December 3, 2015

Throwback Thursday: The Greatest Gift

For my first blog post I am linking to the Christmas edition of Throwback Thursday hosted by Jenn at A Quarter Inch from the Edge.

Be sure to check out the About page to get to know me a little better.  You can find me on Instagram at QuiltedBlooms and follow me on Bloglovin.  I've got a lot to learn about blogging, so tips and advice are welcome here.  Now on to my Christmas quilt, The Greatest Gift.

PATTERN

I made this wall hanging in September 2013 from a then tutorial by Stephanie Serrano of Venus de Hilo. I enlarged her boudoir pillow cover approximately 2.5 times from the original size of 12" x 16" to 30" x 39".
The Greatest Gift

Essentially, the traditional quilt block, Sister's Choice, was enlarged and elongated.



FABRICS

In my selvage collection, I managed to find the fabrics used for The Greatest Gift, my version of Gift Wrap. A Christmas print found at Hancock Fabrics and a Denyse Schmidt print from her Meadowlark collection were used in the top. I used a red snowflake print for the backing.

Backing and selvages from fabrics used in The Greatest Gift 

Wanting to leave the trees intact on the 'wrapping' fabric, I matched and pieced 7 of the 8 seams until I ran short on fabric. Can you see the seam in the upper left corner where the pattern does not match? With the long seams, I thought there would be to much disruption if they didn't match.

Seam sewn matching the print in the fabric 

QUILTING & LABEL

For the quilting, I stippled the background including loops and in the ribbon I quilted more densely back and forth.

When I'm not in a big hurry, I like to print my quilt labels using my inkjet printer. I first pretreat the fabric using Bubble Jet Set (affiliate link), design the label in Microsoft Word, iron the treated fabric to freezer paper and then run through the printer. I allow the label to dry overnight and rinse the next day to remove excess dye. I then iron to further set the dye.

Quilt label printed with prepared fabric using inkjet printer 

Beneath all the layers of the holiday season...the gifts, the lights, the hustle and bustle and Silver Bells, lies the true meaning of Christmas: God's greatest gift to humanity, his own Son, Jesus. Let's not forget, "Jesus is the Reason for the Season".

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11.

Be sure to stop by Throwback Thursday {Volume 5} to see other quilts from Christmases past.


17 comments :

  1. Wonderful post and great pictures! I enjoyed seeing this quilt in person!

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  2. Oh my goodness, I am so excited that you started a blog, Paige! Welcome, welcome. I almost panicked at first thinking I had been missing out on your blog. I am definitely going to be stalking, err, following you via Bloglovin. If you have blogging related questions, I know Cheryl would be a good resource for you and you are always welcome to email me any questions you might have.

    OK, so to the real point of this post: your seam matching skills are fantastic! I know what you mean about running shy of fabric and needing to prioritize where to put in the effort. The mini quilt turned out beautifully, and I am so impressed you still had the selvages and could identify all the fabric.

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  3. This is a lovely quilt. I can't believe that you matched those trees. You are determined! And all those people who laugh at us selvage savers should take a page from your book. Even after a couple years, you could still name the fabric in your project. :) Thanks for making your first ever blog post a link to Throwback Thursday @ A Quarter Inch from the Edge!

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  4. Congratulations on your new blog, Paige. The way you matched the two pieces to make sure that the tree is intact is phenomenal - Kudos to you!!! The golden yellow ribbon pops agaisnt the red/green. Beautifull, indeed.
    http://sewpreetiquilts.blogspot.com/

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  5. Welcome to QBL Paige! (Quilting Blogland) Beautiful quilt for a first post at TBT! Intricate and patient work to be sure. :-)

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  6. Welcome to blogging! You are off to a great start, sharing such a gorgeous quilt. Wow, you matched those seams so well. Your blog is very nicely laid out, attractive and functional.

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  7. Congratulations on your first blog post. I hope you enjoy the adventure. Your quilt is very beautiful. Great job.

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  8. I'm sure it was tedious to match all those seams, but it was totally worth it. The quilt looks fantastic! And I'm so impressed that you have all those selvages. Welcome to blogland! I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.

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  9. Congratulations on your first blog post. Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging!

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  10. Lovely work. Matching the seams on the trees was absolutely the way to go - they look brilliant. Congrats on your first post - a brave step, but one I'm sure you won't regret. Its fun!

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  11. Hi, Paige, and welcome to the blogosphere!! Your quilt is beautiful, and I'm excited to see what else you will be posting on your blog. I hope you'll come link up for Whoop Whoop Friday on my blog, http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com - I know everyone there would love to see this beautiful quilt!!

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  12. It's always fun to have a Christmas quilt for the season! Welcome to blogging!

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  13. Cute Christmas quilt-it will make sure you always have a present at Christmas ;-) Welcome to blogland!!

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  14. wow! It looks just like a present!

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  15. Wow - the matched seams are wonderful. Well done!! It is a lovely quilt Paige.

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  16. Your mini quilt turned out lovely! And lining up the print so that they match sounds like something I would do. :)

    I made this same gift wrap block a couple of years ago and turned them into pillow covers. I gave some as gifts and the others come out each Christmas now.

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  17. Beautiful. I love this quilt, the pattern and the fabrics you chose :)

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