Pull Out Those Red and White Quilts!

Gosh, Christmas is so close! Are you ready? This week I have been able to "putter" - the rush of last minute shopping is gone, the urgency of grade deadlines and commission deadlines is gone; I have no sewing projects that need my attention; for now I'll do as I please. So I'm puttering, going from cooking or baking to adding Christmas touches here and there.

With that thought in mind, it occurred to me that I had several red and white quilts hanging in my closet, and wouldn't they look nice sprinkled throughout the house, bringing Christmas cheer and coziness to our holiday decor? Of course they would! Certainly they are not doing any good at all hiding in the closet. So let's have a look.

These five quilts need to be quilted. I suppose I could make that a goal for 2017 - to get all of the red and white quilts quilted and bound for next Christmas. Sound like a good idea, and I may just do it, by gosh. In addition to these five, I have one more that I'm using as a tree skirt; six newly quilted red and white quilts for next year sounds even better.

The quilts pictured above are 1-Thimbleberries' Christmas Confetti from the North Bay Quilts book; 2-Thimbleberries' Hourglass from the Cozy Cabin Quilts book; 3-My own creation of Ohio Stars; 4-My own creation of Jacob's Ladder; 5- Chock Full O' Charm in some warm fabrics by French General.

I made the Hourglass quilt in November of 2010; that was the year that I just stopped blogging for six months, so there is no actual post about it. I did, though, picture it in the finishes for 2010, and I've grabbed that picture to show here. It's a whopper of a quilt, and I still love the borders as much as ever.

While I've been sifting through old posts I came across yet another red and white quilt that I need to locate and add to the list, bringing the total to seven. It is Stars and Stepping Stones  which I made back in 2011. This quilt makes me think of Grandma because she used the Stepping Stone block in so many of her quilts. She was also a big fan of stars, so naturally, this is a gentle reminder of her. I hand-pieced the individual blocks, but sewed the top together by machine.

The quilt serving as a tree skirt is September Stars, another Thimbleberries pattern. I made it in 2011-12 with French General fabrics. I grabbed that picture, too, so I'd have them all together here in one post.

There are a fair number of quilts to be finished off, aren't there? Hopefully, I can do it. Not all of my Christmas quilts are unquilted, though. I have two which are finished. Have a look:

Winter Lily is - what else - a Thimbleberries pattern that I machine stitched and Grandma hand quilted. I love it; I don't remember what kind of batting I used, but it is a very heavy quilt.

The Red Churn Dash quilt was hand pieced with scrappy reds and neutrals. Again, Grandma quilted for me. Can you tell this quilt has been laundered? Should have used a color catcher, right? Oh well, we do use this quilt regularly, so it will continue to be washed. Maybe the discoloration will fade over time.

That's it! All the Christmas-y quilts I could locate. It sure will make the house feel festive. And I will get to enjoy the beauty of all my red and white quilts.

Happy Quilting, Friends!