Holiday Lap Quilt

Made over 2 afternoons just for myself to use for naps in December!  This is the SUPER simple split 9-patch made with a pack of Christmas charms and 4 strips of 5" white cut into squares and 2 strips (plus a  few charms) of red, with a 4 1/2" border (again a few stray charms in the corners.)  I made (8) 9-patch units with red in the center, charms in the corners, and white in the other spots and then "split" them.  Real fun!

I could do it again with FLANNEL charms........ baby charms......... charms charms charms!

A warm Christmas Quilt

Big block in traditional colors made this quilt go together quick.  But then I put it away for a few years and pulled it out this Christmas-time to quilt with my new Juki machine.  Machine quilting the bigger quilts is so easy on the Juki!  This quilt went to my grand-niece Jenny for her Christmas season bed!

A Stocking, not a quilt!

A new baby in the family!  Just an excuse to make quilts and such!

Count To Christmas

Made a pair of Christmas Quilts with little pockets, an Advent Calendar.  The panel with the monkey-numbers was purchased on a quilt run last spring.  The blocks are charms; one cut from my scrap box, one a charm pack.  Quick, sweet, easy, for some special little girls!

 There is a little stuffed Santa Monkey that can travel from pocket to pocket to help count the days until December 25th. Candies or treats could be placed in the pockets as well.... but I suspect Little Girls might find that such a temptation!

Merry Christmas, Emma and Mai Mai!  Merry Christmas, Carrie!

Old is New Again

The block known as 54-40 or Fight has always been interesting to me.  Such an odd name!  Those triangle star points!  The corners can be HST's, or 4 patches, or even plain squares.  I got a triangle ruler a few months ago, and it has opened up blocks that before I used to cut with paper patterns, slowly accidentally slicing off bits and pieces of my template as I cut.

The slogan 54-40 or fight was from a mid 1850's dispute between  Britain and the US over territories in what is now Oregon.  One of the boundaries was the parallel on the map with the coordinates 54,40.  The slogan was also used by James  Polk, democrat, in his successful bid for the presidency.

At that time, women were denied the vote, but would often express their political views in their "Women's Work," such as quilting.  So to me, the thing I like about the block is it's association with women being politically active at a time they were denied that right.

The fabric collection I used to make my small quilt came from a reproduction set of 6 fabrics (and I added a few from the scrap box) named "Old is New Again," since we may tend to think pink and black is a modern color combination.  This collection was put together from reproduction fabrics of fabrics popular together in the 1840's. 

Though they appear to mirror one another, in reality all the blocks have a dark center.  There are also a few blocks where I had to piece some pinks together to finish the block since I accidentally made one too many black-pointed star when I really needed one more PINK pointed star!  Love it when I end up making these little mistakes.  Reminds me of myself! 

UPDATE: This quilt found a living home with Romana Uher in 2015.

Little Houses

Very simple little charm square mini quilt.  Machine applique raw-edge for the doors and windows.  The 5" hexagon template for the roofs.  It seems very simple.... maybe I will embroider some flowers, or add some yo-yo flowers?

Midwinter Reds

Just a little tumbler quilt made from a charm pack named "Midwinter Reds."  I'll use it as a table runner.