St. Martin's Raffle 2019

The church ladies wanted a fundraiser. James' sister Jane in England came through for us again and cross-stitched the 24 Chrismons (again). With them I made another Chrismon Advent calendar. I think it turned out even nicer then THIS ONE.

I started with printing the 24 stars with numbers and the 24 explanations of the symbols on fabric sheets. I processed the sheets according to the instructions for them. Then I added double sided iron-on to the back side of these sheets.
The symbol explanations are used to close the backs of the ornaments.

The ornaments were constructed like I explained HERE! except these are square instead of round. I laid all ornaments out and paired the explanations to make sure each was on the right one before I started the ironing-on. 

I thought I was done but was not quite happy with the wallhanging. Something was missing.

I decided to iron-on some painstakingly cut holly leaves. I thought it was a great improvement.

The quilted wallhanging before December 1st when you start choosing the first Chrismon.

It is Christmas! Of course it would look different every year because you choose the symbol each day. It gives an opportunity for discussion ... especially since the meaning of the symbol is written on the back of each. Two over the door hooks and a rod is all what is needed. But you could also use 3M hooks on the wall you can easily take off after the season. 

The 1st of December was actually a Sunday and that was when the raffle ticket winner was drawn.

 I hope Maggie, the young lady who won it, will treasure it for years to come.

And guess what? I enjoyed making it. I already have another idea in my head and would love to know whether it would work.

* * * * *

I have been asked several times whether the cross-stitch patterns can be purchased. 9 of them are my designs ... because I needed 24 ... but 15 of them were from a very old booklet. I decided now to share all because the old patterns can't be bought anywhere. The original designer is not cheated out of any money. I don't want the patterns to get lost. 

This is in the spirit that  Jesus is the Reason for the Season.

Here are the PDFs:

24 Chrismon cross-stitch patterns

Explanation to the Chrismons (for back side)

24 stars and numbers (if you want to use this)

Since this is all free to you I would love to know when you used all this information. A photo of your finished project would make me very happy. 

Merry Christmas wishes from Christa

Virginia State Fair

The Colonial Lacemakers were committed to demonstrate lacemaking on October 2. And I had committed myself too. Once you have the free tickets and parking permit there is no returning. To be honest, I do like demonstrating. I felt rewarded because I taught a young women (teenager?) to tat in 5 minutes. I always tell them: you can either learn in 5 minutes or never. It's all about the tension on the right thread. She was so happy ... which of course made me happy.

The special treat this year: another lacemaking group from the Culpeper area joint us. Hallo, Gitte!

Yes, we like to demonstrate, like to get people interested in learning, teach. We love our crafts. 

Winter is coming

I started in September. Our bed needed a big quilt. We did not have one this big. There was one fabric, the flowery one, which I really wanted to use. I had bought it in Singapore and liked it very much. Most of the fabric is from my stash except for the light green one. It didn't look so "loud" in the shop. Once I started with it, I felt I needed to continue. I still like the pattern but not sure about my color choices.

The pattern was free as part of the FaceBook group NQC Quilt Block Challenge. Wow, I just looked it up. The group has 64,644 members. The design is "Medallion Mystery" by Toby Lischko of www.gatewayquiltsnstuff.com
To be honest, I like her color choices better. How knows, I might make it again.

This is how it evolved:

About 83 x 101 inches and finished (totally including sleeve and label) November 2019.

Montpelier quilt exhibition

In August I worked on the second quilt I had ever done ... when I didn't want to be a quilter. You know that story.

I borrowed the quilt from Sarah to add a sleeve for hanging and add a label. Yes, all quilts should have a label. I didn't know that when I made it. It is a rather large quilt.

The exhibition of the Country School Quilters group was in September at the Montpelier Center for Arts and Education. This is where we also meet every month. 

This is Sarah's quilt in the hall with the largest quilts.

When the technique used in a certain quilt intrigued me I tried to take a detail photo to study it. My friends in this quilt group are so talented, I have a lot to learn. They are all so generous to share what they know.

I enjoyed looking at these pieces of art so much that I actually went twice to look at them. I am not sure though that I got a photo of all. And really, the photos don't show how stunning they all were.