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Saturday, December 23, 2023

Merry Christmas, friends!

It has been over two months since I posted and I don't blame anyone who has given up on me. I almost did.

About the only thing quilt related that I have done lately is pick up quilts from my long arm quilter. I am always so pleased with what she does, that if I was independently wealthy, I might have her quilt everything I piece. But at least two of the quilts are Christmas themed.

First up is an oldie, but goodie from 2012. This is Flurry. Click that link for the pattern from Moda. I made mine a bit smaller for a wall hanging size.


I had my quilter do an all over design in the center, ditch stitch in the narrow red border, and a swirl pattern along the outer border. I won the fabrics to make this from LuAnn's Loose Threads blog and actually got the top put together in reasonably good time. Just never got it quilted, until now.

Another Christmas quilt that finally got quilted (but not bound) before Christmas is what I called Rocky Mountain Stars. It is a Stretched Star pattern, using Bonnie Hunter's free pattern called Smokey Mountain Stars. I pieced this in 2011.


I added an extra row to the width and length. Like Bonnie's, mine was made from men's thrift store shirts. I asked my quilter to do a meander with a random holly and berry design thrown into the mix. I think she did an excellent job. She also did berries in the cranberry colored border, and a holly and berry design in the outer border, as you can see below.


 

The next one is not a Christmas quilt, but the colors, for the most part, would work for the holiday. This is made up from blocks that were sent to me by former blogger Karen Beigh. These blocks were from two different projects, but I thought they combined well to make a lovely quilt. I put this top together in 2016.




I told my quilter that I definitely wanted feathers in this quilt, and she did not disappoint.
I have no idea what to name this one.






Further Christmas stitching occurred at my November guild meeting. We were making "quilt as you go" placemats for the local "Meals on Wheels", and I chose to make mine Christmasy. 


We are a very small guild, and we focus on making doll quilts and mini quilts. We are appropriately named "Sew Small Guild". That is supposed to reference what we sew, not the size of our group. But we are down to 8 members, with two more saying they are joining up in January. Between the 8 of us, we turned in 36 placemats.

I love those fabrics in the top placemat. All but one are from an early Judie Rothermel Christmas line--Christmas colors, but not Christmas prints. That is my preference. I had some of this line many years ago, but used up the last scrap of it in a Pam Buda SAL last Christmas. One of our guild members brought strips from this line to our placemat making session, and it was a pleasure to sew with them.




I used the scraps to make this mini quilt for a friend for Christmas. It started out to be a mug rug, but ended up a little big for that role, but kind of small for a quilt. I can't believe I just said that!
She has it now, so I thought it was okay to share it.









For my birthday last month hubby took me to a first annual Nativity Market in Salt Lake City. Hundreds of nativities available for sale. I am drawn to the international nativities, and that is where hubby snapped this photo. Above my head you can see the sign for the area where I spent my money--"Nativities From Around the World". I came home with three new ones--one from Peru, one from Kenya, and one from Columbia. And then my neighbor to the west of our farm gave me one she brought back from Argentina, where she and her husband have been providing leadership for a mission there for the past three years. When I get a chance I will update my nativity page and let you know, so you can see the new additions, if you are interested.


Then early this month I went to a nativity display at a local church. The posters said there would be a thousand nativities on display, from around the world. Sounded wonderful to me. This is the sight that met my eyes when I walked into the church's "Cultural Hall".
Over 1000 nativities everywhere you looked, in every imaginable style and theme, from countries all over the world. And here's the kicker--they all belong to one woman!!! And to top that, this is only half of her collection. I can't fathom that, but it is a good warning not to get too caught up in your collecting of anything. My sister referred to this as a "holy hoard". But there were some very beautiful, reverent nativities, and I spent well over an hour browsing through them and occasionally speaking with the owner as she wandered among the visitors answering questions.

Oh, I need to post more often. I have cut out many things I had intended to share because this is so long, but I really want to show you this. Another splurge on my birthday was a new case for my violin.
It is carbon fiber and the color is called lavender, though it is much lighter in color than any lavender I have grown. I prefer to call it lilac. I have had the same light brown case for this violin since my parents replaced my starter violin when I was 15. That old case was over 50 years old! Christmas Eve morning (does that make sense?) I am playing a violin duet in church with a young gal that is almost 50 years my junior. In preparation had my violin refurbished last month (it has been 17 years since I last played in church), and figured it was time for a case upgrade. I love this case. It makes me smile every time I look at it.

I am sorry that it has taken me so horribly long to get a post written. Some of you may recall that I offered a Kathleen Tracy book in my last post (months ago). Denice is the winner of the book, and she has been notified via email.

If you are celebrating Christmas, I hope you have a joyous and peaceful holiday commemorating the birth of our Savior.
Until next time,
Be creative, and be kind.
Janet O.

From a recent evening walk. This is not the sunset in the west, it is a reflection of the sunset over on the eastern side of the valley, and it happened to be brighter and more colorful than the sunset itself. Click the photo to enlarge and get the full effect.




27 comments:

  1. such a newsy post...so glad to catch up with you....i love that first quilt...i have the pattern and now i must make it! very nice christmasy finishes all...and what a birthday gift! all those beautiful nativity sets...no doubt it was a difficult choice...blessed christmas to you and your family!

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  2. Your quilts are beautiful. I’ve been on a quilting kick deriven with the intent of reducing my fabric stash. Whew, that’s a lot of nativities! Collections start so innocently.

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  3. You HAVE been busy! I love that you collect nativities. My daughter-in-law has been gifting my two grand daughters (nieces to DIL) a piece to a nativity each Christmas, as her mother did for her and her sisters. When the grands are grown they will each have their own nativity to take with them. I thought it a wonderful tradition and gift. Definitely show some of yours someday.

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  4. A lovely post Janet - nice to see you here in blogland (hehe)! I love your new quilts. I didn't know you played the violin - I hope your performance goes well. That's an amazing amount of nativity sets!! Enjoy your Christmas time - best wishes to you and your family xx

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  5. Always wonderful to hear from you and see some of your quilty goodness! I'm definitely a fan of understated Christmas quilts like yours. Looking forward to seeing your nativity collection additions as well as some from the exhibition. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

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  6. Oh so much to comment upon. . . I'm so glad you were able to get that first quilt finally quilted. It will be really fun to decorate with. I remember the star quilt, it is a stunner. I love the way the quilter made it even more special. I miss Karen Beigh's blog. She used to pick me up and inspire me to do more and try hard things. You're so fortunate to have a piece of her. The nativities at the church are breath-taking. I can't imagine having that many and the set up must have taken hours. I'm so glad you got to go to that as well as the SL market. I am so not in the know around here. I've got to do a better job keeping track of shows and activities close by. I look forward to seeing your display with the new pieces. The sunset in the east is amazing.

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  7. What a fun and beautiful group of quilts! I love the fabrics in your stretched stars quilt. Nice job in combining Karen Beigh's blocks to make such a beautiful quilt. Delightful mini, too.
    For a number of years our stake hosted a Nativity display. It was packed and very popular. So glad you were able go to the market and found several you wanted to take home. I'll look forward to seeing them sometime.
    Congrats on your new violin case. It looks very protective. I hope your congregation appreciated your duet. I always admire those with musical abilities who are willing to share.
    I have a friend who grew up in Idaho and lives in NM now who wrote in a letter about seeing the sunset in the east. It really is amazing!
    Merry Christmas to you and yours, Janet.

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  8. Merry Christmas to you and yours. Such a nice newsy catch up. I look forward to seeing you on Zoom next year.

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  9. Enjoyed your post very much and hope you keep going with it! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you! Gladi Porsche

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  10. Your quilts are really beautiful! I made that stretched star pattern for my dad, rec'd it back after his death, and passed it along to a resident of Paradise who had lost everything. I really love that quilt! Your quilter is good!
    How amazing to see the nativities all in one place. Wonder what will happen to them all when the women passes.
    Blessings to you and your family!

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  11. Merry Christmas to you also, Janet. I found you during the Barrister sew along. It was a fun project. So glad you are still doing blog posting even if irregular. Reassuring in these winding down times. Your writing is always so enjoyable. Thanks. Neame

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  12. We haven't forgotten you!! Thanks so much for the Colorful Nativity. I have no where near 1000 Nativities. Guess I'm safe from being called a Holy hoarder. Over 60 in my Living room right now. I do love them! The Ornaments are easier to collect and store.
    Beautiful Quilts and Quilting. Glad you could go to the Nativity event in SLC.

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  13. I love your rocky mountain stars! Merry Christmas! :0)

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  14. It's not easy to be creative AND and prolific blogger! I also, made that Christmas Boxes quilt - wonderful result!

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  15. gorgeous quilts.....nice to have them done.......wow you play violin???? maybe one day on zoom you may need to give a recital........what ever you played for church will be fine.........
    the sunset is beautiful.......Merry Christmas.........see you soon on zoom..........

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  16. The new quilts are lovely! Merry Christmas, Janet!

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  17. Lovely to see you post again Janet. I love all the quilts you have shown, both large & small! I especially love all their christmassy colours ... even your friends mini quilt is wonderful. The placemats would have been well received I am sure. We made stockings for our local Foodbank & our patchwork store filled them with choccies. Those nativity sets are just amazing - gosh One Womans collection! I'd hate the job of packing all those away. Wishing you a wonderful festive season Janet x0x

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  18. Merry Christmas, Janet! I should snap photos of my various International nativities before I put them away for the year. You look great, I am so happy to see that you were able to attend such great events. Your Christmas quilts, though the years, is inspiring. I have a few Christmas flimsies hanging in the "to be quilted" queue that I would be embarrassed to put a year to! There's always next year, right?!

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  19. Oh, Janet, your quilts are gorgeous and BIG!! Well, most of them are big!! Was the Church building with the Nativities up in North Bend? That's where we saw them when I was living there!! Absolutely amazing!! Your violin case is really fun!! Great color!! How was your Christmas duo on Christmas Day? We had pink skies like that last night!! Not so common here but really wonderful when we do get the pink sky!! Love you and miss you!!

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  20. Hi Janet. I love your banner of the mountains. They look like Cache Valley. Am I right? It is a beautiful place to live. I spent 8 years of my life there.

    Love the nativities!! It sounds super fun that you picked up some from around the world.

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  21. Your finished quilts are stunning, as per usual! I love seeing 'big' quilts in your posts! LOL!! :) Small guilds can be nice and cozy. Ours is so big, I don't know half the gals in it. But it helps if you're going to put on a huge quilt show. So I guess they both have their pluses! I'm so glad you had a good time on your birthday trip. And your new violin case is really lovely! What a special treat for a special instrument (not to mention the special lady to whom it belongs). I hope you had a Merry Christmas ... and have a very Happy New Year! Hugs! :)

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  22. I'll never give up on you Janet. I always like to see a post of what your up to.
    Beautiful Chirstmas Quilts and decorations.
    I too love Nativity Sets and that display was incredible! My MIL collected them when she traveled. I may have already told you that. She collected small ones with Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.
    I hope you'll share your new ones with us before they are put away.
    Mine is hand carved from Germany from her.
    Glorious photo of your mountains!
    Happy New Year Friend
    xo

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  23. p.s. what a beautiful violin case! wow!

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  24. Where is your nativity page? I'd love to check it out!

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  25. Good to see you in zoom. Those quilts look wonderful, the quilting finishes them beautifully. Belated birthday wishes, it looks like you had a great day.

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  26. I can't believe you said that either - too small for a quilt! Who are you and what have you done with Janet!! ha ha ha...

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