Halloween 2023

Well, it's that time of the year again.  Halloween is still viewed as an American tradition in this part of the world, but more and more people are getting in to trick or treating each year.  

My Spooky Darlings quilt won't be finished for this Halloween, but it is progressing well. 

I live on a street that is well known for Halloween because it's wide and straight and a safe place for kids to trick or treat.  It's Spring in the southern hemisphere and it doesn't get dark here until after 8pm at the moment, but the kids can't wait that long so they start about 5pm. 

I need to get my Haunted House out again and enjoy looking at it before it's time to get out the Christmas decorations.  Help!!!

It's been a while since I've shown my Haunted House so if you're after more information you can find all my notes about the Victoria Sampler Gingerbread Village on the Gingerbread Village tab here on my blog.  And more specific information about the Haunted House here.  

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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.

2022 Christmas Countdown - Gingerbread Bakery

Day 11 and it's my Gingerbread Bakery designed by Victoria Sampler.  

I wish I could churn out sweet Christmas treats like these busy ladies do!

Assembling an "L" shaped building was a bit tricky, but the solution is to make two rectangles and then join them together. 

I love the decorations on the roof of the Gingerbread Bakery. 

Can you see the gingerbread men on the top of the cabinet in the photo above? 

I'll be featuring 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 - Gingerbread Church

Day 7 of my Christmas Countdown and it's time for another Gingerbread House.

This time it's my Gingerbread Church - the second building in the Victoria Sampler Gingerbread Village.  

I do love the stained glass windows on the church, and all the snow on the roof.  The steeple was tricky to attach, but it's what makes it a church.  

I was lucky to find a shiny Mill Hill cross just the right size to hang above the front doors.  

And here it is in the sun.  

I'll be featuring 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 - Victoria Sampler ornaments

Day 5 of my Christmas Countdown.  

These cute ornaments were designed by Thea Dueck of Victoria Sampler.  I still remember downloading the patterns and then searching through mum's box of embroidery fabrics to find this perfect red fabric. I always get the urge to stitch something Christmassy on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.  

Finishing ornaments like this is always a challenge.  It's one thing to stitch the design, but another thing completely to finish them nicely.  I'm very happy with how these two turned out.  

They'll definitely be going on the tree when I get it out soon.  

(I don't think these designs are available anymore.)

2022 Christmas Countdown - Gingerbread Stitching House

Yes, in case you missed Day 1 yesterday, I'm doing a Christmas Countdown and I'm going to show you a different handmade decoration each day of December until Christmas Day.  

Today it's my Gingerbread Stitching House.  

This was the first cottage that I made from the Gingerbread Village designed by Victoria Sampler.  I quickly became addicted to the Gingerbread Village and have now made almost all of the cottages.

I love the way that the stitches on the roof  look like icing.  It's almost good enough to eat. And the hardanger on the windows.

This stitching house was designed so the roof lifts off and you can store things inside. The area is very small though because the whole house is only 4" x 4". 

I like to record my name and the date on the base of my cottages, and this tells me I made this stitching house 10 years ago.  It seems fitting that I will finish the final house in the village series in December 2022.  

I'll be featuring 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.

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 - Little House Ornaments

Welcome to my 2022 Christmas Countdown.  

I've made a lot of special Christmas decorations over the years, so this year I've decided to do a Christmas Countdown and show you a different handmade decoration each day of December until Christmas Day.  It will be like opening a virtual advent calendar.  

I'm going to publish my daily December posts at 8pm New Zealand Daylight Savings Time (like I normally do with my weekly blog posts). The beauty of blogging is that the posts will always be there to look back on.

First up - some little house ornaments to hang on my tree. 

As you can see, these little houses were quite fiddly to make.  There's tiny beads, backstitches and lots of colour changes.  But they are so cute.  

I made these ornaments 10 years ago in 2012.  Back when I had more time on my hands than I do now!

I used the Victoria Sampler "Little House Ornaments" pattern and I love that they are all different colours.

Victoria Sampler patterns always include great finishing instructions with plenty of photos, so don't be intimidated if you want to give them a try.