*NEW* Instead of Sheep

I’ve never been good at sleeping. As far back as my memory goes, I have been wakened easily, and have had bouts of sleeplessness bordering on insomnia. Thankfully, I am able to get the rest I need most nights, and I’m fully aware that many out there have it much worse than me.

Those nights when sleep seems unattainable used to be so hard I would be in tears. But eventually I learned that I would fall back to sleep more quickly or at least lay in bed more peacefully if my mind was full of pleasant thoughts. I learned to say prayers of thankfulness for the blessings in my life, and now do my most focused praying for others in the wee hours of the morning while they sleep.

“Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)” is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1954 for the movie “White Christmas”, in which it was performed by Rosemary Clooney and everyone’s favorite crooner, Bing Crosby.

As I designed this little sampler around some of the words from this song, I tried to think of fun little things to represent the blessings in life… flowers, a chicken, a basket of fruit, a house, a pretty dress, scissors for sewing projects, a kitty, a teapot, a really tall cake (chocolate inside!).

Stitch Count: 130 x 121
Model stitched with one thread over two on Picture This Plus 28ct. Wren

Using threads from Classic Colorworks: Blue Corn, Barn Door, Country Lane, English Ivy, Hazelnut, Honeycomb, Muddy Puddle, Polliwog, Peanut Brittle, Tennessee Red Clay

The frame was found at a thrift store, then refinished by me.

This design is now available in my etsy shop, and will be going out to my distributors and the shops on my automatic shipments list soon. If you prefer to bypass etsy and order directly through me, you can send me an email: beth@heartstringsamplery.com