Our Merry Christmas Mystery Class came to an end today. And while I will miss all of you dear friends and the fun we have had, I’m excited to be sending it off to the finisher. This piece is singularly the best time I have had stitching anything to date. How’s that for a big statement.

Today we tackled the center square. The background is a pretty open stitch and must be completed first before the letters.

What to do with letters that are this thin? We could Tent Stitch them, but then we would have jagged edges on many of the curves. We could Cross Stitch them which would even everything out. Or we could do my favorite option. Couch Kreinik metallic along the strokes of the letters. To me this is the prettiest option. It does have some drawbacks.

Since the background is semi-open, you do have to pay attention to where your threads travel on the back. This means tacking your red and green threads directly behind the letters. It’s a little fussy, but worth the effort. Take it slow and when necessary scooch the threads behind the letters and tack them in place.

After I finished the center I still wasn’t satisfied. I felt it needed more. Enough wasn’t enough. I added a simple gold border around the entire design.

Now it’s finished and as I said, off to the finisher. It will be back in a few short weeks ready for your perusal.

Merry Christmas from she who still has her tree up!