Customer Reviews

A Cross-Stitch Christmas: Handmade Heirlooms (Better Homes and Gardens)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a 128 page Better Homes and Gardens publication, filled with cross stitch Christmas projects of all kinds that beginners and experts will like. Charts come in color, though some are a bit small, and they have both the DMC and Anchor floss list. Here is a summary of the projects:

Christmas Long Ago:
- Snow scene set up in a quilt, sort of simple homes and amish in style with Peace on Earth on top.
- Old world Santa adapted from a vintage water color carrying a Christmas tree, showed in a frame.
- The Holy Family on the night Jesus was born, with the stable animals around them. Very beautiful, detailed and shown on dark blue Aida, it is a beautiful scene.
- Architectural representation of a church with both cross stitching and hardanger, with an angel framed through a cutwork window. Hardanger accents and the cutwork make it stunning, this is definitely an expert's project!
- 3 Bundled babies come down the stairs on Christmas day in a pretty framed piece.

Yuletide Traditions:
- Nutcraker sampler with a Christmas tree and some of the ballet's characters, also shown as individual ornaments and the tree as the center piece of a quilted pillow.
- Stockings: Folk art style stocking with a very nice Santa, 2 small Scandinavian style stockings and one with small santa depictions put together crazy quilt style.

Merry and Bright:
- Ornaments: Unique star shaped Santas, holiday motifs, angels and others. The motifs are my favorite designs from the book they are shown together on a pillow but can be done individually as ornaments, and they are very easy to do!
- Stocking for a child with multiple gifts in rows, as shown in the cover.

Happy Holiday Home:
- Large Love and Joy pointsettias stitched on specialty towels with rectangular Aida inserts in the middle.
- Individual snowmen that spell out Merry Christmas each with a letter on their tummy.
- Easy Christmas cards that say Noel, Joy to the World, or a Christmas tree.
- Sampler of a Christmas cookies' recipe, shown on a serving tray.
- Decorative bellpull saying Happy Holidays with a large nutcracker soldier, very elegant.

A Season of Sharing:
- Small Santa jar lids, made with beads, very easy!
- Mug cozy in the form of a cross stitched cottage house.
- Three little bears bib.
- Pillow that says Happy Holidays with a snowed-in house. Very nice and easy design, shown on a pillow and as an ornament.
- St. Nick dressed as half himself and half elf, very easy project in a country cross-stitch type style.
- Still life with a gingerbread man, very elegant project shown on a tray.

The book also has a section of cross stitch basics with very good drawings that should help anyone get started. In summary, I really like the book because the designs are not only very beautiful, they also have great versatility and many can be done in the larger pieces or as smaller ones in ornaments or other applications. Enjoy!

You can't beat a Better Homes and Gardens Christmas book for imagination and wonder. There are always piecs you love and then those you'll treasure. I can't do justice to the variety here. This is the 2002 edition and contains everything from a skinny Kris Kringle to a three dimmensional window scene, to a snow man ornament garland. Ideas abound and as I have said in the past, don't pass this up. It truely is a treasure.