Priscilla's Workshop

 Christmas decorating is always a production at our house and it doesn't matter where that house is. I don't go quite as crazy as I used to when I gave the swim team parties, but it's that time period when I amassed most of my Christmas stuff. But in this time of virus, we certainly aren't planning to host any gatherings even though we do still decorate for Christmas. 

One of my earliest home made decorations is one we still have and use. Family Circle magazine and Woman's Day magazine used to exist and they used to have all manner of tips and ideas. I learned to knit and quilt from those two magazines but I also made this angel from a pattern that had to be from about 1973 or 1974 because my middle son was tiny back then.

Now the angel wears a mask--Be An Angel and Wear a Mask--

The angel has faded dramatically over the years with the calicos becoming more and more fragile, but now we hang it inside rather than out so the sunlight is less direct. Plus that window has film to control UV light on it, one reason it looks a little strange when photographed. We chose to use film on the windows rather than any kind of curtain because they are oddly shaped and, though you can't tell from this photo, there are three in a close row so any curtain would obscure the nice window shape.

The other Christmas themed old friend is my Sawtooth Cat variation. It is still Sawtooth cats but, as I wrote previously, almost 100% of the fabrics in the quilt are Christmas themed. Even the nice sort of cocoa brown background is actually very small stars rather than checks or just plain. I liked that fabric so much that I got some in yellow, some in navy, and this one in brown. It's definitely not the best quality fabric in the world but most of my quilts never see the light of day so fading is less of an issue. Even where it hangs today for Christmas, only has one window, a small leaded and stained glass example, and doesn't even have lights on most of the time. It is in the space on the ground level of this old stable that used to be where the big doors that admitted the carriages were.

I don't know how long this building was a real working stable since it was built in 1901. Even if the original owner no longer kept carriages, he may have kept horses for riding or polo since this is that sort of community. The conversion to a house happened in 1979 so there were decades where it was still configured as a stable but what it was in fact remains a mystery.

 

 

In the foreground is my Christmas goose carousel animal. While I don't think it was supposed to be for Yuletide, the remaining paint is mostly red and green.