In 1993, I made this counted cross-stitch bell pull banner as a Christmas gift for my parents. Every year it gets hung up with the Christmas decorations, then in January it goes back into storage until the next December. I first displayed it online in 2000.

This piece was made from a Mary Maxim kit. It was stitched with cotton floss on off-white 14-count aida cloth and backed with muslin. The bottom edge of the aida is fringed; the top is stabilized with a strip of thick cardboard sewn in. It hangs from twisted strands of perle cotton, and the top corners are flanked by hand-made perle cotton tassels. The finished dimensions, excluding hanger and fringe, are approximately 6 inches wide by 22 inches long.

At the top of the banner is the a Christmas nativity scene. Under that is a verse from the Gospel according to Matthew. Next is a kneeling shepherd, a row of 3 bunnies (I don't know what bunnies have to do with Christmas, but they're cute), and one of the Magi reported in the Bible to have visited the baby Jesus shortly after his birth. At the bottom is my dated "signature." Country colors and decorative elements are used throughout.

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