Getting Ready For Christmas

Things have got a little quieter around here as we get ready for Christmas. I love this time of year when work sewing slows down and I get a little playtime in the Schoolhouse.

I’ve been neglecting my bird applique patterns for a while now. Every year I think I’ll get more than one new batch of patterns released but never do. I have plans for more in the Spring but meanwhile I wanted to make a little more of the cute little robin pattern as it is so perfect for Christmas Crafting. So I added him to this Holly Tendril Project Pouch!

I used felt for the holly leaves as they are so tricky to needle-turn.  Instead of blanket stitch or whip stitch I used a small running stitch to apply them to the background using 2 strands of Aurifloss.

The background is a long hoarded Christmas panel by Cori Dantini that I cut up and rearranged to get the right balance for the pouch size.

I used a wonderful ‘Christmas coloured’ Aurifil variegated 50wt for matchstick quilting on the machine before adding the bias tape stem and holly leaves. The robin was stitched with Aurifil 80wt and I used more Aurifloss in black for the features. Finally I used tiny red buttons stitched with Aurifil 12wt for the berries. I love being able to use as many weights of my favourite thread as poissible in one project!

This very useful 14″ pouch is now ready to be gifted this Christmas.  I then had the idea to celebrate my bird applique patterns (also known by the hashtag #joaverysaviary) by having a little sale!  This is also a way to say thank you to all my wonderful customers and supporters from around the work with a little extra something.

No need for a discount code, I have taken 30% off all bird applique pattern PDFs available on my website here until (and including) Christmas Eve. Enjoy!

All this bird action got me starting yet another new project. On a recent art gallery trip I was inspired by old paintings where all the figures have elaborate gold haloes. The patterns and shape reminded me of my Journey to the Center of the Earth quilts and I wondered whether I could use the halo idea in a quilt.

But what would I put the halo around? I didn’t want to create a human (or divine) figure, and I was mulling this over on a recent walk when a blackbird caught my eye. Of course, I would put the halo around one of my bird applique patterns!

So I made this mini freehand halo (very improv and using pink scraps from a recent quilt) and used my blackbird PDF pattern on top. I then used Aurifil 12wt wool to add the embellishment before hand quilting with the same weight threads to make this little piece of art.

And now I want to put a halo around all my bird patterns as a way to express how we should cherish nature and all of the natural world! It’s also making me think of new birds I want to create just to put a halo around them!  I’m feeling very inspired by this new project and I have an idea of how to make lots of mini quilts into one big piece – watch this space…

One last handmade gift was finished on Friday and mailed yesterday, a pair of socks for my best friend in London (who doesn’t read this blog!!).  I wanted something very soft and cosy for her as she is really suffering with bad health right now. I ordered this Hedgehog sock wool which is 90% merino and 10% nylon. It is so soft! And was lovely to knit with. I have another skein for a future pair but right now I have stopped sock knitting and am back to embroidery, catching up with my Temperature project for 2021!

I’ll actually be back with more embrodiery news before the big day so I’ll keep my festive wishes until then 🙂