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."