“This year I'll be giving a handmade present to people who are having a tougher time than most”
With winter fast approaching, it seems like Christmas will be here before we know it. I must admit, I feel incredibly prepared – Christmas 2023 is already in the bag as far as my fabric designs are concerned. If only everything else in my life was so organised! Christmas is so often seen as a mid-winter holiday, although it commences just as winter is getting started. My fabric range, Cross Stitch Christmas, is currently in stores, and it’s finding its way into oodles of seasonal projects. I love it when fabric does half the work for me; now that I design my own ranges, I can make them exactly the way I want. I adore everything about cross stitch, from its aesthetic to its relaxing properties. I’ve also designed the material with ready-made and obvious ‘quilting lines’, which include zig zags and cross-hatched designs. This means you can layer your fabrics and get straight on with the quilting; no marking required. It’s little things like this that can really speed up a spot of festive crafting. There’s no doubt about it – homemade gifts never fail to make my Christmases special. This year, I really want to give a handmade present to people who are having a tougher time than most. I’m letting my friends and family know that there will be no gifts or cards this year. Instead, I’ll be spending all my time and efforts making presents for charity. With rising fuel and food costs, it seems more important than ever to utilise the skills and supplies we already have and show that we care without breaking the bank.
The first thing on my agenda is to use my huge pile of fabric scraps for a spot of quilting. I’m going to make a pair of throws to gift to a charity called Siblings Together. They run summer camps to reunite siblings who have been separated, often whilst in the care system. Each participant takes home a quilt to snuggle up to and remember special moments. I have scraps from past projects that would be perfect... I’m going to make single-bed-sized, non-identical ‘twin’ quilts, using the classic half square triangle unit. If I use the ‘two-for-one method’, I’ll end up with two sets of identical units, which I can then piece together to make quilts. They’ll have all the same elements, whilst looking extremely different. Any quilt block or unit with a strong diagonal design will lend itself beautif
