Hopeful Homemaker

All of a sudden it’s mid-December and the Christmas season is in full swing.  My lists of “need to do” and “want to do” things are still long, but I’m trying to pause a little here and there to enjoy it.  As I looked for fabric scraps to coordinate with my Whimsy Lone Star blocks, I came across this Christmas tree block made from curves.  I decided on the spot to make it into something useful.  Now it’s a new curved Christmas tree pillow.

I remember making this block one year as part of an online curves workshop.  Honestly, I thought I’d posted about it way back when so I didn’t bother taking a picture before I got started.  I used all solids on a shimmery gold background.

I quilted my block with loops in a gold thread.  It reminds me of strings of lights and feels appropriate for a tree block.

After I quilted the block, I decided to make a pillow.  This Grinch fabric was a great match for the solids in the block.  I think the mid-century style of the tree also lends itself to a Dr. Seuss style.  Double the reasons to use Grinch fabric!  Once upon a time I always used zippers for my pillow covers.  Now my grown up children often start pillow fights and I always feel bad when someone gets hit with the zipper.  So I usually make an envelope closure, which is what I did here.

I bound the block with more of the Grinch fabric.

We have a stuffed Grinch and a stuffed Max that are treasures to my children.  They played endlessly with them when they were little.  Now their nostalgia is part of our Christmas decor.  The curved Christmas tree pillow will be a good addition.

It’s nice to have years of holiday projects out to enjoy.  I folded and stacked our everyday quilts to make room for the Christmas quilts, like my Swooning for Christmas quilt.  I laugh every day, however, to see that the #1 favorite is my Christmas flannel rag quilt.  I’m glad it’s still in great condition after 13 years of Christmas snuggling.  Lots of memories in these threads.

It’s a small finish, but it feels good!  I took one thing out of storage and made one useful thing with it.  Perhaps more importantly, I took a break to be creative.  It feels good, and helps me relax.

I hope you’re enjoying the Christmas season!

While sorting through old Christmas projects recently, I came across some extra Whimsy Lone Star blocks.  While pretty, these blocks didn’t make the cut for my Whimsy Lone Star quilt, so they’ve been waiting patiently for a very long time.  I’m in a “finish it up” mood, so I decided to do something with them.

I squared up the blocks and sewed them together in a 2×2 grid, which now measures about 44″ square.  As I worked, I remembered why I didn’t include them in the original quilt.  Each of these blocks has some bias stretch going on, a by-product of my trial and error efforts to master the lone star block.  In fact, some of these lessons led to my popular Lone Star Block Tutorial, which includes a free PDF for making your own blocks in several sizes.  Seeing these blocks makes me grateful I persisted and mastered the lone star block.

These Whimsy lone star blocks are made using 2″ strips.  I’m hoping to find a few scraps from the original project to use with this one.  What should I make with this?  It could become a small quilt, a table topper, or even a wall quilt of some kind.

I might add borders, and some whimsical Christmas applique in the center where the blocks join would also be fun to play with.  But for today, while I hunt for scraps, I am admiring the lovely morning light on my blocks.  That lovely light has been scarce lately.

I confess these blocks represent my favorite Christmas color scheme.  Multiple greens and reds, crisp white, with some pink and a dash of blue or yellow thrown in just for fun.  It’s interesting to work with this collection again and discover that it still makes me smile.

Hopefully I can free up an afternoon for some experimenting.  The Christmas season always makes me want to sew more.  I’m usually pulled away by the many other commitments of the season.  Fingers crossed I can change that this year!