Christmas in March

Back in the early Fall I went to a quilting retreat with several ladies. One of our projects was to make 30 log cabin blocks in assorted Christmas prints. The centers were to be red (duh), with light prints to one side, and the darker prints to the other. Then we were to also have one larger block, which would be equivalent to 4 of the smaller ones. For the month prior to the retreat I worked just about every night, sewing my log cabins together. About two nights before the retreat, I was able to put my fingers on a Santa that I had embroidered a couple of years ago. That Santa became the center of my large block.

At the retreat, we proceeded to swap our log cabins with each other. By doing so, we each had a wide variety of Christmas prints for our quilt. I put mine on the design wall, and played with the layout for a bit, and finally bit the bullet and sewed it together. After I got home, it set to the side for a couple of months until I finally figured out how I wanted to finish it. You see, initially it was square, and I wanted a more rectangular shape for the finished quilt. I found some border materials that I added, and afterwards took it to my friend Ty to quilt.

If you're acquainted with a professional quilter, you know how busy they are. Since it was into December before I got it to Ty, I told her not to rush, and to get to it when she could. She then had some family concerns that kept her busy for several weeks, but just this past week she returned my quilt to me, ready to bind. I was blown away. Yes, my handiwork was pretty. But wow, the quilting really set it off. She quilted little snowflakes throughout, and put some definition into Santa's beard and the fur on his Santa suit.

Hopefully these pictures will do it justice (double click on the picture to enlarge and see it better). I know Christmas is a long ways off, but I had to share.