explorations in modern quilting
December 25, 2019
December 17, 2019
Christmas Quilting
Did you do any sewing for the holidays?
Making Christmas quilts was definitely NOT on my radar for 2019. I made the drunkard's path quilt shown on the wall above several years ago as part of this QAL. There's not a bit of Christmas fabric in it.
Two years ago I designed this small wreath wall hanging as a gift to my readers. It's a free patternand is still available on the old Craftsy platform. You can find it here.
Note: If you are interested in a copy of this pattern leave me a comment.
Then, while visiting the Missouri Star Quilts last May, I found myself buying a handful of modern Christmas fabrics in small amounts. Here are a few of them and I'm happy to say I've used them up. Wish I had more of the little bird print though. It's so sweet.
I decided to make another simple Irish Chain quilt like these quilts quilts made earlier in the year for my SILs. It's a fast, easy project. With 6" blocks finishing at 42 x 54 the small size is just right for my lap.
It's my first quilt using minky for the backing and was quilted by Cara of Sew Colorado Quilting using a design called Wild Cherries. I thought it felt like berries and love how it looks. Even though the thread is green, it gets buried into the minky giving an embossed look. I washed it yesterday and now it's so soft!
After finishing this one, I was hooked on Christmas sewing. Foolishly thinking I had all the time in the world, I decided to make two more quilts. And maybe stockings. Maybe a tree skirt. Maybe fabric ornaments. The list goes on. Of course that lead to buying even more Christmas fabrics online and down the rabbit hole I went. Big time!
Did I mention foolish in the previous paragraph. Ha! I only managed to finish one of those two quilts and none of the other things. Maybe next year. I certainly have all the fabric I need now to make the above mentioned projects and more.
My finish was this scrappy, mostly 16-patch, wonky star quilt for my daughter. I love it!
The original idea was to alternate red and green 16-patch star blocks in a 5 x 5 layout. Then I decided I didn't want stars in every block. Then I decided I wanted a few bigger stars so I made four 9-patch blocks with bigger wonky stars. Then I threw in a couple of 4-patch blocks to alter the scale even more. Finally, I decided I didn't want a square quilt so I added a row at the top and bottom using the same size squares as the 4-patch. I love letting a quilt evolve into something a little different from where it started. It finished at 50 x 60 so a large lap size.
The prints are so fun. I mixed the new fabrics with many from my stash. Some are really old Christmas prints and some are just stash prints like dots and stripes. Little deer, bears, rabbits, owls and birds make appearances here and there.
I'm especially fond of all the little deer . . . aren't they cute?
It's backed with the same red minky as the Irish Chain quilt and quilted by Cara with a pattern called Star Struck which was perfect for the star theme.
So two new Christmas quilts this year makes me happy. I think they look great mixed in with the other holiday quilts. Here's a few of my older quilts that make an appearance during the Christmas season. I think of this green, triangle quilt as a winter quilt but it fits right in for Christmas too. I blogged about it here.
This applique still life is very traditional but I love it!
And this little paper pieced cardinal. It was a struggle to make at the time but always reminds me of my Mom. Cardinals often visited her bird feeders throughout the year. We don't have them here in Colorado and I sure miss seeing them.
Thanks for reading along with my sporadic blog posts this year.
For a little more holiday cheer, check out my all red Instagram posts here.
Hope you have the most Merry Christmas ever!
Cheers!
Linking up with Wendy's Peacock Party for the end of 2020.
Also with Cynthia and Oh Scrap.
Follow
Making Christmas quilts was definitely NOT on my radar for 2019. I made the drunkard's path quilt shown on the wall above several years ago as part of this QAL. There's not a bit of Christmas fabric in it.
Two years ago I designed this small wreath wall hanging as a gift to my readers. It's a free pattern
Note: If you are interested in a copy of this pattern leave me a comment.
Then, while visiting the Missouri Star Quilts last May, I found myself buying a handful of modern Christmas fabrics in small amounts. Here are a few of them and I'm happy to say I've used them up. Wish I had more of the little bird print though. It's so sweet.
I decided to make another simple Irish Chain quilt like these quilts quilts made earlier in the year for my SILs. It's a fast, easy project. With 6" blocks finishing at 42 x 54 the small size is just right for my lap.
It's my first quilt using minky for the backing and was quilted by Cara of Sew Colorado Quilting using a design called Wild Cherries. I thought it felt like berries and love how it looks. Even though the thread is green, it gets buried into the minky giving an embossed look. I washed it yesterday and now it's so soft!
After finishing this one, I was hooked on Christmas sewing. Foolishly thinking I had all the time in the world, I decided to make two more quilts. And maybe stockings. Maybe a tree skirt. Maybe fabric ornaments. The list goes on. Of course that lead to buying even more Christmas fabrics online and down the rabbit hole I went. Big time!
Did I mention foolish in the previous paragraph. Ha! I only managed to finish one of those two quilts and none of the other things. Maybe next year. I certainly have all the fabric I need now to make the above mentioned projects and more.
My finish was this scrappy, mostly 16-patch, wonky star quilt for my daughter. I love it!
The original idea was to alternate red and green 16-patch star blocks in a 5 x 5 layout. Then I decided I didn't want stars in every block. Then I decided I wanted a few bigger stars so I made four 9-patch blocks with bigger wonky stars. Then I threw in a couple of 4-patch blocks to alter the scale even more. Finally, I decided I didn't want a square quilt so I added a row at the top and bottom using the same size squares as the 4-patch. I love letting a quilt evolve into something a little different from where it started. It finished at 50 x 60 so a large lap size.
The prints are so fun. I mixed the new fabrics with many from my stash. Some are really old Christmas prints and some are just stash prints like dots and stripes. Little deer, bears, rabbits, owls and birds make appearances here and there.
I'm especially fond of all the little deer . . . aren't they cute?
It's backed with the same red minky as the Irish Chain quilt and quilted by Cara with a pattern called Star Struck which was perfect for the star theme.
So two new Christmas quilts this year makes me happy. I think they look great mixed in with the other holiday quilts. Here's a few of my older quilts that make an appearance during the Christmas season. I think of this green, triangle quilt as a winter quilt but it fits right in for Christmas too. I blogged about it here.
This applique still life is very traditional but I love it!
And this little paper pieced cardinal. It was a struggle to make at the time but always reminds me of my Mom. Cardinals often visited her bird feeders throughout the year. We don't have them here in Colorado and I sure miss seeing them.
Thanks for reading along with my sporadic blog posts this year.
For a little more holiday cheer, check out my all red Instagram posts here.
Hope you have the most Merry Christmas ever!
Cheers!
Linking up with Wendy's Peacock Party for the end of 2020.
Also with Cynthia and Oh Scrap.
Follow
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)