The Fabric of Christmas

A delightful Holiday film complete with the usual suspects, lights, cookies, snow, but that is why we watch them. I was drawn to this story because of the quilting aspect since I have done traditional quilting and Art quilting. I was surprised this movie had both.

The male lead is a rule following sexy fireman who finds safety violations in a community center where the lead female teaches traditional quilting.

The pair bond when he needs to make a quilt as a gift and turns to her for instruction. Together they help each other overcome obstacles in their own lives, creating a bond.

Scene stealers are his best friend and her two best friends, all good characters.

I was impressed with how much detail was put into the quilting story that was factual, including the inspiration and taking photos and the tools actually used. Someone really gets quilt makers and Art quilt makers. The only thing that was more improbable, was the pattern that he picked out for his first quilt. That would be a pattern for an advanced quilter. But the quilt itself was beautiful. A nice way to pay tribute to the art. Fun movie overall.

Ferelith Young puts a lot more substance into her acting here than what you'd expect, considering that this appears to be just one more Christmas romance movie where boy gets girl, or girl gets boy. In fact, without her, it definitely would be just another one to sit through, because that's what you do at this time of the year. However, she makes this movie.

The story is also a bit different. A creative quilt artist meets a fireman who is more concerned with the outdated fire extinguishers in the community center where she creates. Opposites can attract.

Although low-budget, I can find no fault with the expertise of everything else. I'd probably watch this one again next year.

There are two common premises stitched together here. Save the community center. Artist enters a work for a fellowship. The third thread is what brings the leads together and also gives some heart - brother needs to make a quilt for his sister's wedding. I can't say that I can think of many movies that follow that one.

Amy nearly ticked me off early because of course there had to be an early animosity between the leads. The way Amy reacted to the inspection report was childish and even irresponsible. But once Amy and Liam make the deal, that attitude disappears completely. This sudden change is not unusual in this type of movie.

The occasion for the setting is more about Lauren's wedding than Christmas, but Christmas is part of the wedding theme.

I have never seen either lead. I was impressed with the acting because it usually falls off with lesser known stars and Reel One Entertainment. I'm not saying it was the best of the year, but it was natural enough. There is some quiet chemistry between Ferelith Young and Harmon Walsh. Walsh's character is supposed to be a little stiff. The chemistry comes more in the support each character gives the other than in witty banter. I think that this support in several areas helped me stick with the story through the central section.

I am often rushing to get to the end by the time the conflict and climax come, but not this time. For one thing the sister's wedding gives the viewer a good moment, which was not unexpected. If you count that as a climax, you might say there are two. I liked the way everything was done from the wedding on.

BTW comment on make up. I wasn't impressed with Ferelith Young's makeup in some cases, especially the wedding. That is obviously a totally personal opinion.

The is your standard Hallmark-esque movie. The main actor and actress have a nice chemistry, but Ferelith Young needs to STOP with the lip smacking sound. In one scene she did it 5x in about 15-20 seconds. If someone was playing the drinking game, they'd be comatose by midway through the movie.

It makes me wonder if the director or any cast member has mentioned it to her before. Definitely something to work on.

As a child of a volunteer firefighter, Harmon Walsh's character of 'nitpicking' the safety hazards rang true and made me laugh as it was a nice nod to my own memories of my father warning us all against certain dangers people don't think about.

I have watched numerous romance movies from hallmark, reel and others. This was a pleasure to watch, thanks to the lead actress. She smiled a lot during the movie which is often done in romance movies, but in this case, it was nice to see her smile. If another person acted the role, this movie will be hard to watch. Making quilt is not as exciting as I thought it would be bu the leading actress made it fun to watch. I think she is under-rated and should be in more movies. The side story with the sister was a nice addition. The supporting actors were good also. The useless drama in such movies was toned down, which was nice. Highly recommend it as a clean, family oriented movie.