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The blocks on the Christmas cracker quilt are background quilted and joined together; the binding is sewn on and in need of hand sewing down onto the back and the crackers need hand
quilting. Guess what I will be doing when the frantic part of Christmas is behind me.

All I wish for you at Christmas time is the warmth of family,
the joy of friends and the message of the Christmas season.

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This week I have been up to the Southern Lake district again, to Barrow-in-Furness, to take Christmas presents and seasonal cheer to my mother, my sister Gwyneth, my brother Owen and my school friend Janet. I do enjoy returning to where I was born and brought up because of the memories of the happy childhood I had there and because I enjoy the sense of familiarity and belonging. The road to Barrow has been described as a 40-mile cul-de-sac; once you turn off the M6 and reach Barrow there is nowhere else to go! My mother is doing very well now and as my friend said’ ‘You can’t knock her down with a stick!’ I travelled home through blizzards and wintery showers and was glad when I walked back into our patchwork-clad home. Even the cat has a quilt on her rocking chair!

Rocking chair

There are only 6 pockets left to open on my heart advent calendar (24) and 7 more sleeps before it is Christmas day! I get so excited even though we do much the same thing each year. But I do wonder sometimes what all the media fuss is about. A Christmas dinner is really just an elaborate roast dinner and I cook what I have traditionally cooked since having our first home, despite strenuous efforts from the plethora of celebrity chefs. If I omit anything or make things differently, there are usually mutterings! Sprouts are a must, just so our daughter Tessa can have a token one on her plate (it’s written in family folklore!). I don’t like mince pies, Christmas cake or Christmas pudding but we’ve got to have them all the same (t’is writ!). It takes Roger ages to plough his way through them in January.

Advent calendar

Here’s the sideboard with its runner, wreath and decorations. This piece of furniture is an important focus of family life where special photos are displayed so I like to dress it along with the rest of the room.

Sideboard

CHRISTMAS CRACKER QUILT

I have decided to make a small 9-block lap quilt, using a Christmas cracker pattern that I designed years ago when I was teaching. I know that it is the ‘eleventh hour’ but if I can get it constructed and layered up ready for quilting, I will be able to drape it somewhere for visual pleasure and quilt it when I am relaxing. Here’s the block and this is how it is constructed. It finishes as a 12” block, but it is 12 ½” at this stage.

Christmas Cracker

You will need a cracker fabric and a background fabric.

From the back ground cut the following shapes:

2 squares at 6 ½”

4 rectangles at 2” x 3 ½”

2 squares at 2 3/8”

1 square at 3 7/8”

From the cracker fabric cut the following shapes:

2 squares at 3 ½”

4 squares at 2”

2 squares at 2 3/8”

1 square at 3 7/8”

2 squares at 3 3/8”

Method:

1 To construct a square made up of 2 triangles, place a background square on top of a cracker square. Mark across the diagonal and sew an accurate ¼” both sides of the marked diagonal. Cut on the diagonal and press. Do this with both the 2 3/8” squares and the 3 7/8” square.

Triangles

2 Lay the pieces out for half the block as shown below. Join the smaller pieces together to make 3 ½” squares.

3 Join the 3 ½” squares together to make 6 ½” squares.

4 Place the 3 3/8” cracker square on the corner of the 6 ½” background square, RS together. Sew across the diagonal and press the RS over to create a triangle (trimming optional).

5 Place the squares back in sequence and join them together to complete the cracker block.

I’m not sure how I am going to set them at this stage but intend to make 9 blocks. We’ll see what happens!

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I can hear my husband dragging stuff across the floor of the loft over head and soon I will be summoned to help him get the Christmas boxes down the loft ladder. It’s time to start dressing the house in its seasonal livery and this can take us a while over the next few days, mainly because I don’t like to rush the process and want to savour the experience. Christmas will always be red and green to me so all the quilts and quilted items I have made over the years are always going to be part of our Christmas. Everything was methodically labelled and carefully packed away last January so that we would know where to find everything when the time came … and it’s here.

Preparation

Rog has passed the hoovering course with an A star and he starts by removing the cobwebs and dust from the rafters and fireplace. The boxes are down from the loft and, although I know what to expect when I open them, there is always an air of excited anticipation; I’m still a kid at heart really!

Storage boxes

We started with the lounge tree and waited for our grand daughter to arrive and help us dress it. She was fascinated with sorting out and handing me the individual decorations for about 20 minutes and then started to toss them rather too energetically at me! We got there in the end and she was asked to perform the official ceremony of switching on the lights, which she did with real panache!

Lounge tree

My fabric fairy, clutching several tiny rolls of fabric, goes at the top of the tree but below is a picture of my wicked fairy, made by a chum. She smiles manically, has a squeaky middle and sports a thong amongst other things! It makes me laugh every Christmas.

Fairy’nuff

A Weaver Fever quilt graces the kitchen table.

Table quilt

A circular cloth adorns the coffee table.

Circular quilt

And Turkey Lurkey oversees the whole of Christmas season from a high window sill!

Turkey Lurkey

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It’s that time of year again when our thoughts start to focus on Christmas. Family policy is that we don’t/won’t think about it until December 1^st, despite the persistent renderings of ‘It’ll be a blue, blue Christmas without you’ which have been miserably piped in stores since October.

I love Christmas and really enjoy every tinselly-bit of the preparation. Cards and electronic greetings go out during the first week in December and present ideas are requested from family members. 3 years ago, we started to limit our costs to £25:00 each, at our daughters’ suggestion, when they both moved house in the same year and increased their mortgages accordingly. It makes you much more imaginative about what you buy and where you buy it, and it helps to foster the real spirit of a family Christmas, one that’s measured in fun and togetherness rather than financial outlay.

We looked after our granddaughter for the day yesterday whilst her parents started their shopping so it seemed a good idea to get her to start the proceedings by dressing my patchwork tree. We survived!! Christmas will always be red and green to us so the same decorations come out each year.

Patchwork decorations

She enjoyed getting each decoration out of the box, studying it and then placing it on the tree. At 2, she could only reach the lower branches so Grammy ‘was allowed’ to help her reach the higher branches and to place the fairy at the top of the tree. No lights yet, I think it is a bit early for that. All the decorations are steeped in memories for me: teaching samples, techniques demonstrated, gifts from special people (‘I saw this and thought of you’) and reminders of places visited. By dressing the house gradually, I hope to establish our family patchwork traditions happily in Ella’s early memories. I know her Mum is making decorations with her and starting their own special festive traditions as a family, with of course the regular reminders of being good for Father Christmas .. (And I can remember what she was like as a child!!)

I was shown recently how to make a new folded patchwork decoration at the Nercwys Craft Group and this is what I am going to demonstrate this time. I can’t acknowledge the originator as it’s one of these demonstrations that has been passed down the patchwork line. I have made it in paper in advance of doing it with fabric.

Demonstration of a Folded Christmas Decoration

1 Draw a circle with a 4” radius. Use the same compass setting to divide the circle’s edge into 6 equal portions. Draw in the hexagon and the lines across the centre.

2 Fold each straight edge, in turn, to the centre line and crease with your nail (I have marked them with a broken line.

Stage 1 Stage 2

3 Fold in 2 adjacent edges so that they make a point.

4 Press down on the point to flatten it centrally over the 2 adjacent sides. Crease well. Repeat 6 times around the shape.

Stage 3 Stage 4

5 Fold all the sides towards the centre so that they from a 6 pointed star.

6 Fold the over-lapping edge underneath to form each shape into a diamond.

Stage 5 Stage 6

7 And this is what it should look like! If you haven’t lost the will to live, try it in Christmas fabric. I would suggest that you starch your fabric first so that it is easier to fold and crease. Enjoy!

Stage 7