Friday, February 2, 2018

Christmas in February


It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! There is snow on the ground, the wind is blowing hard, and I just finished a Christmas quilt!  Okay, in reality I am searching the ground every day for a tiny sign of spring and planning all the planting that needs to be done, but I really did finish a Christmas quilt.  And Mother Nature has kindly provided us with some snow so that the pictures look wintery.  Wasn't that nice of her?



If you recall, I pulled these poor neglected blocks out of the closet a few weeks ago and gave myself two weeks to get my act together and do something with the blocks.  It took a little longer, but I did get them together into this comfy quilt.  Yay for not going back into the closet!


I did not make any of these blocks.  They were made by friends of mine in an online quilt group for a group swap.  These came from people all over the US and I know for sure one of my blocks is from a friend in Australia.  Of course, I made a ton of these blocks and they got sent on to other friends. 


The pattern for these blocks is HERE.  I can tell you that they are tricky to make and not for beginners.  One issue in both the construction and the quilting is that the rays of the blocks are made with 3D flying geese.  I kept getting hung up on those free edges while I was quilting this.  It was quite frustrating.  My one piece of advice for anyone quilting 3D pieces is to make use of a glue stick.  Seriously, it can tack down those edges just enough so that they can be properly caught in the seams and so that they don't snag your machine foot when you're quilting.


If you look closely, you'll see that this quilt is extra dimensional.  I used two layers of leftover wool batting that I just stitched together, which made the quilt really puffy but also soft and warm.  It needed something special because I wasn't going to spend a lot of time quilting it up. Even the two layers of wool gave me no problems with the quilting.  It moved through the machine just fine and stitched beautifully.  The binding is scraps of three different red Christmas fabrics, which are now all used up.  Double yay for that!


I have to confess that the quilting on this quilt is atrocious. All I did for the quilting was use a walking foot along both the short and long edges of the blocks to stabilize the quilt, then I free-motion quilted along the arcs and a little away from the rays in each block.  I really should have used the walking foot for that part as well, and I would have had better results.  My problem was having to twist and turn the quilt to use the walking foot, and that would not have gone well with my machine. As it is, the lines are quite wobbly. A lot of it gets hidden in the batting, and I'm hoping that it will be much less noticeable once it's washed, too.


All told, though, it came out pretty well, especially since it's just for our family.  The best part is that it's not going back in the closet!  We'll probably cuddle up with it for a little while, then it will get washed and put away until the end of this year.  So that's one more quilt all done!  Getting this out of the closet and finished is a load off my mind.  It's so freeing to get a project moved along. I don't have to look at the box and feel bad any more! 


It happens that I have one block left over from this quilt, because we all made 36 blocks and got 36 blocks back (over the course of several months, not all at once!)  This weekend, I'm going to use the leftover block to make a little doll quilt to support Bernie's Share the Love project, which you can read about in her post HERE. If there's anything that will warm your heart, it's this project, so hop on over there and check it out.  And have a great weekend, too!



Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finished or Not Friday, and crazymomquilts.

21 comments:

Jo said...

But it's done now. A finish is a good thing.

PugMom said...

Hooray for a finished project!! I think you should go buy some more fabric to celebrate! Or start another new project or two...

Alison V. said...

This turned out fantastic! Finished is better than perfect and it looks like this will be a great cuddly quilt. :)

Bernie Kringel said...

This is so festive - the double layer of batting is a great idea - it looks very cozy. Great finish and love the scrappy binding. That is a favorite of mine!

Thanks for the shout out for Spread the Love and also for making a quilt with your extra block! I appreciate it. :-)

grammajudyb said...

Oh my gosh, that is an amazing quilt. I have not done 3D flying geese!! Yikes, sounds challenging!

Sandra Walker said...

LOVE this bright and happy quilt, and yay for a dusting of snow on the greenish grass ha! Wobbles (that I cannot notice) will disappear for sure and you know what Angela says, 'Finished is better than perfect!" I agree wholeheartedly about not twisting and turning in a DSM (mine is a Bernina with only 7.5" throat space, and I have no ruler foot so I've been there done that just like you! Have to say it, but yay for coming out of the closet and proudly staying out ;-)

Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty said...

Good for you! Often when I tackle a long-forgotten WIP like this one, it goes more smoothly than I expect and I wonder why it took me so long to get around to it. Direct that sense of satisfaction into finishing something else in that closet of yours! : )

Louise said...

I love the poofy bright fluffiness of this quilt. Congrats on the finish!

Thanks for the tip on gluing down the 3D edges. I should have done that on the little flanges I put on a recent quilt. Getting caught under the flap was no fun! I also know the feeling of "this wasn't my best quilting," since that's how I felt about my most recent finish. But absolutely the wash/dry/shrink/crinkle process hides all of it, hooray!

I'm off to check out the details of the doll quilts now!

Louise said...

....And now I'm crying! Wow, Amy's work is so profoundly wonderful! Big thanks to Bernie for spearheading the call to quilters, and thank YOU, Mari for pointing me to it. I'm making doll quilts TODAY.

Sherrill said...

Love it and it doesn't scream Christmas so probably could be used year round. A very different pattern.

Ramona said...

What a fun Christmas quilt. The backing fabric is wonderful! Great finish.

Pamela said...

Such a fun and bright quilt!

Ivani said...

Great finished! Congrats!!! Beautiful X-Mas quilt!

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

a tricky block indeed for a swap, but I love this block. And I love that this is a Christmas quilt, but not a traditional Christmas quilt. Just that something a bit different.

piecefulwendy said...

Hooray for the finish! It's so bright and cheerful, even if it was a bit of a problem child to get finished! Now it has a story and will be loved for years to come!

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

A bright & scrappy happy quilt! So satisfying to have a project finished and not returned to the closet!

Preeti said...

Yay for a bright, cuddly finish!!! Looks like sun rays, which are a rarity at Christmastime, unless you are in Australia. Love the pouffiness. Of course, washing will reveal the texture and hide all the oops :-p

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

What a bright fun finish!!!

Sandy Panagos said...

That is a really fun block for a swap. It turned out really cute.

sue said...

I love your quilt! Such nice bright colors will keep the winter grey skies at bay. Yahoo for a finish!

Benita Skinner said...

I love it, Mari!