The Scandinavian Christmas quilt

Honestly, I went to my favorite local quilt shop for a couple of neutral cream and tan fabrics for a stealth quilt I have in my head:  lots of piecing but little color contrast.  Yes, I know that's not my usual style, but when the environment  the proposed quilt will co-star in is very pale, something intricate but also pale is in order.

Or so I thought.  Selecting quiet prints  involved getting into the taupe and tan neighborhood, not my usual section of the color world.  The Lecien "Scandinavian Christmas" fabrics caught my eye, especially the tan with red polka-dot mushrooms, and the taupe with tall houses, feather Christmas Trees, and Father Christmas.

You'll see in my finished blocks that with all the best intentions, I still wound up using red  prints and even deep scarlet flowers in the mix.  So much for a quiet, reserved, even restrained quilt.

Center 

First border corner blocks and photographer's shadow.  Guess who was in a hurry.

Outer border corner blocks

Lovely how all the different manufacturers color palates worked for this quilt.  The center of this star block is the fabulous "Hometowns" fabric from Moda.

So, during the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, I will list many things for which I am grateful, among them Fuji apples, cell phones, a healthy family, good friends, snow on the mountains, life, liberty,  and the pursuit of quilt fabrics.

At the end of the Scandinavian Christmas project I will undoubtedly have a batch of extra tan fabrics.  Hmm.  Sounds like a give-away in the making. Speaking of bits and pieces, I asked several friends for their opinions of, in quilt fabrics, how small is too small a scrap to keep.  We'll delete the names to protect the innocent:

Response 1:  "Don't keep anything smaller than a fat quarter."

Response 2:  "It depends.  Usually I don't keep anything smaller than a two and a half inch square."

Response 3:  "You mean people throw scraps away?"

Send me your response.  In fact, send me your response and I'll put you in a drawing for a fabulous assortment of bits and pieces.  None smaller than 2.5 inches.

Quilts for the table

The Christmas Dishes table quilt, designed  for Village Dry Goods quilt shop in Brigham City, in the shop at last.

Closer view of quilt on table.  

Check the November 15 post for a close-up of the plates.  The story of this quilt is simple.  The Christmas print fabrics are all right by the front door of the shop, with great natural light.  The whimsical elf prints were new, and practically shouted to be taken home and used in a quilt right away.  My applique quilts often take a year, but this one was machine pieced, hand appliqued, and machine quilted in less than a week.   

So, there's the Riley Blake Christmas Candy plate quilt, this table quilt, the sibling of this one done in more formal Christmas fabrics.  Still not bored with Dresden plates!

Village Dry Goods Christmas Table Quilt

Pattern Cover for Village Dry Goods Christmas Table Quilt

I've been having too much fun with the Dresden Plate variations.  As you can see, the first table quilt is finished.  It's on display at the Village Dry Goods shop www.villagedrygoods.com.  Kits with pattern will be available, but the patterns are also for sale separately.

This week I'm making Frog Pants for toddler Mia (her dad's request--at least the pants part.) The fish quilt (Grampa Says I'm a Keeper) is done except for finishing the final stitching of the binding.