Christmas comes early

My main stitch this year has been one I've had on my stitch list for ages, fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. So hear it is Joan Elliot's Father Christmas from issue 177 of Cross Stitch Collection which is from 2009.

I decided to bring this to the top of my stitch list after stitching 2 bulldogs followed by a Tatty Ted I was screaming out for some colour to stitch! And this definitely gave me plenty of that. It took me about 7 months to complete which is not bad considering I started this stitch just before my son came along and I think it went well and truly on the back burner for a while. I love all the detail in this design.

 The sack of toys think was my favourite bit to stitch as I stitched each present at a time. All the metallic extras and beading give it a real Christmassy feel. I'm planning on backing it with some fabric to make it into a banner. So it is easy to roll up and store with the Christmas decorations. I think he's going to stick around from now until Christmas though seems rude to put him away for such a short time after I have spent most of the year with him on the stand, making my hubby sing Christmas carols in June lol

I received my new copy of Cross Stitch Collection the other day and what luck! Joan Elliot's newest design Madonna and child is just going to be the perfect companion piece so this will be going on my stitch list but I've got a few things that a still ahead of it at the moment. I'm a big fan of Joan Elliot's designs having done a few of hers now.

Loving the fact that the chart is a fold out so its all on one page as my 2009 copy with Father Christmas is looking rather dog eared pages falling out the lot.

So if your looking for a large traditional style Santa then this one is a must, and will be gracing our home every Christmas for years to come. If your looking to get a hold of a copy of the chart it can be found more recently in The Ultimate Joan Elliot Cross Stitch Collection bookazine. Which has added about 10 years onto my stitch list lol.

Keep stitching..