You would think that with a whole week to sew, that I would have gotten more done this week. Ah, but you know what they say about making plans! It started out fine with the entire day Monday cleaning up the sewing space, putting things away, gathering a box for donation, and clearing off the cutting table. Of course, things got hectic with an unplanned meeting, several fires that needed tending, and unexpected news. But, I did manage to get the elegant Christmas motifs sewn into a wall hanging. I started by trimming all the embroideries to a uniform size of 6-1/2 inches square.

Then I went to dig in my stash for a sashing fabric. This one was perfect! Elegant ornaments with shiny gold threads worked beautifully with the embroideries.

I wanted to take advantage of the print as much as possible. I cut a strip and positioned two of the embroideries to get the most complete ornaments in the strip as I could. The sashing will be 3-inches finished.

I did the same for the other two motifs, then sewed them together in sets of two. I put one vertical motif with one horizontal motif. I wanted the reindeer to be leaping toward the center of the piece.

I did the same thing to get the most complete ornaments on the right side sashings.

Placing the strips against the fabric left, I see I have a big of wiggle room here too. So I could cut strips for the horizontal sashes and move them right and left to get the most from the print.

I lined up the sashings and moved them around until the ornaments were distributed nicely.

I sewed the sashings to the embroidery strips, and went looking for another fabric for backing. In the very bottom of the box, I found another shiny gold fabric with green candles. It will do nicely!

Next was to load it on the longarm, and audition thread. I like the golden taupe the best. This is Glide thread, and I’ll put Bottom Line in the bobbin.

Looking nice. I am happy with the choice.

The quilting gives texture to the motifs without calling too much attention.

It really blends well with the sashing print, too.

About an hour later, the quilting was finished.

I looked through the stash again, but nothing worked as well with the sashing print as the backing print. Luckily I had enough to make the binding. I really would have preferred the ornament print, but I only have one strip left and it isn’t enough. Binding made, I test fit it, then sewed it onto the front. I pinned a bit to the back just to see how it will look. I’ll finish the handwork over the weekend.

Wednesday, I made several cards but they have all been mailed out and I forgot to take photos of them. I need to finish my Thanksgiving cards soon so those will be ready to hand out when I see my friends, or mail out for those out of state. They looked much like these.

I also made a bit of progress on a secret project for Worldwide Quilting Day 2027. I have the design in progress, and I began working with the challenge fabric. But, I can’t share any of that with you until March of next year. It will be the most ambitious art quilt I have ever attempted, and I am pretty excited about it. I had to do a bit of online shopping to find the perfect thing for a particular design feature, and I promise I’ll tell you all about it next March after the show.

What are you working on this week?

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