Happy Christmas

 The Christmas decorations are all up, it took me a few days.  The tree is overstuffed as usual even though I gave away a lot of less desirable ornaments the last few years.  We bought the biggest tree  that our local garden centre had, it's a nice one this year and so far hanging on to its needles.  The last few years we have donated to a local hospice who collect and recycle the trees in the new year, so we will do that again.  A lot of the ornaments I've kept were handmade by me, or by friends, so it's nice to see them all on display again. Also the christmas quilts and wallhangings, table mats etc.

I am making slow progress on my Christmas cross stitch sampler, stitching on it most days.  I'm not a fast stitcher so I am not going to finish by New Years probably.  But it feels festive to have something seasonal to stitch.

Also slow is progress on the Gail Pan embroidered blocks quilt.  Between having to recalculate measurements for each puzzle block (all different), then piece the block, then hand sew the EPP hexies on each block, it takes a lot of time and brain power.  I'm currently starting block 5 of 6, so it's getting there. I haven't done all the hexies yet.  Still thinking I might sash the blocks rather than have it all run together in a big mishmash.

I took the unicorn quilt over to my son's house and gifted it to his partner - she was thrilled with it.  She doesn't sew, so views the creation of quilts as partly magic, I think, lol.  She was already cuddling up in it when we left. They are both very quilt-worthy recipients.

With the unicorn quilt off the frame, I loaded up a test piece to try out the Baptist Fan pattern with my new circle quilting rulers that I got for my birthday a while back.  The rulers work really well for the arcs, but the troublesome bit is where you have to re-sew on a previously stitched line to move into the correct position to start the next arc.  I am finding that hard to do neatly although I got better over two rows of practice.  Two of the videos I learned from have you start from the bottom left corner, so that's what I did.  I've now loaded an actual quilt for the first attempt which is the Checkered Dresden Plate from several months ago, and have only just realised that normally on a frame, you start quilting from the top of the quilt - not the bottom.  So now I have to either re-learn how to do the pattern upside down, working from the top.  Or, I could baste the entire quilt (with the machine) so that I can safely wind it onto the frame rollers,  down to the bottom edge.  I might have a dummy go without turning the machine on, to see how awkward it feels trying the pattern upside down.

This is a test piece I have used in the past, so there are other quilting lines already underneath the fan practice.

Circle rulers of 4", 6", 8", 10" and 12"

I have braved the cold basement to set up a new warp on my loom, to weave some sock yarn cloth that I may sew into a pouch or bag.  I used up two skeins of sock yarn (from my large stash) for the warp but ran out before I could completely fill the loom.  The weft is a variegated sock yarn, with plaid stripes from a grey sock yarn.  I may try slightly felting it once it's off the loom although the sock yarn may not have enough wool content for it to felt.  DH says it looks like heather colours.  It feels good to be using the sock yarn for something, I went a bit mad with buying skeins back in my 'socks and shawl knitting' craze and now I have more socks and shawls than anyone needs but still loads of skeins to use up.

Despite the above statement, I have also been working on the new pair of Christmas socks with the wool I bought in Salzburg.   I'm using the usual vanilla sock pattern that I have committed to memory, but I am experimenting with reducing the needle size to tighten the ankle of the sock.  I have larger calves so when I typically knit a sock cuff in a tube, if it fits the calf then it's baggy at the ankle. I'll return to a normal needle size when I start the heel flap and hope that it will fit better.

In papercrafts, as well as making a few more inserts for journals, I printed off and made this mini Christmas journal from a Youtube video.  Quite cute and turned out fairly well, it has now joined the Christmas decorations. Fun to do something so cute and small, and with everything included that you need.

On small dollshouse kits completion, this week I painted up about a dozen small plaster cast minis from World of Miniatures - things like crates, barrels, buckets, tubs etc. in various scales.  I put some of the smaller ones in the kitchen and outbuilding of my Japanese house.  I had a ton of World of Miniature kits because at one show they had a going out of business sale and I picked up a bunch of bargains.  I also made a freestanding advertising board display from them, and am currently trying to make a 1:24th chair.  I stained the chair pieces before gluing, and so far the stain has successfully repelled both wood glue and tacky glue and the chair just falls apart when I pick it up.  The chair may be going in the bin soon.

DS will be coming home for Christmas soon - currently he has a cold and we have politely declined to import his germs so we are just waiting for him to get better.  I suppose the day is coming when he will want to celebrate christmas at his own house but for now we still get to enjoy a family christmas together.  I think if we were on our own for Christmas, just the two of us, we would be tempted to go away but the issue is that, in the UK, you have to book Christmas hotels or trips a year in advance.  And DS probably wouldn't decide until a month in advance, lol. There's no rush.

Wishing you all a merry christmas, and best wishes for a happy new year.  Hope Santa brings you lots of crafty goodies.

Salzburg Austria christmas markets

 Just got back yesterday from my short break to Salzburg in Austria, to see the Christmas markets.  I travelled on Monday and came back yesterday, so had three full days which felt like plenty of time.  The historic city is very walkable and quite pretty in its own right.  A lot of the old town was decorated for Christmas, with lights, wonderful shop displays, trees and greenery, as well as the markets themselves. I was really lucky with the weather: dry every day and two days were brilliantly sunny.  It was cold but not too bad, 2-12C.  The main market by the cathedral was the biggest, not crowded at all earlier in the week but getting very busy by Thursday night.  I also went to the smaller markets in Alter Markt, Mirabelplatz and at the Sternbrau brewery.  And I made the trip out to the Schloss Hellbrunn for their charming christmas market which was quite magical once dark had fallen. On Thursday I took the train to the nearby town of Oberndorf to see the Silent Night chapel (on the site of the church where the carol was performed for the first time) and the local christmas market there.  I also crossed the river to walk into the German town of Laufen for a look around.  So lots of walking and it felt very festive.

Sternbrau brewery market

Historic town from above

Wonderful miniatures at a shop called Candela

Main market

Mirabelplatz market

Silent Night chapel

Market at Schloss Hellbrunn

I didn't buy much.There was a great shop in the New Residence called the Salzburger Heimatwerk which supplies high end traditional costume and the materials to make them, plus other artisan and handcrafted items.  I got some lovely embroidered ribbons, a couple of cross stitch patterns, and a pretty towel with an aida band for stitching.

I hadn't taken any knitting and was really missing it, so I picked up a ball of Christmas sock wool and some needles in a shop and started a sock to keep my hands busy in the evenings.  I did see three fabric shops and a knitting shop but didn't go in any of them because I really don't need any more stuff.   But to see so many stores in a relatively small city shows that handicrafts are popular.  

I got a few christmas ornaments, and some choccies for DH, and the obligatory gluhwein souvenir mug.  It was really fun wandering the medieval streets and exploring the various alleys and arcades, I took loads of photos.  It's such a photogenic city.  I went to the noon organ concert at the cathedral which was very good as well.  I rode the funicular up to explore the somewhat grim fortress; and had fun visiting the toy museum (mainly for kids but some exhibits of dolls and roomboxes).  So a good trip but I was very tired by the time I got home Friday afternoon.

So not much crafting this week apart from I have put together two blocks now for the Gail Pan embroidery BOM, although I still need to sew the EPP hexies onto the second block.  I am struggling with all the arithmetic so there is a certain amount of backwards stitching and re-cutting going on for the modified layout, but I got there in the end.  Luckily I have lots of Tilda fabric pieces.

Now that I'm home, we've started to put up Christmas decorations.  We got the lights onto the tree this morning, did a few windows, and put the garland and lights running up the stairs.  I've also brought up my dollshouse christmas scenes to display them for the season.   And now I'm home, I can get back to work on my Christmas cross stitch sampler.

Christmas is coming

Christmas is everywhere now.  From watching Christmas films on TV, to the christmas lights being turned on in town along with the town tree, the mall is busy with shoppers and the Santa Grotto is up, to accompanying DH to his modelling club christmas do at a pub.  Our lights are on outside the house, and today we went to buy our tree and found a christmas fair in progress along with a live reindeer and reindeer baby.  We'll get the tree into its stand tomorrow so it doesn't die, but then I am off on Monday to Salzburg so the decorations will have to wait until I get back on Friday.  We took our son out to dinner tonight and the restaurant was all decorated and there were already some Christmas parties in progress on some tables.  I've sent a few cards, done the family christmas shopping (luckily only small) and ordered presents for others to give to me (books, a paper guillotine and an eyelet setting tool).  So things are in progress.  

I prioritised finishing the unicorn quilt this week, so it is all quilted, trimmed, washed, and bound.  My son has seen it and feels confident that his girlfriend is going to love it. I used the rainbow fabric for the binding which I think lifts the dark border.

With the unicorn quilt off the worktable, I have moved on to continue piecing the blocks for the Gail Pan embroidery BOM.  Block one was a bit of an adventure, trying to get the recalculated blocks to work out. Then I appliqued the two hexie blocks.  It looks good, very busy.  I've cut pieces for the second block but haven't assembled it yet.

I've started my Christmas cross stitch sampler which is from CrossStitcher magazine.  There has already been a bit of unpicking but it's starting to take shape.  I have a ticket to the online Jingle Ball stitching event this weekend, so I've been getting some stitching done while listening to some of their sessions.  I didn't sign up for any classes but am enjoying the chat rooms with other stitchers, and some of the live sessions with designers. DS decided to come and visit us this weekend, which is lovely, but has meant that I'm not going to get as much time in the event as originally planned since the event is on American time (so UK afternoon and evenings).

Small dollshouse kits this week was a mixed bag of book kits, most of them ancient.  Some large Mini Mundas book covers that I inherited from a friend who had already cut the wooden inners and done a starting paint job, some other orangey covers that may have been Mini Mundas as well, an Art of Mini freebie kit for a cookbook, and a couple of printed covers that I inserted some pages into.

I had to move all the weaving stuff down into the dollshouse room so that DS could have his room back for the night. So I haven't felt like warping up for another project yet because I knew I had to move it all.

I'm visiting Salzburg to see what the christmas market is like, but it's not going to be snowy - the weather looks similar to the UK: up to 11C, some rain and overcast days.  But hopefully it will still be fun.  I was briefly in Salzburg back in 1982 as a backpacker so it will be nice to go back and see it  properly. That's my last trip for this year.