I really can't remember what I was searching for but one day I found this rodeo Santa fabric on Ebay. Of course I had to have it! Soon I was prowling the internet for more fun, modern Christmas fabrics to make a festive quilt.



This is one of the most common layouts for a quilt but I felt a little bit of pride in figuring out all the measurements and how I would sew it together. Learning new words as I went along like "sashing" and "cornerstones". I especially love my "piano key" border.

The Michael Miller dots really bring the quilt together and make it quite sparkly.




I had some of the Mexican skull fabric that I couldn't help putting in. They're not Christmassy but they give it a twist in a festive way.



When I made this quilt we were living in a one bedroom apartment with no design wall, just the good old floor. Laying out a quilt would take up the whole living room area. I saved it to make one weekend when GBF was away mountain bike racing at a place called Capertee. I'd precut my fabrics and as soon as the door closed I took over the apartment and started sewing. I managed to get the top finished before he returned. I named the quilt Christmas Capers as a reminder of that weekend.


I used the Turning Twenty pattern to use up the leftovers and some fabrics that hadn't made it to the front. In particular I added blue tones on the back.

I bundled this off to Maxine Sandry to get longarm quilted. I got it back for Christmas 2008. As I mentioned earlier we lived in an apartment with not much room for a Christmas tree so this quilt added its festive buzz to our humble abode.

The only catch is I had it made with wool batting which is really too hot for the Australian summery Christmas. But perfect for Christmas in July!!!!!
And a good excuse to make a lighter weight Christmas quilt with the 12 Joys of Christmas fabric by Sheri Berry that I've just ordered.

A funny thing... We ended up going to a Rodeo those Christmas holidays!! Looking at that bull riding Santa prompted an online search for nearby cowboy action and luck was on our side and there was one about an hour north of Sydney in West Wyalong. There were no Santas but it was a fun experience. It's amazing what fabric will make you do!

Cheerio