Deep In December Finishes, Surprising Top Five Blog Posts,

Facing down another year with 2020 a few days away.  It does give one pause doesn't it.
But before looking back at the whole year I have to give December its due.  It was a wonderful month with lots of good things, family time and celebrating certain events as well in it. 
I was also pleased with my stitching this month. Though I did poke a few holes in two of my right hand fingertips, it was worth it.  I did not finish 10 more of the Dresden blocks as was the monthly plan, but I did prep 5 more to hand stitch.
In its place, I finished a project that consumed almost all my time and became a special Christmas gift.  I followed a pattern found in this issue of Quiltmania Simply Vintage, Winter 2017,

called Frosty Night by Emmanuelle Specque-Lafouasse.

Here is my version which also sits as my Blogger Header photo these days.  I wanted it large enough to use as a throw.

 The little recipient loves nature and the various animals I included especially the turtle and the fox.  It was his wild turtle that went in our pond and helped the turtle population so I added a little sleeping turtle too.

I hand stitched blanket stitch around almost every item plus filled the sky with quilting stars but used the machine on the binding and did a double row just to hopefully hold it all tight.
Such a fun applique piece to work on and my reward was an enthusiastic reaction as the animals and owl got checked out.

This month I finished this pillow with an old cross stitched piece, Just Believe with a Santa Snowman.

I also stitched and gifted these two items, a table topper and Kantha style stitched redwork runner, which were well received and I was happy about that.

Now is a good time to look back at Canadian Needle Nana and which posts garnered the most attention this year. While none of these posts received my highest pageviews ever, they were the highest in 2019.  This is the only time I pay attention to pageviews; I'm much more interested in comments and the possibility of connecting with you that they bring.
Beginning with the most pageviews....
#1 Links, Woolworths Famous Cheesecake, Flowers at Last.  This post included the no bake recipe and my photos of my version.  This brought back a lot of memories for many of you and I received many wonderful comments.
                               
#2 was Two Trends I've Noticed and I talked about how last January saw many stitchers anxious about finishing up old projects and also scrap busting. I was in the finish up camp which is right where I am this year! And I'm also, in my somewhat frugal heart, a happy scrappy quilter too.
#3 was titled Free Patterns, Stitching and Feeding the Birds. 
In this post I mentioned a link to free patterns by the wonderful designer Karen Kluba, my Cornwall Cottage piece and feeding the birds in a snowy February.
#4 Spinner Rings, Finishes, Domestic Minutiae
I was quite taken with a spinner ring Daughter gave me. I'm still on the library hold list waiting to read that book! It is immensely popular!
#5 Sensational September, Stitching, SAL, Squirrels
I included a photo of my Kathy Schmitz redworked squirrel. There are a lot of redwork fans out there!
                              
Roseanne at Home Sewn By Us mentioned this link, Ranked Blogs, so I went to the site to give her a thumbs up vote and it was a total surprise to see Canadian Needle Nana was on the list. I don't know what the numbers represent but having said that, perhaps I should learn more about it just because learning is good for the brain. But numbers don't really interest me so I probably won't. :)

 But what really interests me is hearing from you, learning about you, being inspired by your skills and creativity.  Connecting in this big, wide world of ours.
Also happy for these link up parties- Meadow Mist Designs, The Madd Quilter, Gone Stitchin',  Kathy's Quilts, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Love Laugh Quilt, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Devoted Quilter and Elm Street Quilts.