Christmas in August

Every year I find myself working on Christmas ideas and designs at the wrong time of the year (summer) so the Christmas products or articles can come out at the right time of the year (winter). When I design Christmas collections, like ornaments and cards, I usually work on them with my air conditioner going, drinking iced tea and eating ice cream.

I seem to have a following down under and last summer I was contacted by the Australian crafting magazine, Homespun. I was contacted by a lovely woman, Catherine Sanchez, who is the editor at the magazine. Turns out the magazine wanted to do a profile on me for the 2010 Christmas issue. Of course, I was thrilled to be asked.....could I do a fabric wall hanging of Christmas houses and trees......sure right up my alley. Since this was going to be a quilting stitchery project all of the pieces of the artwork needed to be fabric rather than the combo paper/fabric artwork I normally do. Just like all quilters and fabric artists....I hesitate to call us hoarders..... I have fat quarters and fat quarters of red and green fabric just right for Christmas projects. But just because I have plenty of fabric already does not mean I do not need to go to fabric stores in search of more.....after all I have to have half yards for the backgrounds and borders...and while I am there let’s see what else they have. I have never returned from a fabric store spending less than $20. And luckily fabric stores stock the Christmas fabrics in June.

For the last three years I have been doing Christmas projects for the Better Home and Gardens publication Holiday Crafts. I work for a delightful editor there, Ann Blevins. She asks me each year to submit some ideas for projects and then we pick the one or ones I will do for the magazine. Of course Ann also calls in summer and we usually have to work around our vacations.

I really love working on these projects...Christmas is my favorite holiday...who cannot love a holiday with so many trinkets and do-dads to buy and put in your house? In case all of you are wondering...yes I do have a lot of Christmas stuff...and how many boxes of it do I have...at least 25.

The hardest part of doing these projects is writing the instructions. It is so hard to put into words how you do something in a way so others can understand. It takes me days to write these instructions...Gary usually likes to leave the house on the days I write the instructions.....too much cursing and sighing. Luckily the magazines have fabulous editors to clean up and correct my copy.

So enjoy the pics...you can get the BHG Holiday Craft magazine at most book or craft stores. Homespun magazine is only found in Australia.

By the way, on my last post Anna, my daughter, felt I still needed more editing.