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Hi everyone!

Happy Thursday! We hope everyone is having a great day, the weekend is almost here! Also to those who celebrate, we wish everyone a wonderful last day of Hanukkah. Here’s to celebrations all ’round! “He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. Maybe Christmas, he thought… doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps… means a little bit more” – The Grinch

Time for some holiday cheer on the blog! Today’s holiday question is: What is your favorite holiday ornament? For myself, I would say the angel ornament my mom got for me when I was starting high school to “replace” my “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament I had unfortunately broken when I was 5. Even though it’s not the original ornament, my angel still means so much to me and how much I truly adore my mommy! Let’s hear from our design studio team:

Shannen: My favorite ornament is from my first Christmas. It’s brass with beautiful Christmas themed engravings including the year I was born. As tradition, my 3 sisters & I make sure to hang our own each year to make the holiday season official

Valeria: My favourite Christmas ornament is this mega old plastic Santa that used to belong to my mom. It doesn’t match any of the other ornaments in the tree but we adore it and always make sure it’s there!

Marion: My Mum has a beautiful tradition around this time of year. Each Christmas, she buys someone the gift of a slender, sleepy Saint Nicholas from a wood carver who comes to a craft fair in Ottawa where she lives. Two years ago I was living in my own household for the first time – ie. not with roommates – and to celebrate, she gave me a sleepy St. Nick of my own. My Santa’s eyes are covered by two tufts of white hair and his nose is just a nub poking out from his mass of beard and moustache. He’s perfect and he makes me think of my wonderful, generous Mum.

Andra: The Christmas decorations that mean the most to me are a string of lights that are also little bells. I love them because the bell lights also sing Christmas songs. We’ve had them for 15 years and they still work perfectly!

Juan: I have a tradition in my house that I’ve had forever of having a nativity scene. And every night, when my 5 kids have gone to bed, my wife and I move the tiny figures of Mary and Joseph a little closer to the stable so that when my kids wake up in the morning, they can see that Mary and Joseph have traveled over night. On the night of the 24th, Mary and Joseph arrive at the stable and at midnight, baby Jesus appears in the manger. Over the course of the 12 days following Christmas, the three magi approach from three different directions, following a star. On the 12th day of Christmas, which is epiphany, they arrive at the stable and give gifts to the baby. The kids put some water and a bit of grass for the camels.

It’s Thankful Thursday on the blog, and today we are sharing with you an exceptionally special endeavor, Medi-Monsters. Medi-Monsters was started by Tonya Wilson and her son, Trace, as a joint venture to provide loving monsters to comfort children battling cancer or a life-threatening condition.

Tonya: There are approximately 46 children in the US diagnosed with some form of cancer every single school day. My son was one of those 46 on August 5, 2010. Thankfully he is now cancer free. Medi-monsters was developed to help alleviate some of those fears associated with treatment.

Going through any illness is a scary thing. I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult it would be for little kids, with the many doctor appointments and treatments, but Medi-Monsters tries to alleviate some of that fear with their cuddlers. As Tonya states, “this monster is guaranteed to gobble up all fears and scary stuff and is provided free of charge to a child”. They are sweet, soft, and the perfect friend. Such an incredible venture!

A couple of months ago, we donated some of our fabric to Medi-Monsters to help comfort more children, and it had been such a heart-warming experience. We want to thank Tonya and Trace, not only for introducing and welcoming us to Medi-Monsters, but for also being such amazing and selfless role models to us and everyone. Tonya and Trace – you are both superstars! :)

Click to see more!

Hi everyone!

Happy Wednesday! We hope everyone is having a fantastic day, we’re more than half-way through the work week. Today is National Cookie Day (yummers!)…so be sure to have a cookie (or dozen…) on us! “Sometimes seeing is believing. And sometimes the most real things in the world are those things we cannot see” – The Train Conductor, The Polar Express.

Time for our daily, holiday question! Today’s question is: What is your favorite holiday movie? :) I would have to say mine would be Miracle on 34th Street…such a classic and it’s always on the top of my Christmas movie “to watch” list. Here are our design studio team’s favorites:

Valeria: Love Actually

Andra: Meet Me in St. Louis 

Juan: Joyeux Noël

Marion: The Grinch (The Original Version)

Shannen: Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (1964 Version)

Today we are announcing the winner of our Star Trek fabric giveaway! A big thank you to everyone for participating and for sharing our giveaway. And a very special thank you to Star Trek for sharing about our giveaway on Twitter!! We had so much fun reading through all your comments…there were so, so many good ones – you all are honestly awesome! But, we could only choose one winner. Be sure to check next week’s Winsday for our next fabric giveaway (we host them every two weeks!).

Out of the many, many incredible answers…the winner is Toni Smith!

Congratulations!! Please email us your mailing information at info@camelotfabrics.com so we can send your fabulous Star Trek fabric to you! :) Be sure to take a look around the blog for lots of fun free patterns and DIY tutorials, announcements, events, new stuff, and more!

Happy Sewing!

We’ve got chevron and polka dot fleece in an array of stunning and vibrant colors!! Check them out! :)

Chevrons and dots are such fun prints, and now available in fleece…there are endless project possibilities!

Hi everyone!

Happy Tuesday! We hope everyone is doing super well on this third day of December. We’ve got something extra special planned for today’s post…we’re bringing up the holiday spirit notch even higher with our festive How To’s Day! Today we share with you our Christmas stocking tutorial!! “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” – Buddy, Elf movie.

We’ve also got another holiday question for you! Today’s question is: What is your favorite holiday song? Tell us in the comments below, we’d love to know (…so that we can also add it to our office Christmas playlist! ;))

As one who wears her first Christmas sweater as soon as socially acceptable, choosing one favorite holiday song is no easy feat. However, there are two that mean the most to me.  The first is The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole, it’s a classic and a wonderful reminiscence to me of the wonders of Christmas.  It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams reminds me of my Christmas mornings: those first couple of notes and I can’t help but smile…it reminds me of those magical moments. Now let’s see what the design studio’s favorite holidays songs are:

Shannen: I, again, have 2 favorites that I can’t choose between…First is ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’ by Brenda Lee because it was my grandmother’s favorite holiday song. The other would be ‘Santa Baby’ by Madonna because my 3 sisters & I would play this every day leading up to Christmas.

Valeria: Once Upon a December!! – Love that one! ♥

Marion: I’m torn – a big part of me adores Corinne Bailey Rae & Herbie Hancock’s take on River by Joni Mitchell. But at the end of December, my heart belongs to Bing Crosby singing White Christmas. 

Juan: Feliz Navidad and Little Drummer Boy!

Andra: Sarah McLachlan & Barenaked Ladies singing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings

Office Bonus: As a group, we would like to share with you Lady Gaga & Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s version of Baby, It’s Cold Outside. You’re welcome :)

Christmas stockings are a fun holiday tradition to make with your family, as it creates lots of wonderful and cherished memories. There is no written proof of how Christmas stockings came about, but they are now an added wonder to Christmas morning: running down the stairs at the crack of dawn to an abundance of glittering presents, eagerly awaiting for your parents to wake up, so you excitedly delve into your stocking…added, wonderful memories!

For the pictured stocking, we used Graphite Birds & Flowers and Graphite Roses from our Birds of a Feather by Allison Cole collection.

There is much nostalgia attached to this holiday tradition, but they also add such a beautiful and festive look to any holiday decor around the house, especially lined along the fireplace (the perfect spot for Santa to find!). With our simple Christmas stocking tutorial, you can now create your stockings in any fabric that you desire to match your decor. Now, let’s get sewing!!

Click more to see the full tutorial!

Camelot Fabrics introduces our fat quarter bundles with our pre-cut program!