Christmas Heirloom Tablecloth 2004 - 2019 Squares and their stories

Hello family and friends,

Let me tell you the story of my Christmas Heirloom Tablecloth.

I started stitching this in 2005 and my personal rules are that each square is to represent the previous Christmas and it is to be completed before the next Christmas.   I generally remember to start stitching this about November, and consequently there is always a great rush to have it finished.

I won this fabric on Ebay in 2004 and when it arrived, I was initially dismayed as I thought it was dark green background, not the black as it is.  I remember it came from the USA and cost a grand total of $15 including postage.  It is a Charles Craft aida and each black square is about 95 stitches square.  I trimmed and hemmed the fabric and decided it would be perfect for a Christmas Tablecloth, but rather than try to stitch it all at once, create it as the Heirloom it has become.  There are 24 squares to fill, and smaller panels to add annual stories as you will see.

2004 - Wreath

This was the first big Christmas I had hosted as wife and mother.  We were living in Dandenong and I hosted the Lunch.  I symbolised the whole family gathering by stitching a wreath.  (If I remember correctly, this was from a Charles Craft leaflet, so it fit perfectly)  360 colonial knots instead of beads for berries

My immediate family in the centre with me, Martin and our 2 boys - John and Harry.

• Around the outside in groups are: 
• my Mum and Dad - Harry & Nancy John.  They had travelled down from Dimboola to spend Christmas that year with us.
• My mother-in-law - Marian and sister-in-law, Jan.
• My brother-in-law and his family - John, Ann, Marisa & Dean

2005 - Lighthouse

I asked Harry to draw something to symbolise the beach, as we celebrated Christmas Day at Ocean Grove that year, at my brother-in-law's home.  Harry now complains that I should have made him draw straight lines, but I love this just the way it is.  

This is a Bacon Family Christmas, with myself & Martin, John & Harry at the top and Marian & Jan on one side and John, Ann, Marisa & Dean on the other.

2006 - Gingerbread House

  

2006 is symbolised by a Gingerbread house as we had moved into our own home in Pakenham that year.  It was a cream brick house, with a green roof and that Christmas Day was so unusually cold, there were reports of snow in the local hills.  I was fortunate to have a stitcher friend in the USA send me this chart and it was perfect!

As well as all the Bacons that day around the table, we also invited our friends Ian and Sue Spedding, so they have joined us on the cloth.

2007 - 3 Wise Men and a Star.

Sadly my mother passed away suddenly in August.   On Christmas Day itself, I had a really strong feeling not to travel to Ocean Grove on the day itself, so we had Lunch in Mordialloc with Marian and Jan, and on Boxing Day, travelled to Ocean Grove.  I couldn't find a cross-stitch chart that I liked, but saw a rubber stamp with what looked perfect.  So this is not cross-stitched, but more free-hand embroidered.  The three locations are represented and my Mum is represented as the Star of Bethlehem

2008 - Christmas Baubles

The three households who celebrated Christmas 2008 at Marian & Jan's house in Mordialloc are represented here by 3 baubles.  I truly cannot think of anything memorable for that year, except that these baubles were from a Donna Kooler design

2009 - Poor little Match Girl

I never wanted to ever go through another Christmas as that year.  Martin had been unemployed for a considerable portion of that year and funds were extremely tight.  We had had to list the house on the market on 15th December -the lit match symbolised hope for the future, and as it was, Martin started a new job on 15th Jan, which meant the house could come off the market.

I don't even note where we celebrated Christmas that year I see just now, but I think it would have been at Ocean Grove.  I searched and searched for a pattern for the poor little Match Girl and ended up finding a picture in a portfolio of somebody who drew for Disney.  I did email and ask permission to use his picture for private use, but never heard back.  I am sure now, that as I cannot get the startled look off the poor girl's face he is happy not to be linked to such a tragic design  -  lol

2010 - Father Christmas 

I used a Jill Oxton design for this Santa to represent a Christmas that my Dad spent with us.  Christmas Lunch was cheerful and at Pakenham (we managed to hang onto the house) This picture does not show very well, but there are 5 shades of grey/white in the beard.  It was such an intensive design that I took 3 years to stitch it - throwing my self-imposed regime into chaos.

At this time, we had two dogs, Bandit; a stocky blue-heeler and Milo; a very energetic mostly Kelpie who took himself off to his room anytime anybody knocked on the door, barking all the way.  Milo was also a tennis ball nut and would play fetch for as long as you could.  We had Pyro, a fluffy ginger cat, and Bobby, a yellow budgie who would sit on your hand if Pyro was nowhere around.

2011 - Holly

This year saw us driving to Ocean Grove for Christmas Night dinner, then driving back after midnight.  Once again, this was a Bacon Family event, but Martin was out of work again and relationships were strained.  I like this design, but not sure where I got it from.  I'm suspicious that it was another Charles Craft design.   We had spent Christmas Day Lunch with the Tottons, so they deserved their own panel that year.

2012 - Single Ornament

In May 2012 Martin celebrated his 50th Birthday and 3 days later, 2 weeks before our 25th Wedding Anniversary, I left the family home.  This, as you will believe, caused a great deal of upheaval.

John was 18 at the time and was working in Pakenham, he was also a fairly established Blues Guitarist in the local area.  He chose to stay with his father in Pakenham, while I moved to a unit in Frankston.  Harry, then 13 elected to continue his education at Koo Wee Rup and also chose to stay with his father, and visit me a couple of times a month.

For Christmas that year, I was invited to the Di Piazza's household to celebrate with my girlfriend Wendy and her family - it's all a bit off centre, but then so was I then.

2013 - Nutcracker Soldier

John joined the Army in 2013, and this was a perfect fit to symbolise that year.  I think also this was a Charles Craft design.  This was to be the last Christmas at Pakenham, as the house was once again, on the market.  It was a slightly stilted meal, as I had brought my new partner, Laz to celebrate with us all.

2014 - Pineapple

I had been given a pineapple for Christmas that year, and it featured as the table centrepiece. It was either stitch this or stitch silly string, as John drenched the little unit in Frankston with the goo. This was also the first time I had had a chance to spend any reasonable time with John's girlfriend Tori Golding.   I found a small chart and made it bigger, by the time I realised it was not centred properly, I was not prepared to unpick it.  Please notice, I had changed my surname after the divorce - I chose Blackburn, my mother's maiden name, to honour her and also retain my initials.

2015 - Festive lights

A quiet Christmas Eve, sitting together and enjoying the balmy weather under my little pergola and fairy lights in Frankston.  I had made red velvet chocolate balls and more food than I really needed again.  Tori and John had married the previous October - now THAT was a family gathering!  So 3 of the 5 at the table were Bacons.  The placement of this square is directly under the Nutcracker/Soldier.

2016 - Boxed up

I moved house in December 2016.  I moved 5 doors up the road from Wendy to be a supportive friend while she underwent treatment for cancer in 2017.  I still stayed in Frankston, just moved a couple of km away.  I left an increasingly crowded 2 bedroom unit and moved all my stuff into a 3 bedroom house - one with an extra rumpus room and all my stitching was moved into daily use room. (bliss - I can tell you - sheer bliss not having to pack up every day)  Christmas Day itself was fairly uneventful - I was sick with slight food poisoning from the dinner I cooked Christmas Eve, and Harry left early to make it to Ocean Grove for the Bacon celebrations.  So the single box symbolises all the stuff packed into boxes and moved and my fairly self-imposed solitary day.  I was much better Boxing Day and spent that cleaning up the unit we had just left!

2017 - Design to be decided

A tinge of sadness this year, as Dad passed away suddenly in June after a short illness aged 87.  His dedication panel is to the right of the Santa square and I found and chose a Trumpet to symbolise his life long love of  Music.  November was to have been his 80th consecutive Last Post as a bugler, but he fortunately had recorded this specially in case he didn't have the breath to blow.   As it turns out, this recording was played 11 November 2017 - so yes he DID make his 80th.  Those with a sharp eye, will note the bead to show the 'Maharishi's Ruby'

 2017 -Waifs and Strays

 This year, I invited all my family and their friends and their families to join me in my back yard on Christmas Eve.  My son John and his wife were visiting from Queensland, and my other son invited his friends and their parents to bring a plate.  My girlfriends and their families joined us.  Friends from work, some without their own large family group to celebrate on the day.    So this square has little decoration, but all the names present on the day.  The weather was fine and there was 23 people mingling and enjoying the sunshine.

2018 - Blueberry Pancakes

My new partner, Allan can cook.  In fact, the kitchen is his happy place, as the sewing room is mine.  My son Harry and my girlfriend Wendy came to breakfast on Christmas Day.  Allan cooked blueberry pancakes with strawberries and yoghurt.   It was a fun morning with sunshine and giggles.  Wendy moved an hour and a half drive away the following February, and I don't see her as regularly as I did when she lived 5 doors away!!!
After breakfast, Wendy went to lunch at her sisters and Harry and I joined Allan at his son's home for a blended family lunch.
I'm happy how the reindeer tie the two events together on this patch.   This year, 2019, we will again be having lunch with Chris and Cat, and the tablecloth will be on the table.  I have an inkling of the design for 2019, but of course, it won't be finalised until before December 2020....

2019 - Walking sticks or Candy Canes?

In September 2019 I underwent my first ever surgery – a total knee replacement.  I had been hobbling along for some 18 months previously with a stick, but now am walking stick free, although still a bit wonky at times.   So it made perfect sense to stitch many, many candy canes in all bright colours.  The names on the tablecloth are transitioning now more and more to the Anderson Family, rather than all the Bacons from 2004.  There are not many more squares left to decorate, but it is fun to look back at all the memories this brings each year.