Father Christm-akah

I jumped in the November sew-along 

sleigh with the gang at 

Sweet Pea Embroidery Designs 

after IQF to create my version of 

“Father Christmas”… 

and ofcourse,  

he’s got a bit of Hanukkah spirit! 

I really worked my Bernina 880

and my patience on this one! 

I used everything from cottons 

to pleather 

to velvet 

to fuzzy fleece. 

I used cellophane, 

glow in the dark threads, 

& ribbon.

OH- and Did I mention:

I destroyed SEVERAL NEEDLES.

Wasted an abundance of thread,

destroyed fabric,

and TESTED MY PATIENCE!!! 

I am VERY proud to be finished… 

this was hands down 

THE MOST 

stitch intensive- detailed 

demanding design 

I have ever endured! 

Merry Christmas Ya’ll! 

#sweetpeadesigns #sweetpeamachineembroiderydesigns #bernina880

Things started OK... 

and I went the traditional reds 

path until I popped first needle... 

first hooping

A few more hoopings in,

& my patience was tested fully-

as my needle experienced hell!

So I called it a day 

and would return the next- 

Beginning

ALL

OVER 

AGAIN...

(Except the boots, they were still usable)

Red was no longer an option-

 since I had destroyed too much

 in my stash to now complete

 project as planned.

This time I would start with face... 

while still figuring out plan for body.

This would take 

ALL DAY...

Next day, I worked on his hat

turns out this would also be an ALL DAYer

I used velvet, so it would mean, 

re covering with tearaway 

after embroidery each time!

And next day his arms...

next day more on that beard.

By now I concluded It would be a 

3-6 hour block per day!

And it appears as my stress level grew... 

I stopped taking pics of construction!

Somehow, lantern ended up 

trickiest block of all!

Finally... Santa was taking shape!

Next day, I sewed him together-

added a backing...

Hanging sleeves...

Completion meant

sewing my Santa project "face to face"

& then flipping it out 

creating a clean border 

and later hand stitching seam closed .

I had to press very carefully from back 

with a topper to protect the velvets!

A few closeups:

And in the dark:

And here it is on display in living room

 making its 2022 Holiday debut!

International Quilt Festival 2022

My return to Houston for the 

International Quilt Festival 

was a marker for me! 

I made all my own plans, 

traveled, and stayed alone at hotel. 

Nothing that I would have thought

of as a particularly big deal years back--- 

but this is now. 

And I was very proud to finally 

have the confidence 

to have taken this on. 

Sneak peak night welcomed 

the packed crowds with a trio.

As we stood on line for entry 

the anticipation built... 

as did the crowd.

But I had a gameplan!

Shop til I dropped!

(I'd do the show after class the next day!)

After class on Thurs I explored the show. 

This year the festival occupied only 

a part of the convention center... 

and a food court took over 

a full section on the first floor! 

This was very different from 

years past when vendors occupied 

every open space and 

quilts were hung multitiered.

Here are a few of my favs:

This won best of show:

I loved this display of dresses: I took 4 classes and attended 1 gathering for English Paper Piecers. Michele Crawford Brimfield Block Nosegay Quilt with Pat Yamin Scrappy Sweetheart class with Carmen Geddes But my fav of the classes was FACES. It was also the most complicated because she spoke NO ENGLISH and needed an additional translator for her translator! Anywho, I finally had a good class on eyeballs! Face taught by Marina Landi and here is how far I got by the end of class (no lunch break!) beside the sample... Alas, Saturday's class would be my final moments of calm. I decided to eat dinner in the restaurant and go lock myself in the room early since the World Series was being played a few blocks away and things had been growing more active throughout the day. That night the Houston Astros won the sixth game and took the World Series... and Houston decided no one in my hotel deserved sleep. (or so it seemed!)

IMPORTANT NOTICE! QUILT FESTIVAL CLOSING EARLIER! The final day of International Quilt Festival Houston will close at 2PM today instead of the previously stated 4PM. According to the Mayor’s Office, more than 1 million people are expected toarrive in downtown Houston on Monday morning for the Houston Astros World Series Parade. Many are expected to arrive on Sunday in order to secure spots along the parade route. There is also a party at Minute Maid Park today. We want to make sure that our exhibitors, attendees, and staff have sufficient time to depart and all of our display quilts are securely taken down, packed, and shipped before local traffic becomes severely congested and significant downtown road closures go into effect. We hope that you will understand Quilt Festival making this decision for the benefit of all in an unprecedented situation. And we are proud of our Houston Astros! My flight had already been delayed 6 hours... DH changed his plans and picked me up to helped me escape Houston before the total shutdown. Until next time...