I’m declaring it a red and white quilt day! It was still a minute and a half to the end of the Superbowl and the fireworks were going and lasted a while!
The Kansas City Chiefs sport red and white. Apparently, the colorful fireworks after their big Superbowl win were pretty significant, too! Here they are shown on Bob Clubb’s (social media-rologist) weather radar:
You can find Bob on Facebook at Weather with Bob Clubbs. He’s a weather enthusiast, not a meteorologist, but his “One Gallon Freak-out” or “Two Gallon Freak-out” predictions are usually spot-on!
It’s a great day to wear red and white – and take a look at one beautiful red and white quilt pattern- which happens to remind me of fireworks.
This stunning quilt pattern is by Nancy Rink. Visit her website HERE. She has many beautiful patterns and quilt kits as well as notions, thread, rug hooking, and more.
This design uses Tri-Recs tools by EZ Quilting by Wrights, making this quilt easier to piece than you might think. I’ve used these tools for Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts before and they are fun to use.
Show and Tell is one of my favorite reasons for joining quilt guild.
Apparently, lots of guild members across our industry feel the same way! While visiting guilds to do presentations, I love to observe the personality and differences of each guild.
From participating in community projects, planning retreats, taming snarly budgets, or making group decisions, each guild has its own way of doing things. Even the interaction between members varies from guild to guild. Some are quite reserved, while others’ members are bursting with enthusiasm.
But one thing guilds have in common is Show and Tell.
As a new quilter and guild member, I couldn’t wait to see all the new quilts everyone had made. We used to hold that feature right after our guest speaker. However, some members started leaving our meeting directly after. Consequently, our board decided to move that anticipated time to the end of our meetings!
I recall from my earlier years at guild that very seasoned (perfect) quilters would show quilt after quilt after quilt that they had completed that month. I’m talking LARGE ones, too. And those same quilters would do this month after month. When did they eat? Or sleep?
But, alas, our guild grew and now there is a limit of two quilts at the end of our meetings. I’m sure those fantastic, prolific quilters are still churning out the quilts!
Below is a small Show and Tell segment.
Bootheel Quilters’ Guild of Sikeston, MO had a wonderful class turnout.
Enjoy these class works of art, finished and shared by area quilters at their Show and Tell.
Featured are three very different “Phoebee” bee quilts, “Kate”, the bouquet, and “Belle”, the butterfly, each using BOTH sides of fabric! Shout out to JoAnn, Betty, Chris, Darlene, and Debbie for sharing their quilts!
Notice the threePhoebee quilts that look nothing alike! Each quilter adds their own loving touches and personality through fabric choices and placement of the broderie perse elements.
Rummage your stash to use three random fabrics OR choose a line of fabrics you love. Make the Contrary Wife blocks in this one block quilt pattern by using both sides of three fabrics on a soft white background! Learn to audition BOTH sides (I tell you how) and discover the nuances of value that’ll make your quilts sing!
I used a line of fabric featuring sea life, but you could make this quilt with Christmas, Americana, florals…any theme or colorway you like!
Toss in a sweet background fabric…
It can be solid…or NOT. As long as the values work together (I tell you how), you can choose a background you love!
The Contrary Wife quilt block has been, well, around the block a few times! The key to the sparkling nature of this quilt is the use of the reverse sides in each block and the placement of the blocks.
“Treasures” was so named because I’m continually amazed by the effect of using both sides of fabric…it’s like the quiet moment of discovering a precious gem in packed antique store. While I love all kinds of quilts, the ones that really get my juices flowing are the ones I have to linger over a bit…that make me pause…ponder.
I hope you like the “Treasures” quilt pattern as much as I. If you like these fabrics, stay tuned to my Etsy shop for fabric kits coming soon!
You can SHOPHERE for all my patterns and focus fabric kits.
Are UFOs, PIGS, or WIPs a part of your New Years Quilting Resolutions?
UnFinished Objects, Projects in Grocery Sacks, and Works in Progress can weigh a quilter down if she or he isn’t careful!
Maybe you could use this easy binding technique to get some of your projects out of the way and off your mind. The Lickety-Split Quilt Binding makes that last big step go quickly and looks smart!
When I have “git-er-done” quilts on my quilting resolutions list, this is my go-to technique. This technique provides a 2 1/4″ or a 2″ binding (for mini quilts) options for those quilts that don’t require a hand-turned binding. See this original binding method here – it finishes a larger than 2 1/2 inch size binding.
What’s nice about this machine stitched binding is that it gives your quilt a tiny burst of contrasting color between the quilt and the binding, appearing to be piping or a “micro-flange”. This also gives your needle a perfect nesting line for stitching on.
How to:
2 1/4 ” binding: Cut main binding strips 1 1/4″ width and cut the accent strips (piping look) slightly larger at 1 1/2″ width.
2″ binding: Cut main binding strips 1 1/8″ width and cut the accent strips (piping look) slightly larger at 1 3/8″.
Simply cut your strips, sew them end to end and press like normal binding. Do this for both sets of strips. Then, with right sides together, sew your long strips, press the seam to the binding color.
With the seam facing down, align the edge of the binding along the edge of your quilt and stitch a scant 1/4 inch seam (or smaller than your final stitch seam. Lastly, using bobbin thread that matches your backing and upper thread to match the accent, turn your binding to the front of your quilt and stitch in the ditch between the two fabrics. You might use a seam guide and adjust your needle position to a comfortable spot.
And just like that – your binding is finished – Lickety Split!
Here’s to your health, happiness, and many finished quilts in 2020!
Need a new project? Shop more than 40 patterns at Creative Bee Studios that use BOTH beautiful sides of your fabric!
Here’s a little JOY from me to you this Christmas season.
Joy is in the air during this season when families come together, holiday foods are prepared, decorations adorn our homes, special gifts are given to those in need, and everyone is just a little bit nicer to one another. When heaven and nature sing, there is happiness in our world.
One of our holiday favorites is singing Christmas carols. Learn about the tradition of the Twelve Days of Christmas HERE in “Wild Goose Chase Quilt Under the Tree”.
Looking ahead to the Twelfth Day of Christmas (also known as Epiphany, Three Kings Day, Little Christmas), we recognize several things (in my understanding): the coming of the Magi (Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar), representing the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles (for all peoples); Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist; and the revelation of God in his Son as human in Jesus Christ.
Since on the Twelfth Day of Christmas we recognize the gifts brought by the Magi, gold (royal standing), frankincense (divine birth), and myrrh (mortality), I thought it appropriate to pass along a little gift of a mini Christmas tree template.
Download this FREE pdf pattern by clicking the link above. It’s just a little JOY, a miniature of the larger quilt patterns. You can use it to decorate gift bags or other items using BOTH sides of a scrap of fabric and fusible…and if you have a scanning/cutting machine, you can have all the cutting done for you!
To begin our annual Kiefner Christmas gathering (the Sunday before Christmas), we load up in our trucks and head out to a field at the family farm. This year I spotted a Wild Goose Chase at Kiefner Christmas.
After bringing in our food and drink to share, the afternoon begins in the field. Two of my brother-in-laws cut down the chosen tree and we snap precious family photos.
My father-in-law, Pop, and husband Matt at the tree cutting.
Next, back at the house, the grandkids decorate the freshly cut tree. When that is finished, we gather around the long dining table to sing carols, boisterously. Afterward we enjoy a gift exchange, hot soup and goodies, and lots of visiting.
In a quiet moment, I noticed my mother-in-law had placed a vintage quilt around the base of the tree. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect setting for the lovely work, obviously done by hand, long ago.
Wild Goose Chase under the tree
Seeing the quilt made me wonder how many quilters around the world had made quilts as Christmas gifts, wrapped them and placed them under a tree for a loved ones to open.
This blue and white quilt was a Wild Goose Chase pattern, as best I could tell without disturbing it’s placement. It was gifted to my mother-in-law from her brother, having belonged to his wife.
The “Wild Goose Chase” quilt block is said to have been named after families heading west in search of fortune. It is also called “Flying Geese” and “Oddfellows Cross”.
Maybe it was unintentional, but Luanne’s choice of quilt to wrap around the tree had an extra meaning for me.
You see, each year any new-comers to the Kiefner Christmas are required to star in the roles of the “Geese a Layin'” in our “Twelve Days of Christmas” (with motions) carol. There is a year-long quest for new geese and perhaps a bit of exaggerated drama about the role they are to play, just to make them nervous and have a little fun!
When this post was originally published (2019), I didn’t know that this Kiefner “Christmas at the Farm” would be our last with Pop. He absolutely loved the annual gathering and having everyone around. Pop especially loved the caroling led on the piano by his loving wife.
Each year, prior to singing our last of about 10 carols, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, Pop would read to us all the origin of the song and the true meaning of the words. In recent years, he’d choose a different grandchild each year to read the words for him. Read about how the song was used by Roman Catholics as a catechism when they weren’t allowed to freely practice their religion HERE.
Then came the fun. First, Pop would gather the “geese” near him and explain their task to sufficiently perform the role of a “goose-a-layin'”. Even with limited movement, Pop would gleefully take proper goose-squatting position and demonstrate the role. Next, the geese had to show they could perform their role before the singing began. (Pop had been known to stop the song and make the goose squat lower!)
Finally, after we reviewed the rest of the motions, we’d join in singing and laughing through the long carol.
Family Photo by Blake Kiefner of B Connaway Photography
Do you make Christmas quilts for gifts or do you decorate with quilt? Are quilts a part of your Christmas traditions?
Wishing you a wonderful time with family and friends this Christmas season.
Take a little time out of the bustle of the season to stitch up a primitive wool nativity scene.
O Holy Night is a simple wool wall hanging. It features Mary, Joseph and the babe in a nativity scene on a starlit night.
O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining. It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth.
O Holy Night
Both of our daughters sang for Christmas Eve church services when they were younger. After the early service, we hosted family for a meal and then we’d all head back to town for the candlelight service. O Holy Night, Mary, Did You Know, and Silent Night (to guitar) are the ones I remember most.
This O Holy Night nativity scene starts with a dark purple wool for the nighttime background. Choose any color for your stable. The gold wool depicts the glow of light, from the star and the presence of the Christ child. While I chose more traditional colors for Mary and Joseph, herringbone or other textured wools would add interest. Chain stitches add details the holy family. Blanket stitches finish the edges. I went outside to find the perfect stick for hanging this wool art.
Do quilts already play a part in your Christmas decorating? They do in mine! How about including some additional textures among the quilts?
Add texture with simple touches.
Explore some new techniques and textiles to add to your holiday handmade joy!
The main focus of my dining room is a texture-rich quilt! This quilt is great for decorating all winter long. I happen to love aqua as a Christmas color (year-round, really) and it’s here to stay in parts of my Christmas/winter decorating! Fun things to note on this quilt are the buttons, “pearl” necklaces on the birds, skate strings and glitzy fabrics.
Mr. Punch Needle Snowman is small enough to finish quickly and glue to the smallest canvas (available at Michael’s). Click on the link above for the free PDF download.
Snowflake Table Runner
I made this simple table runner from one wonderful piece of snowflake fabric. Next, I cut the glitzy snowflakes with an Accuquilt die and fused them in place. I did quick quilting on the top/batting. Then I added a ribbon of tiny white balls, like a piping. Finally, I layered it with the backing and turned it like a pillowcase- super fun and fast!
Wood Manger Scene Sign
Make a quick manger scene sign using Scan N Cut, a pre-made sign and shimmery vinyl!
Wool Candle Wrap
To make the candle wrap, I just cut strips of muslin on the diagonal and stitched down the middle of them onto a piece of wool. I then threw them in the washer and dryer with a load of towels and they came out nice and fuzzy. Connect the ends in back with a button and a thin hair elastic, sewn to the wool.
Just for fun, take a look at this Christmas bear quilt! I made it from a McKenna Ryan kit. His hat and glove were meant to be red cotton, but instead I made them from a fun aqua cotton and the ribbing from an old wool sweater that was in my late mother-in-law’s stash.
Be sure to check out the Christmas quilt patterns made with BOTH beautiful sides of fabric HERE!
Choosing colors for quilts doesn’t have to be difficult. While it might not be simple, using Nature’s Color Wheel can help!
Being a quilter who likes to have more than one quilt idea going at a time, I like to use nature to help guide my color choices for a quilt.
If you are in a time crunch or have run across a line of fabrics you adore, choosing fabric and colors for your next quilt can be a simple, quick process. I find that every now and then I need to grab a kit and make it up, quick as possible.
Most often, though, I like to have a longer process for choosing my quilt colors and fabrics. It’s a process. A dance, actually. You know, it involves colors, value, hue, and tints. But also, this requires a careful consideration of how each fabric interacts with one another, based on its placement. And sometimes the fabrics and the project need to…age.
If you like to have more than one quilting iron in the fire, like me, maybe you cherish this process, too!
When choosing my own fabrics for a quilt, there are two concepts I often rely on: color in nature and value.
First, let’s look at color. Nature just doesn’t get it wrong. Start observing natural settings, plants, animals, bugs, everything around you. Take pictures, or pin ideas to an idea boards. This might be in the form of photos in an album on your phone.
There are many variations in the blooms above. These petals aren’t the truest red of the color wheel, but variations to the left and right. Shades of pinks and oranges grace these blooms. That’s why they look so beautiful with the very TRUE green!
Observe nature to choose colors and you can’t go wrong. I like to think of it as Nature’s Color Wheel.
The excitement in the photo above is partially from the vibrancy of the colors, but also the difference in value.
This beach sunset below may be dark, but even it has many colors in it, if you look carefully. Notice the purples, greens, pinks, coral, and blues? The values in this photo are more similar. Notice the calming effect?
Christmas traditions abound. It is a season filled with activities we do over and over. Traditional Christmas colors are a big part of that tradition. It’s the things you do every year, without fail. Like rules, you don’t mess with tradition!
But families change. Kids grow up. Christmas traditions (including colors) do change.
What do traditional Christmas colors have to do with quilting?
I always took pride in our Christmas traditions from decorations to cookies. We listened to certain music and watched specific Christmas movies. We always baked the same cookie recipes. I actually used to think I had to use every decoration we owned each year.
Well, a few years back, aqua became the new Christmas color…wait, what? That’s not even one of the traditional Christmas colors!
It took me a moment…but only a moment, to embrace that idea. I threw that red and green tradition (rule) out the window!
(To be fair, aqua happens to be my favorite color.)
Therefore, I stopped using my quilts of traditional Christmas colors of red and green anymore. As quilters, you’ll understand, I had to make new ones with all the pretty blues!
I think a lot of people embraced the blue Christmas – for one or two seasons. However, for me it was a NEW tradition!
In other words, I found that my comforting traditions were holding me back. Similarly, the rules I’d embraced as a quilter were doing the same.
For example, last year I realized that the beloved tradition I’d started at our old house of making St. Lucia Bread, hadn’t risen properly one time at our new house – ten years in a row!(I’d tried all the yeast tricks, too.)
I made the original “JOY” quilt pattern using a vintage ornament fabric that was very classic Christmas colors. Therefore, in a need to show how a variety of fabrics could be used for this pattern, I stitched this new JOY – using both beautiful sides of a digital aqua Hoffman panel!
JOY Quilt Pattern
Fast forward to grown kids, job schedules, tight budgets, and limited time together. We changed Christmas traditions this year. We are brainstorming about how to make our time fun and meaningful. What’s interesting is that the more we talk about setting aside our old traditions (rules), the more creative we have become in our brainstorming. A weight was lifted.
Seriously, how is this post about quilting?
Now, when I first started quilting, I was all about the rules (traditions). I wanted to learn every single one of them. Some were paramount to good technique and skill-building and very important. Others were just plain silly. I heard a quilter say one day, “Rules are meant to be broken”.
It was then I realized I had ingested each one of those rules. I realized that some rules (traditions) were limiting my joy for quilting and my creativity for fear of breaking them.
Therefore, I’ve noticed now that I watch for the rule-breakers in quilting. Their work excites and inspires me, regardless if the technique is traditional or contemporary.
If you know me personally, you know I embrace tradition. If you are familiar with Lutherans, I am a “page 5 of the old, OLD hymnal” kind of gal!
So, don’t let your need for traditions RULE your world…whether it’s Christmas or quilting.
In conclusion: This 2020 Christmas Traditions update shows that I still love aqua – but now I include red! Here is the NEW pattern, JOYFUL! See how her borders sparkle? #usebothsides
