Christmas Quilts in the Rafters

I hope you had a blessed Christmas celebration with friends and families.

I don't do much Christmas decorating, several nativities are usually the extent of decorating. We haven't had a Christmas tree in years. No one enjoyed cleaning up the needles and artificial trees just look fake. Some years I have poinsettias but not this year, this year I have Christmas quilts in the rafters.

The front quilt is Peppermint Pines.

Here is a link for the Peppermint Pines pattern.

Behind Peppermint Pines is Christmas Stars.

Here is the link to the Christmas Stars tutorial. And yes, I did hang this quilt so the mistake is on the backside but I've found another mistake on this side facing the front door. It's there in the picture, finding it should keep you entertained if you enjoy puzzles. Oh well, I've never claimed to be perfect.

The green and red chain quilt is Wintersweet.

Here is the pattern link for Wintersweet. I did alter the pattern by finishing the chain out to the edge.

I've realized I like chain quilts!

I'm not able to take a picture of all three quilts at the same time.

Sweet Kisses is on the back of the couch but it doesn't scream Christmas quilt at you. 

The pattern for Sweet Kisses is here.

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Sweet Kisses

The 3rd quilt Lori Null quilted for me is Sweet Kisses. I bought this pattern a year ago when Deanna and I attended the Garden of Quilts at Thanksgiving Point. You can buy the pattern here. I also bought several other patterns that haven't been pieced yet.

Sweet Kisses is a very scrappy quilt. I used a variety of fabrics for the background, white on white, grays and some creams. I also used some Christmas prints.

The snails trail design was used on this quilt. The curves are 1/2" apart. I don't like big designs, I think they make quilts look floppy. This design is closely quilted but the quilt is not stiff.

This quilt has a diagonal striped binding. It has more colors than green and red. I thought it was perfect for this scrappy quilt that has so many colors in it.

The backing of this quilt is very scrappy. The center part was purchased 20 plus years ago at an after Christmas sale. The top and bottom fabrics are from my mother's stash. I don't like them, I think they are dark and dreary but they are perfect for the back of a quilt.

My Sweet Kisses is 68" by 78". I'm not sure if this quilt will be displayed on a rafter or the back of the couch. I'll show you pictures in December.

Here is a link to other posts about Sweet Kisses.

Linking to Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Wintersweet Quilt

The 2nd of the quilts quilted by Lori is Wintersweet. Wintersweet was a free pattern from Cake Stand Quilts and you can find the tutorial information here.

This pattern is a very simple design but it's so elegant, I really like it! These pictures aren't in the correct order, they're the way blogger decided to load them.

For this quilt, I selected the snails trail quilting design. Lori made it smaller, the curves are 1/2" apart. All the background fabrics in this quilt are white on white fabrics. As you can tell, white isn't always white! There are at least 5 white/white fabrics. It was nice to use them.

Here is Wintersweet with her simple beauty! The white/white fabric doesn't really look this yellow in real life.

And the backside.

I made the binding with an assortment of the green fabrics after I finished piecing Wintersweet. In June I found this red/white stripe and used it instead. Now I'm wondering why I only bought 1 yard! I was on a shop hop with several friends and this was purchased at a store several hours from my home. The backing fabric is a white on white whole cloth fabric. Of course there was some of that fabric trimmed off after quilting so I have more white/white fabric to use in a scrappy quilt.

And a closeup back view of the quilting. I always think a swirling design looks good with a geometric design.

I made a change to the pattern and finished the chain, I thought it looked incomplete the way the instructions were written. You can read about that change in this post. My version of this quilt measures 81" by 82".

Several comments were left on my post about Peppermint Pines stating they would like to see the Christmas quilts hanging on the rafters. I will definitely show you but they won't be on the rafters until after Thanksgiving. 

In my house, Christmas comes after Thanksgiving, not before Halloween! 

Linking to NTT, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Free Friday Patterns, Patchwork & Quilts

Peppermint Pines

Several months ago I sent several quilts to Lori Null for long arm quilting. They're back!

Today's post is about the first of those quilts, Peppermint Pines. 

There is a narrow gray border around the outside edge of the quilt. It doesn't show very well in the above photo.

I always think the backside of a quilt looks so interesting, it's a shadow of the front! A white on white striped sheet was used. Lori said it quilted just fine.

There are several snowflakes in this picture, you have to look close though.

This finished quilt is 74" by 87". I'm not planning to wash it, there are no markings to remove.

The background fabric is a white on white print I found in my stash when we moved. 

Deanna made a Peppermint Pines quilt last fall at the Jane Stickle retreat. I thought it was so cute so I made one too! I plan to have a display of Christmas quilts hanging from the rafters this year.

You can find the pattern for Peppermint Pines here.

Linking to Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Monthly Favorite Finish, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Wintersweet Finish Again!

I know I showed you the wintersweet flimsy I made last week and said was finished but I wasn't satisfied. I just didn't think it looked completed so I took the time and finished the chain. It didn't take long to do, just a morning of sewing.

Doesn't this look better?

Here is what it looked like without the chain finished, made the way the pattern says.

I added twelve partial 9 patch blocks, four 4 patches and 16 background fabric rectangles that measured 4.5" by 14.5". Wintersweet now measures 83" square. I'm not planning on adding an outside border.

In my last wintersweet post, I said the binding was going to be red. I've changed my mind, the binding is now going to be a variety of green fabrics.

The free pattern for Wintersweet is found here on Cake Stand Quilts website.

Linking to Needle & Thread Thursday, Stitch, Sew & Show, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts

Wintersweet Finish!

My Wintersweet quilt is a flimsy! This is such a simple pattern but so cute!

Right now wintersweet is 75" square but I think it looks unfinished. If I add partial 9 patch blocks, the chain will be completed and bring the size to 82". What do you think?

I found this red & white stripe in my stash to use for binding but there is only a fat quarter. A variety of red fabrics will be used along with the striped fabric.

Wintersweet is a free pattern from Cake Stand Quilts. I want to make this pattern in other colorways too. I can see it in spring fabrics, autumn fabrics and let's not forget blue and yellow fabrics!

I've start prepping fabrics for another Christmas quilt, this one utilizes a charm pack of Christmas fabrics I purchased a long long long time ago.

Linking to Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Peppermint Pines

Peppermint Pines is a flimsy! This was a fun, fast quilt to make. I did make a slight change to the pattern, I added the narrow gray border on the outside. It doesn't show much now but the red binding will make it pop.

There are two blocks in this quilt, the pinwheel and the pine tree. I showed the pinwheel blocks in my last post about peppermint pines, here is the pine tree block.

My peppermint pines measures 75" by 85" but if you pulled it more tight, it would probably be 76" by 86". For now peppermint pines is hanging in the 'to be quilted' closet. I have several more Christmas quilts I want to make. I'll be taking them to Lori in August. I asked her if she has any quilting designs with snowflakes in them, she does! 

I read on various blogs that some quilters have to sew within the season, meaning they sew Christmas quilts in the Christmas season. Not me! I have no problem sewing out of season, I want to be able to hang my quilts in my house next Christmas.

And at the coming retreat in April, I'm going to be working on an autumn table runner gifted to me by my friend Linda. I'll be ready for fall!

Pattern review -  This pattern was designed by Confessions of a Homeschooler and is a beginner friendly pattern. It really is! It is also a good pattern to use those small pieces of fabrics from stash. Yes, it does call for yardage but the odds and ends work fine too.

Linking to Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts

Christmas Decorating

Some people really get into Christmas decorating. I love to read their blogs and see all their pretties. My decorating isn't like that, my decorating is done mostly with quilts.

Red Radiance is hanging in living room. I always smile when I see this wallhanging, it was so much fun to make.

This panel quilt is in the dining room where we never dine, it's actually where I have my Grace quilting frame. 

I have a Christmas lap quilt which goes on the back of the couch. For the backing fabric, I sewed leftover blocks and fabrics together. The 4yo grandson likes the backside of the quilt the best so that is how it is displayed.

Evergreen wreaths are on the entrance doors. I'll probably keep them up through February. They add a bit of cheer throughout dreary winter days, but who knows? Maybe we'll have more snow this winter and it will be brighter outside.

Our 4 yo grandson arranged the nativity in the bay window. The items will probably be rearranged during December but that's ok.

I almost forgot this little wall quilt I made several years ago. I lay it on top of a quilt on the quilt ladder. A friend gifted me with a charm pack for my summer birthday, it was perfect for this 12 Days of Christmas pattern from Temecula Quilt company. 

When I went to get the 12 days of Christmas quilt, this  snowman mini quilt was with it. This was a kit I bought at the Grand Rapids show. This kit is from the Red Button Quilt Company and is called Snowman Love. Thank you to Tina for correcting my mistake! It rests on top of a quilt on the other quilt ladder.

A project on the list for 2021 is the Redwork quilt. Maybe it will be finished by next Christmas.

Of course I'll do some baking but I'm not one of these people who makes 20 dozen kinds of cookies! My mom always made pumpkin roll for the holidays. This is one I've made for Thanksgiving. The recipe is from the King Arthur site. The pictures with the recipe are prettier than my photo but the roll was delicious!

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, TGIFF!, Finished Or Not Friday, Brag About Your Beauties, UFO Busting