Thursday, December 3, 2015

Christmas Blast From the Past

It rained overnight so I couldn't haul the Christmas quilt on our bed out onto the patio for a photo shoot; therefore the throwback is this wallhanging I started in 2001 and finished in 2006:
It measures 36 3/8 by 37", not quite square.

It is from Quilter's Newletter "Quilt It For Christmas" 2000.  I started the embroidery in 2001, according to my label, and finished the quilt in 2006.  The original in the magazine was done in redwork; I prefer blue, and besides I had quite a few scraps from my Snowmen and Mittens quilt I made, with each of my daughters doing the mitten strings embroidery on it, in 1996.  This one:
Love everything about this quilt. That pillow, you ask? Started stitching in 2004, finished in 2005. Yep, sneaking in a couple other Christmas throwbacks here, bahaha.
Back to the main subject:
I clearly remember where I was stitching the embroidery:  a bunch of it on a July camping trip to Touchwood Lake in northeastern Alberta with our daughters, my husband's brother and his wife, and their son, daughter and two little kids.  Although it poured rain nearly the entire weekend, we had a terrific time, lots of hilarity.  One of my all-time favourite photos is of my girls, fully clad in t-shirt and jeans (it was pretty cool in the bush where our campsite was), once I gave the "oh what the hell, go for it" answer they wanted, running Mach 6 into the lake!  By the time we'd walked down to the beach and we were in full-on sunshine, it was HOT!
Update!  Well, I had to find that photo, and here it is!  How I love it.
Ha: a photo of a photo.  Good memory: it was July!  Brianne was 15, Dayna 13. Good times.

Here is the back:
A Debbie Mumm print I have always loved.  Pieced back even back then! This is a scrap from my tree skirt (too bad I can't slip in a pic of that, but it's in Florida), and the label, pieced right into the backing.
I quilted it as the pattern did, putting the cross-hatching behind the embroidery (well worth the extra effort) and echoing a quarter inch from the edge along two sides of the triangles.  The pattern has 5 borders after the stitching; I had to make 6, adding in a 1/2" extra one so that the outer two triangle borders would fit.  I used a ton of different whites and ivories, now known as low volume prints, for the white triangles.  I have loved scrappy quilts from the get-go, and it shows.  The more fabric in a quilt, the better, IMHO.

The label:
In the bottom snowy layer of two of the trees on the label, I wrote "Embroidered 2001" and "Quilted 2006".  So happy I am a label-nut!
I brought this baby home in my carry-on from Florida, as that is where the bulk of my decorations are, since we haven't been in Canada for a Christmas since 2004, except for once in 2006!  The pillow was carried in my arms on the plane.  Yes, I was one of those annoying people I love to hate, who had 3 carry-on items, not TWO as they kept saying was federal law...my purse, my carry-on suitcase and that pillow.  Oopsie.

Of course, as soon as I laid the quilt down on the floor in front of the patio door for natural light photos, someone parked her furry butt on it within seconds, no lie.
Linking up with Jenn at A Quarter Inch from the Edge for TBT.  It's all Christmas over there so check it out!

I'll be back tomorrow with a new finish (or two if all goes to plan, well, not really plan, squirrels)...eeep!

16 comments:

  1. I love how quilts can transport us back in time with good memories. My husband says that it is the same for his photography: when he looks at one of his photographs, he can remember how he set up the shot, what time of day it was, what he was trying to leave of of the photo, how hungry / ready to leave I was (never!), and so on. Your memory of the rainy camping trip just really sparked for me how there are things like long term quilting projects that can really be fantastic memory generators. :)

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  2. Oh Bella ❤
    Beautiful articles!! Great memories 😊

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  3. This is a great wall hanging. I like how the label ended up in the middle. I always put mine on the bottom, close to an edge.

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  4. Look at you - piecing backings before it was cool! Love the stitcheries you have shared here, the little quilts in the tree are adorable!

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  5. Look at all those itty bitty squares. Yikes! The patience it takes to do hand embroidery (especially on a camping trip) is always impressive to me. Thanks for linking up with Throwback Thursday @ A Quarter Inch from the Edge!

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  6. Your embroidery is so nice, I like the blue also. And I think I have some of the very Debbie Mumm fabric!

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  7. Your embroidery work is beautiful and what Jenn said!! All those itty bitty squares!! They are fabulous!! Love that you did this in blue and not red :)

    Bella :) She makes me smile every time!!

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  8. What a great wall hanging! I like that you decided to do it in bluework...can I call it that? Your hand embroidery looks great on all the projects. I have one quilt that I embroidered a poem on and said never again. Which is strange because I love cross stitching. And of course Bella sat down on the quilt, you put it on the floor for her silly. Why else would you lay a quilt on the floor if not for someone to rest on??? :)

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  9. Love your snowman quilt, hope you are not to cold

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  10. I think the embroidery on this looks great in blue. Santa's standing outside on a crisp winter's night. And I like the idea of you embroidering it in July. That adds to the fun memories.

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  11. I love your stitchery quilt-glad you brought it home to enjoy this year. I used to do tons of hand stitchery(snowmen of course) and turned them into pillows for the shows. I made 20 of them buggers for one show and sold out!! Turned around and did it again for 3 more years. I loved stitching while watching TV.

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  12. You do such wonderful embroidery Sandra. i love reading about the memories these quilts bring back as much as i love seeing the quilts! Happy times indeed.

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    1. You actually found the photo! wow if that doesn't make you smile and cry all at once... sweet, sweet memories!

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  13. I love the embroidery done in blue. And Bella cracks me up.

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