Gifted Gorgeousness in January

The 15th of each month means it's Gifted Gorgeousness time, the time each month when we share our latest gifts. These can be gifts given or received, or any item made using fabric, threads, buttons, ribbon, chart, backing fabric that has been gifted.

This great idea is hosted each month by the lovely Jo at Serendipitous Stitching,  if you visit her blog you'll find the links to everyone's Gifted Gorgeousness posts. Thank you Jo for hosting another year of GG, it's great fun posting and reading. 

I make no apologies for showing these again, especially the first item which was the Faby Reilly humbug I stitched for our daughter and partner for Christmas. It was my first humbug but it won't be my last, it was lovely to stitch and finish. It was a double GG as I bought the chart with a gift voucher I received for the Christmas before.

In 2021 our friends became grandparents for the second time, their beautiful granddaughter Grace arrived in the summer. In 2020 their grandson Rory was born and for his first Christmas I stitched a name plaque ... so this year I stitched one for Grace. Her bedroom theme is Disney and luckily in my folders of old magazine pages I found Pooh and Piglet, I did make slight alterations to fit her name on the kite.

Of course I could not miss Rory out so I stitched him an ornament for his tree This was a Durene Jones free chart available on her Facebook page. I think he's a very cute hedgehog.

My other GG items are gifts for my friends, over 2021 I stitched many ornaments either with Jo and her JCS Stitch group on Facebook, or for the Seasonal Challenges with the members of Needlecraft Haven. As I'm stitching each one it becomes apparent which ornament is for which friend, there is usually something that links them. 

There's quite a few, to be honest I was amazed to find I had stitched 65 items in 2022, just three are yet to be fully finished. I'll be stitching more ornaments this year, I wonder who they will be for.

My next GG is also a double as again it was purchased with gift vouchers. I bought a felt kit and loved making it, a change from cross stitch. I gifted it to a very dear friend.

My candle is the first finish of 2022 from a gift I received. My lovely friend Brenda in Canada sent this in my Christmas parcel. It was lovely to sit over the festive time and stitch something so poignant, candles are very important to me, I light fragranced ones most evenings and have a special pillar candle we light on days we're remembering loved ones.

My final GG goes back to last Easter when I received this lovely card from Julie as part of the Needlecraft Haven Easter Exchange. It doesn't look like a card does it? That's because I have used the design to make an Easter ornament.

If you are taking part in the Topsy Turvy SAL it's Easter stitching this month, I have stitched and finished my Easter item, blog posting day for TTSAL is the 20th so all will be revealed in a few days. 

I wonder what gifts 2022 will bring, I'm already working on one for a special lady who's birthday is in February. I'm also working on this year's church tree items which to me are a gift to others as I know the joy people get from visiting the tree filled church. 

My tree for St. Lawrence's Tree Festival in 2022 will be an Alphabet Tree. I'm planning to stitch the DMC Bead Alphabet (as cross stitch) and the Assisi Alphabet from an old The World of Cross Stitching magazine. 

I'm using pastel coloured fabric and have chosen threads to compliment each fabric; I have pink, green and blue. I have edged each design using DMC Rayon 35200 and frayed the edges. Each design is mounted on white foam felt cut to the exact size with silver ribbon for the hanger. 

I know many of my stitching friends have asked about helping with the ornaments for the tree, I'd love to receive your letters. Here's the details: 

Fabric - any pastel colour, any count size

Thread - any make, any colour

Design size - no larger than 2.5" x 2.5" 

Fabric size - minimum 4" x 4" so I have room for the border and fraying

I live in the UK and to help with postage and customs please just stitch the letter on your fabric and send it to me inside a card. I will make up the letters so they are all the same finish.

If you would like to stitch a letter, maybe your initial, please let me know in the comments and I will forward my postal address. I'm so looking forward to stitching the other letters, thank you to everyone who has offered to help.