Christmas is coming… ready or not!

How can it be December 24th already? This has been one strange year hasn’t it?

I managed to get myself up and out of the house early this morning, and now our fridge looks ready for Christmas even if the rest of the house is decidedly non-festive…

I have spent the last few weeks doing this, that and the other. Quite a lot of the other I think. I had several zoom classes and a couple of lectures. The Northern Lights Quilt Guild in New Hampshire were good sports and played along with my Trip Around the World talk. I was very happy with the way it went ,so if you belong to a guild or group looking for a fun evening’s entertainment via Zoom, I have something to offer you 🙂 !!

My last teaching engagement was a three part wool appliqué class for STITCHES at home that finished on December 13th. If you’ve ever wondered what the teacher’s table looks like at the end of a class here you are…

I try to keep everything organized, and tidy as I go… who wants to waste time in class while the teacher looks for her scissors AGAIN?!

I’m booked to teach a three part Explorations of Folk Art Stitching for STITCHES in January. Splitting the class into three, two hour sessions gives time for students to stitch in between and we can cover a lot more material. I worked with Julia to produce a super dooper new stitch guide booklet/handout that will be included in the kit, along with all the threads, fabrics and needles we’ll be using.

Last time I heard there are a few spots left in class. Check my Calendar page for the link if you are interested.

I have lots of other, shorter classes booked for January too. Some come with kits, some will require you look around for your own supplies. Rather than repeat them here, they are all on that Calendar page 🙂

I will just tell you about one more workshop… I’m teaching a Walking Foot quilting – Beneath the Surface class for Road@home, the online version of Road to California taking place in January. If you wondered how I did those whole cloth quilts back in the summer this could be a class for you?

Assembling kits and filling in the paperwork for future classes can take a whole lot of time if I don’t buckle down and get on with it. I have made myself do what needs to be done by promising myself some stitching time!

In the last few weeks I have stitched a few different embroideries I had drawn out and had waiting in my design folder.

There was a Chinese quail,a rooster, based on an American Primitive design,and one more bird, this one based on a realistic picture but stitched with a non realistic color palette…

Time to sit at the machine?

I added binding to my butterfly wall quilt.

I put four of the Cultural Fusion blocks together and quilted and hand stitched them for a little 30″ square quilt.Here’s a close-up of the stitching.I’m not sure what I can use it for but it was certainly fun to stitch. I followed it up with making some step-outs so I can explain it in a future class!

And then I had another idea. I had really enjoyed stitching the Sashiko style panel for the rice pouch I made. Could I combine the traditional Sashiko stitches with some of my bird and butterfly designs?

Well, what do you think?

That’s five squares finished so far. I’ve been using Susan Briscoe’s Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook (2005) for the stitch patterns but there are a few new books on the market I am going to be looking into very soon!

The fabric is a Benartex print that I bought a while ago thinking it would be great for a project in the future. I guess it is! The threads are my favorite house of Embroidery hand dyed 8 weight perle cottons, available from Global Artisans.

And that brings me up to date. Julia and family have been here since Saturday. Julia and Matt have been working on some much needed DIY jobs in one of our bathrooms while I’ve been hanging out with the children. It was my birthday yesterday and Ruby cooked a very yummy dinner. The Amaryllis pictured at the top of today’s post is the sum of my decorating, but there are some presents and a turkey for tomorrow…

Christmas is very nearly here.