They asked for Christmas Ornaments...

A recent request from the Guild for members to make items for the pre-Christmas Sale particularly mentioned bookmarks and hanging ornaments. I have printed several series of cardboard bookmarks, some of which, after checking their acceptability, I have now prepared. 

Going through my stash, I also found this small kit (about 5") which I think came as a free gift with some Buccilla kits I bought from the Fox Collection. I thought this might be a chance to put it to good use. It came with a sheet of plastic mesh, a needle and threads.

I began at the top with the yellow balloon, then worked an outline to give myself a sense of boundary. The expanse of red gets a bit tedious, so I broke it up. The white expanses were worse - very hard on the eyes, as well as the hand.

I've worked plastic mesh before, and don't like it much. There is little choice but to hold it in the left hand. It won't go in a hoop. Even if I took the trouble to stitch it into a cotton surround. the tension is not likely to be good enough.

It's not difficult stitching, but slow and repetitive. The feel of the needle going through plastic is not pleasurable. The incentive is in seeing the pattern emerging. I didn't count the hours, but it would be in the vicinity of 40 hours of stitching.

i finished it today, pushing through 5 hours of stitching with eye drops and hand exercises, planning the construction in my head, determined to finish. 

I used left-over thread to make a twisted cord, which I stitched to the back at the top.

I cut the plastic, very carefully, one hole away from the stitching. I then trimmed off the little lugs to get a more or less straight edge of white all around. I used the trimmed shape to trace and cut a piece of red felt. After a bit of experimenting, I glued the felt to the back of the ornament, then trimmed it close.

I wasn't happy to leave the felt attached by glue alone, so used white thread to stitch wherever I could through the felt and the last hole on the edge of the fabric.

 By 4pm I had a passable ornament, and could stop for lunch. I had managed a couple of coffees along the way, and I did get breakfast.

It will not raise a lot of money, but I hope it appeals to someone, and gives pleasure. It's not my favourite form of stitching, but it is a fun thing and worth the effort if someone smiles and enjoys it.