Ordinary Green

table topper about 18x22

The second small quilt for our DIL this Christmas was green.  Green is the liturgical color for "Ordinary time" which is mostly the weeks during the summer and fall, but also a couple weeks between the end of the Christmas season and Ash Wednesday.

One set of four blocks remained from the fabric I used to make our DD a table runner/wall hanging this past spring.   There's more about it here.  

The border design is from Fall Splendor by Julie Weaver that I found in a book called "Quilts With Unique Borders" from Annie's Quilting. 

White Christmas

This is the first in a series of small quilts for our  dear DIL.   She had specially requested a couple of small quilts in 'liturgical colors' to use on a little table that she wants to use for family prayer time.  I was so glad to get it finished in time for Christmas.

about 24 inches square 

White is the color of celebration used during the Christmas and Easter seasons.  My first stop was Hobby Lobby for some inspiration.  They had a very pretty soft gray fabric with calligraphy: "Faith, Hope, Love, Friendship...." Perfect!

Using the fabric as the center focus, the next step was designing a pieced border.  In my book of quilt blocks I found one called "Grandmother's Cross."  I used that as the basis for the border, but ended up piecing it in strips like Seminole quilting in order to eliminate lots of triangles around the edges of each block. 

It worked out quite well, except that the four corners had to be mitered.  I don't think I've ever attempted anything quite so complicated to piece, but I took a deep breath, said a prayer, and forged ahead.  Miraculously, all four corners matched and laid flat!  I only had to make one small adjustment.

The border is quilted stitch-in-the-ditch, and the center is a simple meander.

It was challenging, but this design finally came together and it turned out much better than I expected!  It was so exciting to see her open this gift up on Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas

Just a holiday note to thank you for stopping by to Quilt Awhile with me.  I so appreciate your comments and encouragement on our quilting journey together.  Wishing you a Blessed Christmas and wonderful New Year!

Vintage postcard from my Dad's collection

Countryside Wreath

This was an unexpected Christmas surprise!  The pattern showed up when I was searching for something else, and it was just perfect to help use up some of the stash. It became a leader-ender type of project while I was working on Christmas gifts.  It was fast and easy because the pieces were 3-inches and larger.  The pattern is Countryside Wreaths (single block option) by Thimbleberries. 

Countryside Wreath 37.5 inches square

On Smith Lake parts 2-4

"Christmas time is coming and the (flying) geese are getting fat!"

Part 2 of Bonnie Hunter's winter Mystery "On Ringo Lake" is pieced.  All those flying geese!  But they're done.  Part 3 is cut out and bundled, as is Part 4, but that's as far as I get. 

Several quilted Christmas gifts are finished (or just have binding left to hand stitch.)  Posts about those will have to wait until after Christmas.  Addressing cards and gift wrapping have their priorities too.  Plus, with family arriving for the Holiday (with dog in tow) there's some pup-proofing of the house that needs to happen. 

The Christmas tree is up, but no ornaments on it yet.  Way behind in that category.  And no cookie baking has happened yet either.  DH has come down with a horrible cold, which I'm trying NOT to catch, so he's excused from helping with Christmas prep for now.

Hope your Holiday preparations are coming along. Wishing you the Joys of the Season!

On the design wall: Lighthouses

Our Dear Daughter was home for Thanksgiving and she brought me a great panel from the local quilt shop in Ashland, WI.  What a wonderful surprise!

The panel has a half-dozen 6-inch sketches of the Lighthouses of the Apostle Islands.  In recent years her hubby worked with the National Park Service as the Lighthouses were repaired, and he spent many summer days out on Lake Superior with that project.  So it has special meaning.

Lady of the Lake blocks seemed the appropriate setting, so I've pulled the blue, purple and green 3-inch blocks out of my scrap bag.  Matching a light and a dark, I'm making 2.5-inch cut HST's to go around each 6.5-inch cut lighthouse piece.

Here's where I started...

and here's what I have now...

On Smith Lake part 1

Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt is underway.   It's always so exciting to see what wonderful design she has for us to sew along together.   On Ringo Lake was inspired by the lake cabin in northern Minnesota that is her family gathering place.  Such wonderful memories are made "at the Lake."  We are blessed enough to have such a place in our family too.  So, of course, my version will carry the name of our Minnesota lake, "On Smith Lake."

Minnesotans are so funny about our over 10,000 lakes.  We talk about them all as if there's only one.  "Been to The Lake?"  "Yup."  And we nod like we know precisely which one it is.  It's not the exact lake that matters, it's the collective memories that are made at all the Minnesota lakes that we instinctively understand.

We were up to The Lake this past weekend and  before we left home I looked up the first clue to the mystery.  Here are the 9-patch blocks right along the lake shore.  Five packs of 10 blocks.  My turquoise fabrics lean more to medium-dark blue.   I hope that there will still be enough contrast.  As you can tell from the photo, it's a color you can often see in the waters of Smith Lake.

Can you tell that the lake is frozen now?  Not long after this photo was taken a flock of 16 beautiful white swans flew in and landed on the one spot on the lake that was still open water.  What a sight!

Linking up with the Monday link-up at Quiltville.