Janet Zickler Casey Santas Stitched to Date - 1/2/26

January 2, 2026--I love the start of a new calendar year, just as I did with the start of a new school year--a time of renewal, hope, anticipation, fresh starts, etc.  

Continuing in the tradition of blogging about Janet Zickler Casey Santas stitched in the prior year--here are the ones done in 2025, and, in the postings below, the ones that were completed in earlier years.  These two Santas pictured below bring the total to 22 stitched to date.  I'm also keeping up with the goal of stitching two Santas a year--one old and one new.  I now have 7 Santas yet to stitch.  Check out my Collections Page on the right for a complete list of the Santas stitched so far.

Happy, Happy New Year!!

Holly Berry Santa

Balloon Santa

January 3, 2025--Happy New Year.  Here are four more Santas stitched over 2023 and 2024.  If you scroll down, you'll see the ones stitched in prior years.  Now there are 20 stitched Santas in the collection.

 Click on the photo caption to view more information about each Santa.

Santa Gnome

Sea Shell Santa

Snowball Santa

Sugarplum Santa

January 3, 2023--I had the opportunity to stitch a few more Janet Zickler Casey's Santas in 2022.  Here are the new ones and if you scroll down, you'll see the ones stitched in prior years.  Now there are 16 stitched santas in the collection.

To see the Santas yet to be stitched, please click on the 2 Pages on the right side of this blog called Planned Projects-Santas by Janet Zickler Casey and In Process Projects.

Santa Snow Cone

Santa Holly Jolly

January 1, 2022--In keeping with my goal of stitching one new and one old Janet Zickler Casey's Santas each year, I stitched the below Cashmere and North Wind Santas.  This makes 14 Santas stitched to date.

Cashmere Santa Completed

North Wind Santa Completed

May 18, 2020--Here's the 12th santa ornament stitched so far--North Wind Santa

North Star Santa Completed

May 12, 2020--the 11th Janet Zickler Casey Santa stitched to date called Santa in the Moon.

Santa in the Moon Completed

January 5, 2020--The 10th JZC Santa, Heart Santa, is stitched.

Santa Heart

February 11, 2019--The 9th JZC santa is stitched.

Star Spangled Santa

January 9, 2019--Here's the eighth stitched so far to add to the list below.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Santa

November 16, 2018—Recently I counted up the number of santa ornaments designed by Janet Zickler Casey that I’ve stitched over the years.  Below are 7 out of 23 total to date.  As new ones are completed, I’ll add them to the list.  My goal is to stitch two a year (one new, one old) until all are done.  Click on the caption for more information about each santa pictured.

Candy Swirl Santa

Pine Cone Santa

Nutcracker Santa

Christmas Tree Santa

Silver Bell Santa

Christmas Light Santa

Candy Cane Santa

Ho Ho Ho - 11/10/25

November 10, 2025--Here's a cute little project designed by Toni Gerdes called Ho Ho Ho.  It was offered through Shining Needle Society in June, and I started the stitching last month.   For a small project, it had its challenges, but with Toni's perfect instructions, I was able to manage nicely.  The only issue I have is with the color of the buttons--I think they are too light, almost orange.  Maybe the thread should have been lighter to match the buttons. Oh well, it will still make a fun holiday display piece.

Ho Ho Ho Completed

About the buttons--Toni sells these with predrilled holes to fill with any kind of stitch.  For this project, we used Jean Hilton stitches.

Hoops for Hospice - Updated 10/28/25

October 28, 2025--All three hoop ornaments are "finished" with a felt backing and ready to hang on a tree using the attached ribbon loops.  They really are cute, and I enjoyed working them up.  

Please see blog posts below for more information about this project.

August 31, 2025--This is the third project I'm doing for the Hoops for Hospice program.  This time it's a very small cross-stitched Santa Hat which will fit into a 3" hoop beautiful.  As I did with the prior project, I first mounted the 26-count linen on stretcher bars, starched the finished stitches with Nori paste, then placed it in the 3" hoop.  I was compelled to starch the stitches since the thread, DMC Perle #5 and stitched over 2 linen threads, seemed so heavy.  

Santa Hat Mini Cross Stitch Completed

Santa Hat Mini Cross Stitch on Stretcher Bars

I found this as a free pattern online distributed by:

So all three of my pieces are ready to "finish" at my ANG chapter October meeting.  Then I'll post a photo of all three together.

Today is my 75th birthday and it's wonderful to have gotten this far in life.  About ten years ago my doctor told me I should live to 115.  Wow, that's 40 more years!!!  I need to buy a lot more needlepoint.  Yay!

August 16, 2015--Here's the second hoop ornament stitched to date.  It's called Tower of Presents by DebBee Designs, 2024.  This time, instead of stitching it in a hoop, I placed the 26-count linen on stretcher bars.  Worked perfectly since I was able to get it tight as a drum.  When the stitching was done, I "starched" the piece using Nori paste, let it dry overnight, removed the linen from the stretcher bars, then placed it in a hoop.   No wonkiness or warping.

I have one more hoop ornament to stitch, so I'm off to "shop my stash".  

Tower of Presents Completed

Tower of Presents on Stretcher Bars

August 11, 2025--For the past few years, Delaware's Seashore Chapter of ANG has been participating in Delaware's Hospice Holiday Tree program.  Last year we did clothespin angels, and they were a huge success.  

This year we are making ornaments that are self-finished using 3" and 4" embroidery hoops.   I volunteered to stitch up three ornaments and below is my first one.  This is a free design from Laura Perin called Christmas Square.  It's supposed to be stitched on 18 count canvas with perle 5 thread.  Since canvas doesn't squeeze well into hoops, I thought I would work this up on 26 count linen (given to me a long time ago) using perle 8 thread.  The idea was good, but I learned that needlepoint stitches can be too heavy for linen--the fabric isn't stiff enough to hold the weight of the thread, so it looks a bit warped.   For the next ornament (using a different design), I'm going to tack the linen onto stretcher bars, then use lighter weight thread (e.g., 2 strands of floss, not perle 8).  That should work better.  Stay tuned on how that will work.

Hoop Ornament Christmas Square Completed

When I was first thinking about using this design on linen, I wasn't sure if perle 8 would work, so I asked Microsoft's AI called CoPilot (this comes with my Microsoft 365 subscription).  Here is what it told me:

My Query:  Can DMC perle 8 be used on 26 count linen?

CoPilot's Response:  Absolutely — DMC Perle 8 can be used on 26-count linen, but it depends on the look and feel you're going for. Here's how it plays out:

🧵 Compatibility & Stitching Style

•  Thread Thickness: Perle 8 is a non-divisible, medium-weight thread. On 26-count linen (typically stitched over two threads), it will produce bold, raised stitches with good texture.

•  Coverage: It offers full coverage on 26-count linen, especially for surface embroidery, Hardanger, or specialty stitches.

•  Needle Choice: A size 26 tapestry needle works well with Perle 8 on this fabric count.

✨ Ideal Uses

•  Surface Embroidery: Great for decorative stitches like stem stitch, chain stitch, or satin stitch.

•  Hardanger Embroidery: Perle 8 is often used for the satin stitch portion, paired with Perle 12 for the delicate cutwork.

•  Bold Cross Stitch: If you're doing cross stitch, expect a chunkier, more dimensional look than with standard floss.

If you're aiming for delicate detail, you might prefer a finer thread like Perle 12 or stranded cotton. But if you want texture and drama, Perle 8 on 26-count linen is a lovely combo. 

Pretty cool.  

Santa Balloon 2023 - Updated 10/27/25

October 27, 2025--Santa is now completed--holding his beaded basket, with himself as the balloon.  The basket turned out to be a lot more difficult to put together than I had expected, and attaching it to the canvas turned out to be another challenge.  But overcome I did, and the result is below.  All in all, I really like this one.

PS - the beaded basket "chains" in the front look lighter than the chains in the back due to shadows.  The beads are actually all the same color.  After turning this into an ornament, I will place a white pom-pom on the end of his hat.

See below for earlier blog posts about this project.

Santa Balloon 2023 Completed

October 6, 2025--The stitching on this roly poly Balloon Santa is done and it's now ready for me to work up the little beaded gift basket (see project photo below).  This shouldn't be difficult since I've done many peyote beaded bracelets and the instructions look easy enough.  Stay tuned.

Santa Balloon Stitched to Date

September 26, 2025--I haven't worked on a Janet Zickler Casey Santa since April and this is one I've been looking forward to stitching because of the peyote beaded "gift basket" attached to the balloon (see project photo below).  I'm halfway done with the hat, and the beard will probably be next.  These Santas are always so much fun to do.

Here's my progress so far:

Santa Balloon 2023 Progress to Date

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Patches of Snow Stocking - 9/19/25

September 19, 2025--I've just completed stitching the second Kaitlyn Marie Designs stocking I had in my stash--this one called Patches of Snow (the first one I stitched is called Emerald and Gold Stocking).  I was fortunate enough to find on eBay a complete kit (instructions, beads, canvas, etc.) which saved tons of time and money trying to locate all the beads and cabochons with rimsets.   And this stocking is nothing but beads.  Only the two small areas where the cabochons sit are stitched with gold kreinik.  Lots and lots of texture.

Patches of Snow Stocking Completed

Patches of Snow Stocking Side View

Art Deco Tree - Updated 9/12/25

September 12, 2025--Won a 2nd Place Ribbon in the Canvaswork/Needlepoint category at Rehoboth Beach Museum's 13th Annual Needlework Exhibition in Rehoboth Beach, DE.  So pleased.

August 28, 2025--Just picked this up from my framer, and wow, was very pleased to see what she did with the mat board.  And it's a double mat to boot.  And it was cut completely by hand (no lasers involved).  Wow.  

Art Deco Tree Finished

March 13, 2025--Ta da -- Done!!!  I've been working on this beautiful tree on and off for the last 3 months and loved every minute.   For more information about the source of this project, please scroll down to see prior blog postings.  This post will be about the last lesson being given to my ANG chapter (Lesson 3) and the sections covered.   As was done for the prior two lessons, I've worked up lots of graphs to make the stitching of this advance level project a bit easier.

The advice I would give to anyone endeavoring to work up this project is to count, count and recount every step of the way.  Read EACH sentence carefully--there's a lot of information packed into each paragraph, and you don't want to miss a step.  Ripping out sections because the stitch was done incorrectly, or you counted wrong, will be a common theme (was for me).  Don't worry about it--just redo it and you'll be happier.  This project is very addicting, and you'll want to keep stitching on it as you see each section develop (like a flower opening its petals). 

OK, now that I've posted lots of closeup photos below--I can see how bad some of my stitching looks.  Oh well--this is a very "busy" project and from a normal distance, my wonky stitches won't look bad at all.  

Art Deco Tree Completed

Art Deco Tree Areas C4, M2 M1 Partial, T1, M4, M3, C5, T2 and Star Completed Lesson 3

Area T1, T2, M4, M3 Closeup

Area C4 Closeup

Area C5 Closeup

Star Closeup

February 18, 2025--Below is a photo of Areas B1, B2, B3, B4, C1, C2, C3, E1, E2, and M1 Partial stitched to date.  This is a large project. The completed stitching will measure about 13" tall and 11" at the widest point (the tree bottom).

Art Deco Tree Completed Through Area M1 Partial

Areas B1, B2, B3, B4, C3 and M1 will be part of the second class given to my ANG chapter in May.  I calculate I'm about 70% done with this beautiful project.  It has a ton of shine and dimension.  However, please don't look closely at the stitches and beading--some of it is a "hot mess" so to speak.  Also, my Kreinik gold threads had a dye lot change and if you study the stitches closely, you may be able to see the difference.  But the pattern is so busy, I don't believe the dye lot changes will jump out at anyone.

Here are photos of each section as stitched:

Art Deco Tree Area C3 Completed

The beading in area C3 was strung up in a line and couched down rather than attached to the canvas one at a time as instructed.  Even though this looks a bit wonky (Mill Hill beads are not as nice as Miyuki or Toho beads, for example), it looks so much better than the other way.  This is because the beads are larger than the canvas thread spacing, so you need to skip a canvas thread periodically.  I did not like how that looked.

The photos, from this point forward, are of the right side of the tree only.

Art Deco Tree Area B1

Art Deco Tree Area B3

Art Deco Tree Area B2

Art Deco Tree Areas B4 and M1 Partial

January 7, 2025--This is a section of the Art Deco Tree project designed by Deborah Reichert published in ANG's Needle Pointers Nov 2024 Magazine.  The stitching in this post covers Areas C1, C2, E1 and E2.  Isn't it beautiful?  

I have the privilege of leading this as a three-part class to Delaware's Seashore Chapter of ANG beginning in March.   My class will include lots of additional notes, graphs and instructions to make stitching this piece a little easier and more enjoyable.

Art Deco Tree Completed through Section E2

Below are photos of each section as it was stitched.

Art Deco Tree Area C1 Completed (love how the shiny rayon floss makes this look like a pearl)

Art Deco Tree Area C2 Completed (the outer edges make me think of Mother of Pearl)

Art Deco Tree Area E1 Completed