Pincushion for Third Advent

When I started embroidering this pincushion, I was inspired by one of my favorite, but infrequently heard Christmas carols, where Christ is referred to as the Christmas Rose.  

Gesu Bambino

When blossoms flowered 'mid the snows

Upon a winter night,
Was born the Child, the Christmas Rose,
The King of Love and Light.

The angels sang, the shepherds sang,
The grateful earth rejoiced;
And at His blessed birth the stars
Their exultation voiced.

O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Again the heart with rapture glows
To greet the holy night,
That gave the world its Christmas Rose,
Its King of Love and Light.

Let ev'ry voice acclaim His name,
The grateful chorus swell.
From paradise to earth He came
That we with Him might dwell.

O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

by Pietro A. Yon


Another of my favorite Christmas Carols that refers to Jesus as a Rose is:

Lo, How a Rose e're Blooming

Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming from tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse's lineage coming, as men of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright, amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.

Isaiah 'twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind;
Mary we behold it, the Virgin Mother kind.
To show God's love aright, she bore to us a Savior,
When half spent was the night.

The shepherds heard the story proclaimed by angels bright,
How Christ, the Lord of glory was born on earth this night.
To Bethlehem they sped and in the manger they found Him,
As angel heralds said.

This Flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere;
True man, yet very God, from sin and death He saves us,
And lightens every load.

Translation by Theodor Baker


In addition to the larger rose on top, there is a smaller seam of roses along one side.


A lovely piece of old Irish lace has a rose motif.

As with the previous two Advent Pincushions, please leave a comment on this post to enter a drawing to win this pincushion!  Entries close at midnight, Mountain Standard Time on Saturday the 20th!   Only one comment from each person will be counted, and those who have won previously will not be included in the drawing.  Entries will be numbered and a random number generator will be used to choose the winner (and a runner up in the event that the original winner does not respond with their mailing info in a timely manner.)  Winner will be announced on Sunday! 

I have moved into my new stitching space, though I am still working around some of my daughter's furniture.  It is a light, bright space and I have a bit more room to spread out!  The room will continue to evolve once Jessie is able to get her furniture out!  Miss Kitzy Cat is happy to have me in her space more often and has actually been brave enough to venture out into other parts of the house since I started spending more time in there with her! 

Last week, I was able to finish the Christmas decorating!  I ended up with 4 Christmas trees!  The one in the living room is a real tree, decorated in green and white (and a couple of spots of reddish pink from some antique ornaments that were my Mom's)  

On the mantel, I decorated with 5 white nativity sets, some small trees and candles against a backdrop of a faux boxwood garland.


The dining room has views to all four trees!  Down the hallway to the right of this photo, you can also see my bedroom tree!

The little faux feather tree remains one of my favorites, year after year.  It's nearly always decorated with an assortment of tiny pinecone and acorn ornaments and tiny balls and little woodland critters.  

The bedroom tree is a memory tree of sorts this year.  I put out all the ornaments that I have had since I was a child.  Most of them were given to me by my Mom or friends and some belonged to my Grandma Plooster.   I hadn't put them out in years.  What fun it was to go through the boxes and relive some lovely memories!

Mollie Kitty likes this tree too and can be found curled up underneath it or sitting on the windowsill next to it! 

The tree in the "studio" aka breakfast nook has a snowflake and redbird theme this year!  I had fun learning to cut paper snowflakes this year to hang in the window!  

The top of the china cabinet hold the olive wood nativity set that my Mom brought back from her trip to Israel in the late 70s.  She also did the painting hanging above it.  

The little white shelf in my bedroom has it's annual decoration of tiny bottle brush trees and miniature nativity sets!

Thomas thinks he is a Christmas decoration too and insists on sitting on the corner of the dining room table, even though he isn't supposed to be there!