Friday, September 05, 2003

Ornament Issue, 1998

Nineteen ninety eight was a better year for the Ornament Issue. Twenty four more ornaments for a total of 75 and none recycled. [NB: Told in a Garden hasn't appeared since.] I have completed eleven of these: Sisters and Best Friends' "No Humbugs Allowed" (I've even recently bought the buttons to finish it); Sweetheart Tree's "Hollyberry Heart"; Curtis Boehringer's "Scrooge" (for my dad); Moss Creek's "Hearts Entwined for Christmas" (another pesky box pillow); Graphs by Barbara and Cheryl's "Christmas Eve Ornament"; June Griggs's very Mary Englebreitish ornament "Joy"; Prairie Schooler's "Two by Two Deer"; Lilac Studio's "Christmas Orchid"; Ewe & Eye & Friends' "Frosty"; Mary Garry's "Swedish Christmas"; and Heart in Hand's "Woodland Noel" (needs charm).

They're all stitched but none are finished. So you can see why I need to hone my sewing skills. There are still about 14 that I would like to stitch. Great as this issue was, and I might argue it's the best one, there were two more completely crazy ornaments. The first was by Dragon Dreams and showed a knight giving a present to a dragon. You can see where it originates, but I wonder how many people stitched it. Her designs keep appearing so someone must like them. The other one was a "Christmas Clown." It is accompanied by a short paragraph explaining that early Christmas celebrations included clowns. I am checking into the historical accuracy of this, but I think someone was pulling her leg. This one was so weird, that she hasn't participated in the Ornament Issue since. The Christmas stories continue to be heartwarming though badly edited; and I love the Bent Creek sisters' childhood Christmas photo.

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