Craft Rocks: The Xmas Tree of Joy

Craft enthusiast Jo Burgess explores the world of needlecraft in this exclusive column for Mr X Stitch!

Show of hands please – who’s been to see the Xmas tree at Standen?

With so many of your beautiful, lovingly stitched baubles on show I had to go and have a peep – and I’m so glad I did.

It was quite dark when I arrived there and the atmosphere was electric. There were so many excited people wandering around the grounds looking for baubles. They’re not just on the tree, oh no, it’s an amazing Xmas bauble festival going on there. You’ll find baubles on trees, on gates, on fences, they are all over the beautiful National Trust property.

As I walked up from the car park and approached the main house I could hear lots of joyful voices, and when I turned the corner there they were – people excitedly walking around the property with the torches on their mobile phones lit up, desperate to see as many baubles as possible in as much detail as they could.

They weren’t just glancing at your work and moving on, they were really appreciating every little X and making sure they checked out the attached labels to see who had made the bauble they were looking at. There were lots of happy smiley people, and I hadn’t even made it to the main tree yet!

Craft Rocks: The Xmas Tree of Joy
A fabulous star design bauble that caught my eye

The tree – wow. You know when you’ve seen a photo of something, but when you see it in the flesh it sends excited tingles down your spine? That’s the tree.

I was like a kid in a sweet shop talking to my husband, “Look at this one! Oooh, look at this one. Oh I love the design on this one. Look how far away this one has come from…”

Craft Rocks: The Xmas Tree of Joy
This design looked amazing, great colours too

The love put into that tree blew me away. To imagine that people from all over the world have helped Mr X Stitch put it together is fantastic, the hours you all spent stitching, the fantastic colour combinations you all chose, the designs you came up with – what a lovely global stitchy family we are 🙂

Craft Rocks: The Xmas Tree of Joy
The joyful bauble from the joyful tree, beautiful design

I made two of the baubles myself, so I appreciate how long it takes to make each one and how much effort you all put into the tree – you should be very proud of how it looks. I heard Mr X refer to each hoop as being made up of lots of individual little Christmas kisses – what a great image for a tree full of love.

If you’ve not seen it yet I highly recommend a visit. You can check dates and times by clicking here. If you have seen it, what did you think? Did you spot the bauble you made on it?

Share The Love

Want More of the good stuff?