Tuesday, October 10, 2023

An October Finish Anticipating the Holiday Season

This year's Christmas/holiday quilt is finally finished! I had a chance to take a few outdoor photos on the last warm and sunny day we had last week.


The leaves have been falling steadily for the past couple weeks.  This year's fall colors are somewhat muted and many trees are just dropping dry brown leaves, not having turned their usual bright display. Most likely due to our dry summer and the fact that we haven't had a cold snap with frosty nights yet. I haven't bothered to take my usual seasonal photos as a result.


The backing for this quilt is a very subtle cream print, a wide back from a few years ago.  I ditch quilted every single seam on the Janome and then hand quilted a cross-hatch in each block.  With the wool batting, the quilt is very lightweight and a bit puffy and soft.  The finished size is about 68x76 inches. And I should mention here that my inspiration for this quilt came from Gigi's Thimble blog here.
That plus a bin of some older French General and similar fabrics that had been calling my name for several years.



Next up in the hoop is my Vintage Spin top, the first block already quilted. Just a simple outline around the circles and next to the ditch in the light colored wedges.  If I can complete one block every 3 days this might just be another finish for the year.  Not promising anything at this point, but having fun with it so far.


Til next time, cherish each day and the blessings within. 






7 comments:

Janet O. said...

It looks like a lovely, classic quilt for the holidays--or any time, really. Can't believe you can get it hand quilted so quickly.
Your Vintage spin block looks great. I need your kind of dedication to get some hand quilting done!

Lizzy D said...

Your quilts are both beautiful. The red and ''white'' one patch will be so cozy with the wool batting. Vintage Spin is so cool, I always love quirky quilts like this one.

Maybe the leaves will still turn? Those that hang on, like oaks? As you know there are few trees here, but those that are don't turn til around Veterans Day.

lizzy

Robin said...

You've really quilted up this quilt fast (at least from my vantage point). I like the idea of using both hand and machine quilting in the same quilt. I'm going to have to do that more often. Nice finish!

Nancy said...

Your red and light quilt looks so invitingly comfortable. It will be just the thing for a winter's nap. What brand of wool batting did you use? I'm interested in trying wool for both its warm and light weight.
Your Vintage Spin block looks great. Are you hand or machine quilting it?

Barbara said...

A lovely holiday finish and it looks so soft and comfy! Your quilted Vintage Spin block is wonderful! What a fun quilt to work on in the months ahead. Our leaves peaked a couple weeks ago but I never took my final round of photos due to lots of rain.

Nann said...

It's a lovely quilt -- very comfortable/comforting. After a lot of rain at the end of the week the leaves are finally turning color here in northeasternmost Illinois.

Rebecca in AK said...

Your Christmas quilt is just lovely! I like the idea of machine and hand quilting combined. I should do that on the quilts I want to hand quilt, maybe I would actually get them finished. The leaves are long gone here.