Saturday, November 26, 2011

Christmas Quilt for Mom


I finished this one about a week ago, but now that my mom has her early Christmas gift, I can show you! We were in TN most of last week for a big family thing and it was great. Truly, truly great in so many ways. I wanted to give this to her before the rest of the extended family arrived at their house, so last Sunday after dinner I told my parents I had an early gift for them. Of course, mom immediately gasped because she assumed I was going to say we were having another baby. Um, no just a measly quilt that I started working on back in August. What a gip :)

She wasn't actually disappointed at all, she was thrilled to have a quilt made for her and really loved it. 



I used 2 charm packs of Kate Spain's Flurry line along with 2 charm packs of Bella white to make all the HSTs. Then I decided I wanted it a little bigger, so I got some Flurry yardage and added borders. I like the way it came out, but I can't help but wonder if it would have been better to use the solid red all the way around. Oh well, the green is pretty too. 




The back is all one fabric, (what?!) an old Valori Wells print that matched the red and white of the quilt perfectly. I had 8-9 yard of this on hand from an old random Christmas project, so I was happy to use up a good bit. The quilting lines are about 3/8" on either side of the seams that form the diamonds, and continued out that way onto the borders. It came out to 72" by 58." The binding is fun, but sometimes I wish I had used a calmer print. And Christmas fabric in general is not my favorite, but this line is pretty and I was glad to get to try this off-center diamond design that I love. This is one of those projects that has several very small regrets (like also wishing I hadn't spilled coffee on it while I was in the middle of quilting), but overall I'm still happy with the end result. And most importantly, mom loves it. 




It's officially Christmas now I guess. I still have a LOT of sewing to do. I don't think I'm attempting any more quilts as gifts, but knowing me that is likely to change. And since most of the Christmas season technically takes place in fall, I'm going to enter this one into Celebrate Color. Now, hopefully the kids will stay asleep a little longer so I can put my fresh-from-the-shop machine to good use. After three weeks apart, we might just need to hug for a bit first...



(PS, if anyone wants some of that red and white Valori Wells print, PLEASE let me know!)



Celebrate Color



{Sew} Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations


Fresh Poppy Design









27 comments:

  1. What a wonderful gift. The quilt is gorgeous.

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  2. Beautiful! I think it's fantastic!

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  3. This is beautiful, Jessica! That's a lovely layout for a Christmas quilt.

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  4. Beautiful Quilt! and I think the pieced boarder is great as is the binding. Very fun and not overly Christmasy in patterns, just nice colors. And I would LOVE some of that fabric if you're serious :) FB or email me (erin_bart@yahoo.com) if you want to part with some of it :)

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  5. Great quilt, Jessica! I love the loud binding. Christmas quilts should be as festive as possible. Great HST pattern, too!

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  6. Gorgeous quilt, Jessica! And let me know if you'd like to get rid of some of that fabric, I'm happy to swap, too!

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  7. I love the off center design. You did a great job! Valori wells is awesome. I used a yard of some of her wrenly in the girls' quilts. So so beautiful! My mom just went to the stitchin post earlier this month and apparently my Christmas gift was purchased there....I'm so excited!

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  8. Great quilt! That's funny that your mom thought you were pregnant! Wonder when people quit assuming that stuff...I feel like people always assume that if I say I'm feeling under the weather...really, people - regular stomach aches do happen!

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  9. PRETTY!!! I pieced together a table runner tonight using a charm pack of "Flurry" myself! :)

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  10. gorgeous quilt. it has such a bright happy christmas feel!

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  11. This is gorgeous! Love, love the backing!

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  12. looks great! i love christmas quilts that are exclusively green and red.

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  13. It's gorgeous. I loved it in progress, and I love it finished. I bet your momma was very happy. And yes, that backing is perfect! Ah, the beauty of a stash. ;)

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  14. Great finish! Love that Kate Spain line! :) Thanks for linking up to {Sew} Modern Monday and have a great week!

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  15. what a beautiful quilt! It is lovely!

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  16. It looks fabulous! Very, very nice quilt.

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  17. Gorgeous quilt, love the addition of blue to soften those xmas colours.

    dxx

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  18. So gorgeous. I love the planned (offset diamonds) with the impromptu (borders).

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  19. Such a beautiful quilt - love the blues with the christmassy colours!!

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  20. Beautiful! I'm giving my mom a quilt instead of a grandbaby for Christmas, too haha. Hope she can forgive me ;)

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  21. I love this offset diamond setting! What a lovely Christmas gift for your Mom.

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  22. i love the quilt. i bet your mom is so happy when she gets it.

    i love the valori wells fabric. i would love to take some of it off your hands, want to swap?

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  23. gorgeous! I have two Christmas quilts planned already but now I want to make one with this pattern!

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  24. JESSICA, "I LOVE THIS QUILT!" I've been looking for some Christmas quilting inspiration and I'm happy to say, I think I've found it...

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  25. I love the quilt. I'm just starting a Christmas quilt for next year and would love to swap/buy some of your VW material if you're serious. blanche1997 at gmail.com

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