Merry Christmas

 We are all ready here for christmas.....tomorrow it will begin properly and i am looking forward to it.....my lists are ticked off.....hope i haven't forgotten anything ;)..............i made this little red bird when i should really have been doing other jobs, but it didn't take long to sew.......

 ..........i bought the little holly heart at our local flower shop and thought a birdie in it would be perfect..........this birdie pattern is the same as the long string of birds i made ealier this year.....i had many enquiries about the pattern and now i am glad to say it is available, in the new (january) issue of crafts beautiful, as part of a cross stitch and fabric birdie project............after i made the string of birds, inspired by an old one i had years ago, i decided to stitch a beaded cross stitch string of birds.......

 .............you can find crafts beautiful online here, and download patterns and charts........

 ...........my daughter sarah brought us some delicious homemade mince pies with starry tops and a white starry dish to put them in :)............i gave her some of my peppermint bark...........i made some little book page wrapped tree presents, embellished with decoupage flowers, rubber stamped tags and red and white baker's twine..............

 ................the festive little deer pillow is on the sofa now, the pattern is in here............

 ...........so is the little deer hanging ornament...........i finished my alpine scarf just in time......

..............i added a picot edge which i think finishes it off nicely........my small blanket made for a present is now done too (quite a task) and wrapped up under the tree, pictures after christmas :).... now i am trying to find a moment or several to begin a new ripple blanket.....but i need to concentrate on that all important first row so this may not be the best time to begin........

 ..........i have been sewing just a little with my beautiful pam kitty picnic fabrics.......beginning a picnic blanket :)..........here are the first two blocks for it..........below is the next one ready to assemble....i am english paper piecing these which means i can be sewing them over christmas.....just a bit of snipping and lots of quiet hand sewing..........perfect............

 .............the good news this week is that the pam kitty picnic fabrics are now available online in the uk from sew and quilt here :D.............the birdie below was the first thing i made with this collection.......i love the happy colours and the mix of patterns like recipe prints, gorgeous florals, dots and spots, stripes and novelty prints which all work so well together...........more soon.......

...............i am looking forward to the family gathering beginning tomorrow, and am about to start some cooking...........outside it is wild, wet and windy, but indoors it is warm and calm and bright.....

.............thank you for visiting me here in my bit of blogland, lovely readers, both now and throughout  the year, and thank you to those of you who leave such sweet comments too .........i send you all my warmest wishes for a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.............back soon xxxxooooooxxx