Goose

We had goose last year - I hope you enjoy yours as much as we did ours.

It's the end of our great day here - it's nearly midnight.

This year we had beef, cooked by Greg-the-chef as part of our eight-course meal. It was a pig-out, to say the least, and just like last year it took seven hours. We reeled home not knowing quite what to do with ourselves...

The DH got me Black in Fashion (V&A publication) and fabrics from Ah! Kimono, which are really beautiful. I got him a photography book and fabric with pin-up girls on to make an Hawaiian shirt. I hope to get started on that over the holiday.

I finally got my friend's posh bathmat finished this morning (cutting it a tad fine!) and she was thrilled with it. I went for faux chenille in the end, cutting all the strips with scissors (yes, I will now be buying a cutter, as I have a blister on one finger). It was a bl--dy nightmare. Six layers of linen, plus one of quilting cotton for the faux chenille, a black towelling backing, and pale grey velvet edging. Even on the longest stitch, the machine could hardly cope with the thickness along the edge (11 layers of fabric by this time) and it came out a bit wobbly. But it's very luxurious at least - it got the dog's seal of approval straight away.

If you want to see it, it's on

Happy holidays to everyone.

:) Trish

Wow! That is posh! The way you pieced it, it's almost like a quilt, and gives it so much more texture. Very inspiring!

What a great piece that mat is. I'm sitting here with my mouth hanging open and drooling. It's a piece of art. How did you get the desisgn in it? It looks like it has waves in the strips. Is that a print pattern in the fabric? Scarlett looks like she's ready to make it her own. JJ

Why, thank you ladies. I'm glad you like it.

It's not actually pieced - I cut it on both of the directions of the bias, to create a bit of interest and stop it from looking too linear.

The waves appear when you wash it, because each layer of fabric shrinks at a slightly different rate, so it puckers up. These were all recycled fabrics that had been washed before, so the shrinkage was minor, but if you do it with new, unwashed fabrics, it puckers even more.

The last layer is a print cotton with red and gold in it, from Hawaiian Fabrics and all the others are plain linens, white alternating with blue. Because you can see the last layer when the strips are separated, it works well to have a print on that level.

And yes, Scarlet is a real poser, so the minute the camera came out, she plonked herself on the rug as an accessory ;) Her favourite present this year was make-up, so by 1.00pm she had pink eyes, blue lips and little stars all over her arms - a very individual look...

Hope everyone had a good day.

:) Trish

No wonder, with all those layers! It really did turn out well, though.

Better watch out, Trish--you may end up finding yourself in the bathmat manufacturing business!!

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati