I should have achieved more today… this was done at 6.00 am this morning. But it's Christmas and there are a lot of extra curricular activities..

I began by quilting with smoke mono filament . I didn't like it. I changed threads and used a blending color cotton. I really just want to add texture and definition to the piece. It was one of the things I tried to do in the Rhino… I don't know if it was truly understood.

You can see that each leaf is a little different to the other. In some instances (particularly where the darker color is) I won't quilt, I want the darker shadow to recede into the back so to speak.

Surprisingly there was very little puckering on the quilt… but I decided to quilt the border almost as intensively as the centre part…. mainly for visual balance.

The studio table is full of Christmas "stuff" This is a rather large green metal tree laden with oranges… it's the centre piece for the Christmas table which is black, orange and green this year….

The fabric for the cloth, centrepiece and napkins came from Ikea as did the little patterned cones on the tree…

It is going to be deliciously hot Christmas day so it will be an outside affair. Lunch in the garden. The table setting reflecting our space rather than the traditional red, white and green. We are surrounded by trees and birds and garden…

This rose burst forth this evening.