Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming ...and there's no avoiding it. I am not a great fan of Christmas. That's a bit of an understatement, I would do anything to avoid it. I just find it so stressful. The present shopping has to be done well before all the other stuff starts, parties, lunches, carol concerts etc etc. Every other programme on TV is about Christmas cookery (I can't believe anyone would actually make their own sweet mincemeat when M&S make such good mince pies - get real Nigella!!)

Jenny knows I hate it and does her best to help. This year she chose the tree and decorated it. Michael (our resident audio visual technician ) was in charge of the lights so they worked first time. It looks lovely, unfortunately it was in front of the door to the conservatory and we had forgotten to swap sofas. The sofa bed from the conservatory needed to be in the lounge for visitors over Christmas. Moving things around was a mammoth task but (touch wood) the tree has not fallen over yet. Although wait until the rabbit sees it, now there's a challenge for her. The little snowman came from the Christmas shop in York.

This weeks sewing challenge has been the Christmas edition of the Fat Quarters Club from Melly and Me. Just for a change I made an apron. This Christmas apron called Merry was just started on Friday afternoon and finished this evening. I substituted one of my own fabrics because I didn't like the red fabric supplied. It has taken quite a lot of work. The red gingham binding was difficult because my bias maker was only 3/8". I finished up putting the binding on like a quilt binding. I cut a 2 1/2" wide strip , folded it in half, stitched the raw edges on the wrong side, folded it over then top stitched on the right side. I think I should have ironed it before taking the photo but I couldn't wait to get blogging.

Enjoy your Christmas preparations.

Happy Quilting xx