When I worked for a quilt shop, I made small quilts as store samples. Before long, I had a “collection”. I shared most, but kept some. I like to decorate for the seasons and, especially, holidays. A fan of handwork and always ready to learn something new, I practiced new techniques on these achievable little projects into seasonal door quilts. And plenty of familiar methods provided a nice comfort level with each project.
I like to remind the neighbors that we celebrate, so I started hanging these small seasonal quilts hang on our front door. The sheltered door keeps the quilts clean and dry(ish) in the damp Pacific Northwest.
Because the design details are not easy to see from the street, they now hang on the door into the kitchen from the garage. In our neighborhood, our friends ring the garage door bell and come in that way. It saves steps – and keeps shoes drier than wading through the grass in the parking strip. And I did say FRIENDS, the only ones who overlook the mess in the garage. 🙂
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Everyone needs a “winter” quilt, and these penguins star in my Happy New Year quilt. I added a little embroidery for the skates to the foundation paper pieced quilt.
We’re Irish, so I had to have a St. Patrick’s Day quilt for Dad. I enjoyed the mix of techniques: traditional piecing, applique and long stitch with button embellishment.
I love the excitement of patriotic holidays – Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July, so I use my Patriotic Quilt a lot! It goes on display from Memorial Day, through Flag Day, then I take it down after the 4th of July. The old-fashioned style of this wool appliqué pattern speaks to small town parades and family picnics. Mostly blanket stitch, I assembled this quilt in a jiffy.
And, of course, the freedom to quilt is a cause for celebration, so this patriotic-themed little quilt hangs prominently.
Halloween: too much fun for just one quilt – so I made two. “My Pritty” is a fanciful folk art wool appliqué quilt with some fun embroidery for embellishment. The black cat “frame” adds to the smile-factor of the piece. And, did I say I love black cats? I made the jack o’ lantern quilt twice – once for me and once for my cousin. With foundation paper piecing, sewing on the lines is easy.
For the Thanksgiving quilt, I recruited my mother into the act. I drew the outline pattern on fabric, then Joyce colored the design with fabric crayons. After Joyce finished coloring, I embroidered the outline and finished the quilt.
The Christmas quilt holds many memories. Years ago, I attended Laura Estes’ 3-D appliqué class in Leavenworth, Washington, with three co-workers. My first “girls’ sleepover” since college, and even though one of us got sick, we had so much fun! When I had a chance to make Nancy Pearson’s “Silent Night” quilt, I used Laura’s techniques to make 3-D holly leaves to add some depth. Every year when this “A Christmas Story” quilt comes out, I remember my years at QuiltWorks Northwest and the wonderful ladies I worked with those many years ago.
This quilt also provided a lesson in fabric choices. I wanted to stipple stitch the white-on-white background, but after much frustration – and a trip to the machine repair shop – the technician asked me how important it was to stipple stitch that fabric. Seems that white-on-white is painted instead of printed. Who knew? The paint on the surface of the fabric deflected the needle which then skipped stitches. So, as much as I would like to do some background stitching on this, due to my choices, it is not possible. Word to the wise….
See all of the quilt projects on Create Whimsy!