Christmas is Around the Corner
- Astrid
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Inspiration
Design
I can hardly believe it is getting to be that time of year again. Christmas is right around the corner, and it is time to start making those Christmas quilts! I took this photo last year at Lake Tahoe, and it's just the right shot to give me some Christmas inspiration! I love the white of the snow, and the charming red shack surrounded by the green and brown trees. It's enough mystery and charm to get my creative juices flowing. I will use this as photo as my color palette. Red, green, shades of brown and gray, and lots of white will make a nice scene.
One of the most memorable icons of Christmas aside from the major ones like trees, Santa, and gifts is a wreath. When I was growing up, there were wreaths on every door. What better place to start than with a green wreath?
About a year ago, I began using a program called PreQuilt . It is a great starter for designing and imagining what a quilt could be before diving in.
Now there are so many creative ways to make a wreath, but I settled on using half square triangles in the form a friendship star. It would go right in the center, and be the focal point of the piece. Here you can see the layout on my iPad. By the way, that iPad stand is amazing to have around!
As you can likely guess, there are hours of evening quilting that went into this one. For some reason, that is when I do most of my quilting. Maybe it's the end of a long work day, or maybe it's just that while the sun is up I need to be out and about. Whatever the reason, for me it is the most productive time for quilting. A couple of hours at a time helps me relax.
Process
Now every quilter wants to know what the quilt will look like before it is assembled, or at least THIS quilter does ;-). I tacked a king-sized flannel sheet to the wall to serve as a temporary design wall. Typically I have a 4x6 foot design wall available, but this being queen sized meant I needed something bigger.
You can see the white flannel sheet holding the pieces in place which served as a temporary background too since I would be using white fabric for the main portion. Arranging the pine trees, the snowflakes, and the red/white 9 patch squares took far longer than I had expected. I came up with a few different arrangements, but settled on this one as sort of a medallion style. Designing and redesigning really helps build a better quilt in the end. Coming back often with fresh eyes allows the quilt to change into a more refined design.
This one was a few months in the design process. I wanted to incorporate snowflakes, pine trees, and red "ornaments" amid the snow to capture the feel I often associate with Christmas.
Lint rollers are my new best friend! I use them whenever I want to pick up stray threads from the quilt top (or anywhere else). I learned the hard way that red threads can show through the white fabric. Now I get rid of them beforehand. I read somewhere you can use a tiny crochet hook to fish out threads. I tried it, and it worked okay. But I'd rather not cross that bridge again.
Finishing
At last, the pièce de résistance, the gray borders tying it all together and sectioning it into bed-sized sections. The center borders are the width of a queen mattress, and the outer borders add drop to the sides. I am so excited to use the quilt this year! And today, as I write this, though it is not actually cold and snowy, it is cold and rainy. Close enough.
Bailey likes it too! I'm sure she has her eyes on a squirrel or rabbit in this moment. The quilt is a launching pad! Haha!
Coloring Page
This is the mock up from PreQuilt showing the necessary blocks. The white field at the top is for any type of customization. Perhaps custom quilting, or some embroidery. Fill as desired.
Feel free to print out a coloring page for this pattern below, and choose your own palette!
Assembly
Here is a VERY skeletal outline of the pattern. It does not include the measurements for the many background pieces.
White Background Fabric | 4 yards |
Green Fabric | ⅛ yard per shade (I used 4) |
Red Fabric | ⅞ yard |
Gray | 3 yards |
Backing | I used a king size bed sheet |
Make 14 nine-patch blocks measuring 9” x 9” finished. For 6 of the blocks, sew a triangle piece to each side creating an on point block or square in a square.
About 74 half square triangles were used. Assemble half square triangles measuring 3” finished, and background strips for wreath as shown in the grid, alternating colors and directions to match the layout. There should be 32. The trees use the remaining at 42 HSTs.
The wreath center in background fabric is 9” x 9” finished.
Assemble sawtooth stars for 4” finished blocks and 6” finished blocks. Place according to grid.
Inside borders are 4” finished, and outer borders are 6” finished.
Try your own palette! Download this free coloring page.
Thanks for making it to the bottom of this post. May you enjoy your next endeavor, and as always, happy quilting!
~Astrid
Quilt Artisan
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