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!