nurturing hope, creativity, family
I haven’t felt the desire to decorate as much this year as I often do, but the cheery Christmas touches here and there still bring a smile to my face. Not much more to say about it… this post is 98% eye candy. Enjoy!
Merry Christmas!
Jennifer shared here
The tenth stocking is finished. It was one of those projects that took only an hour or two to finish, but three years to start! So silly of me.
Years ago when I started making stockings for my children, I knew we wanted to have a large family. I also knew I wanted stockings that would somewhat coordinate and I needed something I could add to over the years. I settled on plaids. Each stocking is made with a different Christmas plaid, and I simply tucked away the fabric for the toe, heel and name across the top.
And so all ten of them are finished, after some very persuasive, loud and insistent demands from the little girl whose stocking didn’t match.
Now she is happy.
HH
In addition to my Scrappy Swoon quilt , the Vintage Holiday quilt , and my Chevron Christmas pillow , I also made a Christmas quilt for my mom. It’s a Christmas take on the Turquoise Star quilt I made this year along with the Made in Cherry Quilt along.
Once again, I made the 60 inch square size quilt. The squares are 3 1/2 inches unfinished and I had fun cutting into Christmas fabric I’ve had for years to make this quilt. My mom likes traditional Christmas colors and I hope she loves it as much as I loved making it for her.
For the backing I used a large piece of fabric I had which coordinates with most of the fabrics in the quilt. If I remember correctly it’s an April Cornell collection from years ago. I added a red floral and a green floral to complete it.
The stripe is a pretty holly pattern which I’ve always liked.
For a binding I opted for a low volume fabric, one that adds a hint of color while mostly blending with the cream background of the quilt.
And so it’s done. A bright, crisp, traditional yet modern Christmas quilt.
It went home with my Mom on a plane last week to be part of the holiday festivities where I grew up. I hope very much that it contributes to a feeling of warmth and love there in the next few weeks. Much as I’m happy to be in my own house with my own large family for the holidays, there is always a brief wave of homesickness that washes over me when I think of who’s gathered there, a wish to join them, to somehow be in both places at once, a longing for those safe happy Christmases of my childhood where the days and hours flowed perfectly because I was a child and my Mom was hard at work. I miss it and I long for it, and then I look around and realize I’m still living it, just on the other end, the giving end, and that it’s part of life’s great circle for me to be where I am. And I wasn’t making quilts then, either. I’m not sure I could give that up.:)
Isn’t it wonderful the memories we can wrap ourselves in while warm quilts warm our toes?
Merry Christmas!
Jennifer