“Tis not the season” but now I am so far behind that I am almost running ahead! I pieced this quilt during the winter months and just picked it up from Kristi’s Quilting. A classic Christmas quilt design made with festive Rifle Paper Company fabrics. Such an interesting festive mix of colors and designs with touches of silver and gold.

This was a quilt kit from the Got Kwilts online store. This was last year’s color selection. This year the design is made from pink and green Tilda fabrics – I really like the new design too.

The border fabric has nostalgic “home for the holidays” theme that has so many fun little houses, barns and trees. The kit option for the backing was a bright Christmas green, so I opted to purchase my own. Penny Linley, at BoLin’s Fabric Store in Smithville, helped me pick this out. She specializes in wide backings, blenders, solids and fillers. A fun store to shop at – you can also order online.

Did you notice that there were two colors of thread used for the quilting? Kristi used gold thread on the trees to make it look like garland – what a great and creative idea!!!! The rest of the quilt is quilted with the traditional white thread.

This was a free motion quilting design. The quilting changes and adds highlights to each specific area of the quilt, from the star, to the background to the borders.

I think that the quilting is what adds the “personality” to the quilt. It adds so much texture and interest.

Looking forward to Christmas already! Happy Sewing and Happy Quilting!

Below are the links to the fabric company, kit and fabric online store, and BoLin’s.

https://riflepaperco.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=fabric

https://www.gotkwilts.com/shop/pine-ing-for-christmas-featuring-tilda-fabrics-choose-your-colorway

https://bolinsfabric.com/

Last summer I signed up for the Summer Sampler 2021: Vintage Restyle Sew-A-Long. I learned so much from this group! The vintage inspired blocks were given a modern twist and each block was designed by a different quilt designer.

Each Monday morning during the Sew-A-Long, a new block pattern would be emailed to all the participants. I liked that schedule and most weeks it was pretty easy to squeeze in making just one block.

Another advantage of the Sew-A-Long was the Facebook group comprised of the others making the sampler. Along with tips and tricks from the designers, these individuals could share their questions, ideas and advice. There were new products on the market that I had never heard of. One of the tips was to use Glue-Baste-It, a temporary basting glue when piecing. You just need tiny drops in the seam allowance. It dries quickly and hold the fabric firmly in place. I used the iron to quickly dry it. No pins needed. I usually just use then when the seam allowances are pressed to the side. The Best Press spray starch was another product I really liked. When cutting out your blocks, press your fabric with the Best Press first, then cut, for a sharper cut. It also works great to starch your finished blocks. Both of these products are available on Amazon and fabric stores.

The bright colors in the kit were so pretty! In many Sew-A-Longs you have the option of purchasing a pattern and fabric kit or just purchasing the pattern and selecting your own fabric.

There is something so soothing about sewing! Well…most days! There were some tricky corners and curves with some of these blocks. What I learned is that to be accurate, you have to be accurate. I had to learn to take my time and do it right the first time.

A quilt is not really a quilt until it is quilted. And what an important artistic feature the quilting adds! It is like giving your quilts a personality. This one was quilted by Kristi Ryan of Kristi’s Quilting in Kansas City. She did an amazing job!

Her free motion skills really brought the solid fabric pieces to life! She quilted each block differently – what a skill and an art!

The back side was also so pretty! Gorgeous!

The finished quilt! Loved the colors, the design and the learned experience. I am looking forward to doing another one!

For this Summer Sampler pattern and others, click on the link below:

https://www.freshlypieced.com/

Happy Quilting!

Don’t you love making special projects for holidays? This “Sweetheart” quilt pattern just looked adorable! I put it on my list of things to make and set a goal to have it done by Valentine’s Day and just barely met my deadline. It was designed by Nadra Ridgeway. She has so many creative, clever and beautiful quilting designs on her website. I loved the pattern, the vintage inspired fabrics and the patchwork border.

The little hearts with bows look like boxes of chocolates!

I selected 5 different red print fabrics for the hearts and then 5 different vintage-inspired fabrics to add pops of color. There is something so satisfying about being creative, laying all the fabrics out and combining colors and designs. This would also be a great quilt to make using your fabric stash.

These are some of my favorite hearts! Now to get it quilted and the binding on.

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!

You will want to check out this Etsy shop for more quilting designs by Nadra Ridgeway.

https://www.etsy.com/de/shop/ellisandhiggs