Mr F and me have been on our annual hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. A friend of Mr F's had a huge field of Christmas Trees and every year he lets us pick one out - for free!! So off we set on a bright, but chilly morning, armed with Mr F's tried and trusted tree felling equipment - a saw and a pair of sturdy loppers..... .....it took about half an hour before Mr F spotted it - not too skinny, not too fat, quite bushy, and LADEN with pine cones! Anyway, after much sawing and huffing and puffing from Mr F, the perfect tree had been felled and was soon loaded into the back of the car..... .....Beth is home from uni for the holidays, and decided she was going to be in charge of the decorating - and didn't she do well - even if it did take her all day to get it done! She played some Michael Buble music while she was decorating, just to feel a bit more Christmassy..... .....and a close-up of those gorgeous pine cones. They smell divine, and so far that hairy hound Jasper hasn't pulled off any pine cones or baubles. Hopefully it will survive a very hectic Christmas at the Foremans!!
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Do you remember the table runner I made for my secret swapee? Well all was going swimmingly - the runner was parceled up, and off it went halfway around the world, to be delivered to New Zealand. However, a couple of weeks later, the parcel was returned to me, damaged, and "unable to deliver". Fortunately the runner inside the parcel had survived, so I quickly made another gift to put in with the runner, added some other bits and bobs and it has been re-packaged and sent on it's way again. I was so glad when the recipent, Michelle, said it finally arrived in one piece!.... .....anyway, this is the runner that I received from my partner Anne Glencer, from America - this very festive runner, with appliqued "ornaments" appliqued on it. I'm sure this will be put to good use during the festive season. For all you crafty-lovers, the Christmas Craft and Vintage Market will be held on Sunday 18th November. Will I be there? Definitely! Will I be shopping?? Definitely! Well who wouldn't when there's going to be over 30 fantastic stalls offering handmade and vintage jewellery, homeware, accessories, clothing, furniture, curiosities, food and Christmas cheer- so might see you there!! No, it's not snowing outside yet, but It's Snowing! by Debs Strain for Moda is the fabric range that I have used for this tablerunner. Do you remember that I completed the pieced border as last months FNSI? This pattern is called "Festive Season" and is designed by Annie Downes, whose website is "Hatched and Patched"..... .....well I had a free morning today (due to having a very poorly car) so what better way to spend it than sewing? I used a white Mettler quilting thread and quilted it using the "stitch-in-the-ditch" method..... .....I used a piece of cotton wadding for this runner, and spray basted the layers together with 505 spray before the I quilted it. I love these fun and funky fabrics, and even though they are not what you would call "traditional" Christmas colours, they look great..... .....and this stripey fabric is fantastic for the binding. I added one of my labels, and then hand stitched the binding into place. I chose some Christmas themed fabric from my stash for the backing, called "Winterscapes" for Benartex..... .....this runner is part of a Secret Santa swap that I am taking part in, and no, I'm not revealing who the lucky person is yet - all will be revealed nearer time! Now I need to get busy and finish the rest of my sewing as this swap needs a few little extras to be added before it gets posted off to the lucky swapee. Yippeeeee!! Just look what the postman delivered this morning! 25 fat eighths of a soon-to-be-released fabric, called "Christmas Fun" from my friend Lynette Anderson. She has designed this lovely Christmas-themed fabric for Lecien. It is absolutely gorgeous, with soft muted colours that are just to die for! I shall love playing with this fabric - oh dear what a shame I'm off on my holipops tomorrow so I've got to wait until I get home to start getting creative with it - do you think Mr F would mind if I sneaked a few scraps of this in my suitcase to drool over while I'm sailing to Norway? No this isn't because of the snow or the freeeeezing cold temperatures this month, but I have borrowed the blog title and borrowed this picture from Janette's blog - she is the wonderful Longarm
Quilter who magically turns an old rag into an absolute work of art - if you have a look over here, you can see what she has just written about my Christmas Schnibble quilt. Thanks again Janette - it was put to VERY use over the Christmas holidays. Last year I made this quilt top using a couple of Layer Cakes (Fruitcake by BasicGrey for Moda). The pattern is from the book "Schnibbles Times Two" by Carrie Nelson..... .....anyway, after I'd made it, it was far too big for me to quilt myself on my Bernina, so it was folded up, put in a box with lots of other quilt tops, and it was sort of forgotten about..... .....then along came Janette, and her longarm machine, and yet again she has created something fantastic!! I chose an all-over quilting pattern, Meandering Stars, for this festive quilt, and I am sooooo pleased with it!..... .....my local quilt shop, Quilters Haven, sold this beatiful fabric last year, which luckily just happened to be from the Fruitcake range - so I used this for the background to showcase the stars, and for the inner border..... .....and as you can see, I also used it for the binding too. I cut the binding strips into 2 1/2" strips, joined the strips at a 45 degree angle and folded the binding over double. Then I sewed the strips onto the quilt about 3/8" inch from the edge..... .....I slip-stitched the binding to the back of the quilt using a quilting thread that will blend in with the backing fabric, so the stitches don't show - and while I'm sewing I'm listening to some favourite Christmas songs..... .....now the binding is on, I can use this quilt over the Christmas holidays - it will be perfect for snuggling up under on cold dark evenings!..... .....and here it is on my bed - very cosy! Merry Christmas - now, where did I put those other quilts to take over to Janette? Think I'll be keeping her very busy in 2012!! Today was the day that Mr F decided it was time to get the Christmas tree - so off we went, on a bitterly cold Sunday afternoon, to search for the elusive perfect tree..... .....for the last few years, Mr F has managed to track down a tree complete with pine cones, and last years was just perfect - and he's come up trumps again this year too, felling a perfect tree - not too thin, not too bushy, not too tall, not too short - and LADEN with pine cones that will smell wonderful in the warmth indoors..... .....ohhhh just look at all those little pine cones oozing their sweet sticky stuff that smells delicious! My daughter Alice took charge of decorating the tree this year..... .....and she's done an excellent job! Hopefully Jasper won't try to nibble the branches or the decorations! Merry Christmas everyone x I travelled up to Norwich again today, partly to finish off my Christmas shopping, but most importantly to visit my sister and deliver pressies to her. My sister Lisa is very crafty, and today she was "in action" at the Green Party Fair which was at Chantry Hall in Norwich..... .....she had some beautiful gifts for sale and I had to do a LITTLE bit of shopping form her - I'll show you piccies of that after Christmas though, as it's TOP SECRET..... .....and her friend Sasha had a wonderful stall there too - she had made some beautiful stockings and animal dolls - they were very retro-looking and I thought they were super fabulous! Well this is the scene that greeted me on Saturday morning when I went shopping in Woodbridge. The Market Hill had been taken over by The Woodbridge Festive Market, and the Town Hall that you can see in the background had also been filled with stalls..... .....there was a good assortment of stalls, selling all sorts of crafty things, although no lovely vintage linens or lace this time - I think I preferred the market at Snape the previous week..... .....there were lots of people around, and I bumped into quite a few friends, who all had the same idea as me - getting a bit of last minute shopping! I also had a browse in the shops along the Market Hill too..... .....it was a bit chilly to be out for long though, so after about an hour of perusing stalls and shops, I made my way to Windmills Florist to collect my Christmas wreath for my front door. I was really spoilt for choice this year - and I will share some piccies of the one I picked later on. |
About me...Hi - welcome to my quilting blog! My passions are my family, my dog, my friends and sewing, not necessarily in that order! Archives
July 2023
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