Sunday, December 13, 2020

Christmas Quilts

 Decorating for holidays, any holiday, just isn't something that thrills me. It means I have to stop quilting, dig stuff out of deep closet storage, and rearrange my house. Then a few weeks later I have to reverse it all. I know, bah, humbug! Those who love to decorate in a big way just don't get it, and that's fine.

I dug out my Christmas quilts and will get them up in the next few days. That always makes the house look festive and if I don't put out any other decorations, I am fine with that.

Here are the quilts for your enjoyment.

1. The Stack: 



2. The Littles:


 3. The 12 Days of Christmas--I love this quilt and have made several as gifts over the years. Each 3" block has 1-12 pieces in it. The pattern is from Temecula Quilt Company and is still available free:


I even hand quilted it: 


4. The chair. An old Morris chair I took from my parents attic when I left home--it had been up there my whole life. It had old horsehair cushions that were scratchy. My husband refinished it in the early 1980's and I had new cushions made--they were mauve/pink, to go with the colors of the day. When a friend, Bonnie Spencer, came to help me decorate this new home years later, she suggested we cover the chair with a quilt, did I have anything that would work? You bet--this twin size quilt I made from blocks received in a swap was perfect. I had machine quilted it not so well but it covers the cushions and I think of Bonnie frequently because she knew just how to solve this problem. And at this time of year it looks like Christmas:


5. The Antique Ohio Star.  My best find ever! I got this at a Trade Day, like a Flea Market, some years ago. I loved it the instant I saw it and the price was incredibly low. I had it appraised--for 30 times what I paid for it. Hand quilted beautifully and with some of my favorite motifs, feathered heart wreaths and large cables, often seen on old Amish quilts. Upon closer inspection at home, I found two motifs quilted in two corners--a "W" and a dragonfly. This quilt was truly meant to be mine. My husband's last name begins with a W and I adore dragonflies and decorate with them frequently.  Enjoy:







The lighting is overdone here but you can see the entire quilt:


Funny/scary story about this quilt. When showing it to someone who knows nothing about quilts, she said, "Look at those spots. I would throw that right in the washer!"  My holler of "OH, NO!" startled her. As the green appears to be home dyed fabric, a few places of blue appear, washing this would likely ruin it. As is often said, if you ever get a notion to wash an antique quilt, lie down until the urge passes. I love it just the way it is, spots and all. If you were this old, you would have a few spots too.

When I do put up a small tree, it is covered with quilt-y ornaments, many gifts from friends over the years. And this quilt I designed and made in 1997, sets the mood. This quilt was featured on the cover of McCall's Quilting magazine, December 1997 issue, and the pattern is in that issue:


For my friends who decorate to the nines--have at it! I will enjoy your efforts from afar. As for me, I have quilts to make right now, and some cakes and cookies to bake. And grandchildren to love on. 

Happy holidays to you and yours, let's quilt.

Barbara

16 comments:

  1. What a fun tour of your Christmas quilts!! I have my Twelve Days of Christmas hung with love! I think of *you* every time I see it! I do have a few spots (or more), so I can certainly appreciate your quilt's charm. LOL! That chair is fantastic!

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    1. Glad you still enjoy it. Sure are fun to make those little blocks.

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  2. You have very lovely Christmas quilts. I also have a 12 days of Christmas quilt hanging in my home. Happy stitching!

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  3. gorgeous Christmas quilts. Makes me want to make one right away.

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    1. Those Lily blocks are so easy to make. All the open space was perfect for beautiful longarm quilting. I have gotten a lot of mileage from this quilt.

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  4. Beautiful antique Christmas quilts. Funny, I always loved to decorate for Christmas...but now...the energy for that is gone. I am really surprised at myself. One more symptom of age I guess...enjoy xo

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    1. I thought it was having sons—they could care less about holiday decorations. Now we go to our grandkids rather than them coming here so still no reason to go all out.

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  5. I too have no energy to decorate much, but then we live in an EV now, so my tree is a small quilted one. Plus I'm waiting till March before I get my hip replacement. I think that has put a damper on my enthusiasm for decorating or quilt making lately.

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    1. I have had both knees replaced. You will so much better with a new hip.

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  6. I love to decorate my home for Christmas, but I admit that with no kids around to help anymore it takes more out of me. I don't do everything like I used to. My Christmas Village hasn't been out for a few years, but as hubby is the one that loves it the most, I should probably have him help me put it up.
    Love seeing your Christmas quilts. The quilt I bought from you is among the ones decorating my home right now.

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    1. So glad you enjoy that quilt. I will put mine up today or tomorrow. Hubby said this morning, "no decorations up yet"--so I think he will help. Especially the one that requires the ladder.

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  7. Just catching up with your blog this AM - I LOVE the red and green star quilt!! I have some green fabric that’s been waiting for a few years for just the right project and I think this is it. I’m also a long time hand quilter and appreciate the hand quilting, but my tops are starting to pile up🙂. Thank you for sharing!

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  8. Love your antique Ohio Star and want to replicate...by next Christmas. Trying to reverse engineer the sizes of half squares and star blocks, so the half square triangles frame the diagonally-placed blocks "evenly" without having to resort the spacers, etc. Are there simple math equations? or perhaps you could take a tape measure to your quilt? Thank you for your knowledge and teaching skills!

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    1. I won't tell you the exact measurements--this quilt is hand pieced and nothing is exact here.
      There are 3 Tutorials here that will teach you all the math you need to know to replica most antique quilts: Simple Math for Quilters, Floater Borders to make pieced borders fit properly and Learn to Make a Quilt In 5 Easy Lessons.

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    2. That would be "replicate", of course.

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