and happy Feast of St. Nicholas!

When I was growing up, we would leave our shoes out the night before December 6th, and in the morning, we’d have treats in them!

So, today, a few treats! I know it’s Wednesday, and I don’t usually do Needlework News Snips midweek, but there’s a lot of fun stuff going on out there in needlework world that I’d like to share with you – inspiration, ideas, resources, news – and since the schedule is thrown off a bit with A Stitcher’s Christmas through the rest of December, I figured today is as good a day as any!

Besides, who doesn’t need a mid-week break with a nice hot cup-of-something and a chat with a friend? So, pull up, get cozy, and let’s have a bit of a natter!

Happy Monday! We’re already moving into the second week of December! Can you believe it?

Today, A Stitcher’s Christmas give-away #3 is on the agenda, along with the winners from last week’s give-away for three Hands Across the Sea sampler charts.

I’ve also got a little bit of extra news at the end of this article, especially for those of you who are playing with Twelve Trees for Christmas released last week, as well as some scheduling information for the next few weeks.

So let’s move on to business!

After a couple weeks of sneak-peeking my little embroidered Christmas trees to you, it’s now your turn to have great fun stitching them!

I mentioned last week that these little 3″ embroidered Christmas trees (or really, they could be for any time of the year, if you switch up the colors) have totally captivated me! I’ve had so much fun stitching them, but I’ve run into a Big Problem!

The problem is, now I don’t want to stop. With the holidays around the corner and everyone so busy, it’s just nice to have little, quick, satisfactory projects that work up in an evening. Sitting quietly and embroidering a little Christmas tree after a hectic day is balm for the soul!

Twelve Trees for Christmas features twelve small Christmas trees to embroidery, involving simple stitches that you can mix and match. They’re small enough to finish in one sitting. And yet they’re pretty enough to feature prominently in Christmas decorations, on cards, hoop art, dish towels, Christmas gifts, perhaps even a holiday banner!