Christmas Quilts Finished

 Counting down the hours until Christmas and I am still getting things done. This Christmas quilt is not exactly done. It still needs some more buttons for holly berries.

 This is my husband's Christmas present. I never made a quilt just for him before. I know it is a very simple quilt but I really wanted the quilting to be the focus. The problem is I should have used a solid blue instead of a batik so the quilting would really stand out.

 The animals are quilted with brown thread and the filler is blue. Originally I was not going to put in filler but I felt it needed more quilting.

 At least you can see the quilting up close.

The quilting shows up really well on the back.

I hope he likes it and will use it to snuggle in.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Yesterday was retreat bee. At retreat bee you bring and work on whatever you want. We sit and sew all day. Of course there is plenty of talking and food. Sherry brought morning snacks to have with our coffee. Laura brought lunch, lentil soup and salad. It was delicious. We all want the recipe. Jo brought cake for dessert. That really is a great way to spend the day.

I finished the quilt top which is for my husband for Christmas. It feels good to have it done. Now I have plenty of time to get it quilted.

Starting a New One

I have decided that for Christmas I am going to make my husband a quilt. One time earlier this year he made a comment that I never made him a quilt. Actually I did make him a wall hanging that is on his office wall at work, but I have never made one especially for him to cover up with. So, I want to make him one that is special for him. Since my thing is the longarm quilting the quilt will have plain blocks and a large border to highlight the quilting. 

I have spent quite a bit of time contemplating this quilt. I ordered quilting patterns for the blocks in the spring. He is a hunter so the quilting patterns are deer, elk, moose, etc. I bought the fabric in June on a trip to Lancaster. So, I have had months to consider what this quilt will look like.

I have decided to keep the piecing simple. I want the quilting to be the main event. The quilt is going to be a 9-patch with alternating plain blocks with sashing and cornerstones. It is just going to be a throw so the center is fairly small because the border we be about 10 inches to accommodate the quilting. 

In the pictures is all of my sketching and figuring out the quilt top and the fabric cutting. I usually do this on graph paper but when I decided to work on this quilt this is the paper I had with me.

Here are some blocks I was initially considering ,but I decided to go with the 9-patch.