2022 Christmas Countdown - Merry Christmas

It's Day 25 of my Christmas Countdown - and it's Christmas Day.  Merry Christmas to everyone, and I hope you have a lovely day with family and friends.

December 2018

I'm spending Christmas Day at home in Wellington this year, with my husband, two sons, and my parents.   

I've enjoyed bringing you my 2022 Christmas Countdown.  It was fun to look back at some of the things I've made over the years.  Maybe I'll do it again in another five years in 2027.  I wonder what I will have made by then!

December 2014

I'll be back on 30 December with my wrap up blog post for 2022.  Until then, Merry Christmas to you all. 

2022 Christmas Countdown - Gingerbread Flower Shop

Day 24 of my Christmas Countdown and it's Christmas Eve.  It's time to bring out my Gingerbread Flower Shop.

the front

the back

Yes, I've finally finished the last cottage in Victoria Sampler's Gingerbread Village. The cross stitching was straight forward, but I was hesitant to do the fancy stitches and the silk ribbon work. 

But I got there, and I'm very happy with the result.  Once again I embroidered my name and the date on the base so people can remember who made these cottages in years to come. 

I'm sad that this is the last Gingerbread cottage that Victoria Sampler will produce, but I'm happy that I've made them all and I love bringing them out each Christmas.  I've taken them to show various quilt guilds around New Zealand, and will continue to do so because they deserve to be shared.  

Thank you Thea Dueck for sharing your amazing designs with us all.  

I'll be featuring all the other houses from my Gingerbread Village in my 2022 Christmas Countdown, but you can also read more about my Gingerbread Village in the tab at the top of my blog.

2022 Christmas Countdown - Oh! Christmas Tree

 Day 23 of my Christmas Countdown and it's my "Oh! Christmas Tree" quilt designed by Wendy Williams.  

I love that this quilt represent Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere.  We still like the snowy images on Christmas cards, but we know Christmas is the start of our summer holidays and it's going to be hot.  Many people have a BBQ for Christmas lunch and eat it outside, before taking a dip in the pool (if they're lucky enough to have a pool in their back yard).  

I loved choosing all the bright colours for this quilt, and then doing all the hand applique and hand quilting. 

You can read all about this quilt, including where to buy the pattern, here on my blog. 

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  How's your Christmas decorating coming along? Feel free to link up a recent blog post below. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

2022 Christmas Countdown - Gingerbread Etui

Day 22 of my Christmas Countdown and it's my Gingerbread Etui.

An etui is "a small ornamental case for holding needles, cosmetics, and other articles".  However, my etui is sewn closed so it doesn't hold anything, but I like to think of it as a big Christmas tree in the middle of my Gingerbread Village.  

I'll be featuring all the other houses from my Gingerbread Village in my 2022 Christmas Countdown, but you can also read more about my Gingerbread Village in the tab at the top of my blog.

2022 Christmas Countdown - Flocks by Night

Day 21 of my Christmas Countdown and it's my Flocks by Night quilt - pattern by Wendy Williams.

Once again, I loved making this quilt.  The decorations on the trees, and the sheep on the hills are just so cute. 

Full details on this quilt, including where to buy the pattern, is here on my blog. 

2022 Christmas Countdown - Retreat Cottage

Day 20 of my Christmas Countdown and it's the Retreat Cottage from the Gingerbread Village.  

I love the thought of stitchers having their retreat in this log cabin covered in snow.  

I love the little annex or porch out to the side, the railings on the balcony and how the roof overhangs slightly.  And the lacy curtains on the windows where the ladies are stitching.  There's just so many cute details. 

I'll be featuring all the other houses from my Gingerbread Village in my 2022 Christmas Countdown, but you can also read more about my Gingerbread Village in the tab at the top of my blog.

2022 Christmas Countdown - The Candy Man quilt

It's Day 19 of my Christmas Countdown and it's The Candy Man quilt.

A few weeks ago I blogged about a spur of the moment Christmas quilt I had started.  Well, now it's finished and all ready to be used this Christmas. 

The pattern (Watling Street) was designed by Sheila Christensen and is in her book, Quilts with an Angle.  I made my quilt smaller because I only had a limited number of scrappy Christmas fabrics in my stash.  Can you believe I made a whole quilt from stash? Even the backing and the binding? Well I did, and I want to use more of my stash in 2023.  

I've called my quilt The Candy Man because at first I thought of Candy Canes (due to the colours and stripes), but I don't really like to eat candy canes, but I did love performing The Candy Man song on the stage at the Regent Theatre in Dunedin back in the 1970's.  

I quilted this quilt myself using my walking foot. 

2022 Christmas Countdown - Gingerbread Quilt Shop

 Day 18 of my 2022 Christmas Countdown and it's my Gingerbread Quilt Shop.

I do love how Thea has made this shop so appealing to quilters.  The sewing machine mounted above the door way, the beautiful quilts depicted on the sides and back of the shop, and the ladies sitting upstairs above the front door actually quilting! It's all so special and I loved making it.  

I embroidered my name and the date on the base so people will remember who made it.  

I'll be featuring all the other houses from my Gingerbread Village in my 2022 Christmas Countdown, but you can also read more about my Gingerbread Village in the tab at the top of my blog.

2022 Christmas Countdown - Mill Hill Santas

Day 17 of my 2022 Christmas Countdown and it's my Mill Hill Santas.  

I have five finished Santas now.  I do recall saying that I would continue making these Mill Hill Santas rather than joining the Prairie Schooler Santa train, but somehow I weakened and I've now made two Prairie Schooler Santas too! 

These kits are so well made and contain everything you need, except the felt to go on the back.  I've just kitted up my next two Mill Hill Santas to take on holiday with me because they're such a pleasure to stitch. 

Here's some closer up photos so you can see the details:

And the felt I glue on the back to finish them nicely.  

2022 Christmas Countdown - Celtic Snow

Day 16 and it's my Celtic Snow cross stitch designed by Northern Expressions Needlework.

There's a few factors that make this piece sing:

- the gorgeous blue linen that's Midnight Tryst 28 count linen from Hand Dyed by Stephanie. It is beautiful and gives this piece a dark mysterious background. It's the shade Nicole used in her sample and the photo on the pattern.
- The beautiful soft (in colour and texture) Overdyed Silk threads from Dinky Dyes.
- All of the tiny beads that make it shine. They took an age to sew on, but they're so worth it.

Thank you everyone who's been following along and leaving lovely comments.  I really do appreciate your support thank you. 

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

2022 Christmas Countdown - Beaded Angels

Day 15 of my 2022 Christmas Countdown and it's my Beaded Angels.

This ornament is very special to me because it was tricky to make. I went to classes at Nancy's Stitch Studio and learnt how to do beading.  The beads are threaded together with very fine Nymo thread which is extra strong nylon thread. The way they nest in to each other is called Peyote stitch - frequently used by North American Indians.  

To make this ornament we made the same angel six times, and then did some fancy magic stuff at the top to join them all together.  

Can you believe I was so happy when this was finished that I bought a second kit to make another set? It's sitting upstairs barely started and I don't know if I can remember how to do it now.  Maybe I'll dig it out in 2023 - my year of finishing things.  (Where's the laughing emoji when you need it.)

  

2022 Christmas Countdown - Candy Cane Cottage

Day 14 of my 2022 Christmas Countdown and it's my Candy Cane Cottage.

This is another one of the cottages from the Victoria Sampler Gingerbread Village.  The candy canes are so cleverly designed, and once again, I love the decorative roof. 

There's little bit of hardanger on the windows, but the pattern explains clearly how to do it and it was quite straight forward. 

This is the smallest cottage in the Gingerbread Village and it was quite fiddly getting all those red and white beads place perfectly.  

I'll be featuring all the other houses from my Gingerbread Village in my 2022 Christmas Countdown, but you can also read more about my Gingerbread Village in the tab at the top of my blog.