On the 12th Day of Christmas

On the 12th Day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

12 Drummers Drumming

According to writer Pat Johnson in the Vancouver Courier 12/21/15, the twelve drumming drummers represent the "12 points of belief in the Apostle’s Creed."

I chose a Holiday Drum block for the center of the quilt and surrounded it with a variety of borders.  I call this one "Little Drummer."

On the 11th Day of Christmas

On the 11th Day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

11 Pipers Piping

According to writer Pat Johnson in the Vancouver Courier 12/21/15, the eleven pipers represent the "eleven faithful apostles."

When I think of "pipers" I think of bagpipes.  Of course bagpipes make me think of Scotland and by association Ireland.  So I chose a Double Irish Chain for this quilt in trraditional red, green, and white fabrics.

On the 10th Day of Christmas

On the 10th Day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

10 Lords A-Leaping

According to writer Pat Johnson in the Vancouver Courier 12/21/15, the Ten Commandments are represented by the ten lords a-leaping.

For this design, I picked the Boy's Nonsense block.  This block and I go way back -- I used it in one of my quilts for my second book, A Russian Journey in Quilts.  I'm going to call this one "Mischief."

On the 9th Day of Christmas

On the 9th Day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

9 Ladies Dancing

According to writer Pat Johnson in the Vancouver Courier 12/21/15, nine ladies dancing represent "nine fruits of the holy spirit."

I really love how graphic this design turned out!  There are 9 Fruit Basket blocks, but careful block arrangement and color manipulation created this wonderful secondary design element.  The star in the center and the checkerboard border really complete this quilt.  I'm calling this one "Star Basket" of course!

On the 8th Day of Christmas

On the 8th Day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

8 Maids A-Milking

According to writer Pat Johnson in the Vancouver Courier 12/21/15, eight maids a-milking stands for eight beautitudes.

Although I don't normally think of white, red, and black as holiday colors, I chose them for this quilt because of the contrast (and simply because I love that combination).  The block is called Buckeye Beauty and I really enjoyed playing around with the arrangement because these blocks created a lot of interesting secondary designs.

On the 7th Day of Christmas

On the 7th Day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

7 Swans A-Swimming

According to writer Pat Johnson in the Vancouver Courier 12/21/15, seven swans a-swimming represents the "seven gifts of the Holy Spirit."




For this quilt, I chose the Seven Stars block which is another name for the Seven Sisters block.   To further the concept of seven, I only used seven blocks in the design.  I am calling this one "49 Stars."

On the 6th Day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

Six Geese A-Laying

According to writer Pat Johnson in the Vancouver Courier 12/21/15,the "six geese a-laying" represents the 6 days of Creation.


There are a lot of Flying Geese variations so I chose one that had 6 geese in the design.  I really like the movement in this design which is increased by coloring the flying geese from light to dark and repeating that concept throughout the quilt.  I also added green's compliment -- red (how well do you know your color wheel?) to further enhance the design.

I call this quilt "Geese in a Row."

On the 5th Day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

Five Golden Rings

According to writer Pat Johnson in the Vancouver Courier 12/21/15, five golden rings represents the Pentateuch, or the first five books in the Bible -- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

I can remember as a kid singing the 12 Days of Christmas and when we got to the "5 golden rings" part, we'd yell it instead of singing it.  So, I wanted this quilt to really stand out.  What's more striking than a black and gold quilt?

The center block is actually a Celtic design, but it was perfect for this design.  I call this one "5 Celtic Rings," as a nod to my Irish heritage as well as the song.

On the 4th Day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

Four Calling Birds

According to writer Pat Johnson in the Vancouver Courier 12/21/15, the four Calling Birds stand for the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The block in this quilt is called Four Little Birds and was published in 1928 by Ladies Art Company.  I was really drawn to the graceful curves in these four birds.  I named this quilt "Swoop" because to me it looks like all four birds are swooping down to grab the same tiny morsel.

On the 3rd Day of Christmas...

My True Love gave to me...

Three French Hens

According to writer Pat Johnson in the Vancouver Courier 12/21/15, the three French Hens represent FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE.

This quilt block is appropriately named Hen and Her Chicks.  It appeared in Kansas City Star in 1947.  I chose a red and white colorway for this design so there was a lot of contrast and the blocks stood out.  I especially like how alternating the placement of the reds and white makes the quilt almost pulsate.

I call this quilt "9 Chicks."

On the 1st Day of Christmas.......

My True Love gave to me...

  A Partridge in a Pear Tree.

According to writer Pat Johnson in the Vancouver Courier 12/21/15,  "both 'my true love' and the partridge in a pear tree represent Jesus — the partridge because it’s a bird that will sacrifice its life to save its children."

I call this quilt design Birds and Pears.  I love how it has a modern feel to it even though it is in traditional Christmas colors.

On the 6th Day of Christmas.......

On the 6th Day of Christmas, I Give to Thee........

FAITH

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines faith as:

1.  Allegiance to duty or a person:  loyalty;  fidelity to one's promise; sincerity of intentions.

2.  A belief and trust in and loyalty to God; belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion; a firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust.

3.  Something that is believed especially with strong conviction; a system of religious beliefs.

  

As you can tell by the variety of definitions above, faith means something different to each and every one of us.  Faith, to me, means believing in something that is bigger than just myself.  But on the other hand, we have to have faith in ourselves, too.

What does Faith mean to you?

For my Faith quilt, I chose a very pretty block reminiscent of a stained glass window.  The block is very fittingly called Church Window.  Then I framed the blocks with a unique border.

 

My challenge to you is.............to find faith for yourself or help someone else to find faith.

On the 5th Day of Christmas.......

On the 5th Day of Christmas, I Give to Thee.....

FRIENDSHIP

The Merriam-Webster Diction defines friendship as:

1.  The state of being friends.

2.  The quality or state of being friendly:  friendliness.

Thinking about friendship made me remember the poem by John Donne that begins "No Man is an Island."  How true that is.  People need friends.  Whether it's a furry companion, a human companion, or one that has feathers or scales -- people are not meant to be solitary creatures.  Sure, it's nice to have time alone to reflect and think but spending time with friends feeds our soul.

Here is John Donne's poem:

No man is an island entire of itself; every man 
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; 
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe 
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as 
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine 
own were; any man's death diminishes me, 
because I am involved in mankind. 
And therefore never send to know for whom 
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. 

If you have a friend, you are not alone.
 
My Friendship quilt features a traditional friendship quilt block called Chimney Sweep.   I set the blocks on point for a different look.  The center of each block includes a large area for signatures or comments.

 

My challenge to you is.............to reconnect with a friend you have not seen or talked to for a long time.

On the 2nd Day of Christmas.......

On the 2nd Day of Christmas, I give to thee......

HOPE

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines hope as:

1.  The desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment; expectation of fulfillment or success

2.  Someone or something on which hopes are centered.

3.  Something desired or hoped for.

The holiday season is a time for hope, isn't it?  Hope for the future.  Hope for your community.  Hope for the planet.  For children, it might be hope for a special toy.  For adults, it might be hope that the family will be together at the holidays just one more time.  For those struggling, it might be hope for one more day or even hope for a roof over your head and a hot meal. 

This is the season of hope.

For my Hope quilt, I chose the Bright Hopes block.  I chose pastel fabrics in pink, lavender, blue, and yellow with a white on white for the center squares and border.

Bright Hopes Block

Notice the secondary design that happens with the limited fabric selection and turning every other block.

My challenge to you........find hope in yourself and share it with someone else.

12 Days of Christmas

 'Tis the Season....

Last year I had a lot of fun designing quilts inspired by favorite Christmas songs.

I've been thinking of what to do this year to celebrate the season on my blog and I think I've come up with a new idea for this year.

Who doesn't love the song "The 12 Days of Christmas"?

That song inspired me to come up with 12 different characteristics of the season (instead of turtledoves, maids a-milking, and golden rings).

Faith

Hope

Love

Charity

Kindness

Peace

Joy

Courage

Pride

Friendship

Laughter

Creativity

 For each of these 12 characteristics, I'm going to create a new quilt design.  Yay!

Beginning December 14th, I hope you'll come along with me on the 12 Days of Christmas.

Playing With Christmas Part 2

Okay, it was so much fun designing quilts based on favorite Christmas songs, that I'm back with some more!

I Saw Three Ships

O Little Town of Bethlehem

 Here Comes Suzy Snowflake

 Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Frosty the Snowman

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

My First Tutorial! QUILT BLOCK WOOD-BURNED ORNAMENT

My apologies for not getting to this sooner, but I was unable to spend much time on my computer for the last couple weeks due to an eye procedure.  I am healing well and almost back to my normal self, but with better eyesight.

I've been thinking about Christmas a lot lately, and have started making lists of what I want to make for gifts, what I have that needs finished, and what I need to buy.  Do you do that too?  I am definitely a list-y kind of person.

This week, I had some fun playing around with my new wood-burning tool and I thought you'd all enjoy trying out this cute quilty Christmas ornament.  If you do make one, please email me photos so I can post them.  :)

littlequilts@windstream.net

Soooooo, anyway, here's my first tutorial:

QUILT BLOCK WOOD-BURNED ORNAMENT 

Step 1:   Gather your supplies.

You will need wooden disks (mine are about 3"), a wood-burning tool, transfer paper, small quilt block line drawings (I used Electric Quilt software to make mine and they are about 1 1/2"), and a pencil (I love these stubby little pencils that I got from Ikea!).

Step 2:  Transfer the design.

Okay, now it's time to use your pencil and transfer paper to get the quilt block design onto the wooden disk.  Put your transfer paper down first, try to center your quilt block line drawing on top, and trace the lines with your pencil.

Step 3:  Burn the design.

After heating up your burning tool for the correct amount of time (hint:  look at your instructions), trace over the quilt block lines with your tool.  You may need to go over the lines more than once until you reach the right amount of burning.  Move slowly.

Step 4: Fill in the design.

Once you've burned the lines, very carefully burn the areas that you want to be the "darker fabric" in the block. You may need to burn the areas more than once to get them dark enough.  I even lightly burned the "light fabrics" because I like the look.  I also added a "fuzzy" edge around the block.

Step 5:  Burn the edges.

After you are satisfied with your block, burn the edges of the disk if desired.  I really like how it makes the block more rustic.  Go ahead and burn around the front along the edge if you want to so that the burn acts as a frame for the block.

Step 6:  Add a hanger.

Don't forget to use hot glue to adhere a loop to the back of the ornament for hanging.  I used hemp cording.

Step 7: Sign your work.

The last thing that you should do is to sign your work.  I wood-burned my initials into the back of the wooden disks.  Add a date or the name of the recipient if you want to.

YOU ARE FINISHED!  ENJOY YOUR RUSTIC QUILT BLOCK ORNAMENTS!