Friday, December 5, 2008

December Quilts



Do you “deck the halls” for Christmas just as soon as your Thanksgiving dishes are washed? I envy them using the long weekend to pull out the Christmas decorations and That’s not the custom in our home though, because sandwiched between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a very special birthday.

As anyone with a December birth will tell you, it’s easy to feel shortchanged by all the holiday hoopla. One way to make James’s day special was to hold off on putting up the Christmas tree until after his birthday celebration. 
Since this is James' birthday month, let me share some of his quilts with you. 


This Bear Paw quilt was made for James by my Elmhurst quilt friends. They worked on it in secret, choosing fabric, stitching blocks, and passing it around for hand quilting at our weekly gatherings. They're a stealthy bunch - I never had a clue.

They wanted to make "the kind of quilt I wouldn’t make myself." "Hmmm, I wonder what that means?" Perhaps they thought bright colors were out of character for me. But I love the 1980’s vintage calicoes they used.


Maybe they were referring to this humility block. Deliberate error or not, this bear paw, with its twisted toes just adds charm to the quilt.


Whatever their intention was, James and I were thrilled by his baby quilt. To this day, it's one of my favorites, because it's bright, cheerful, charming, and from the best of friends.

8 comments:

  1. And most of us can create a humility block without even trying. It keeps it all from being too serious.

    I haven't started decorating yet either. I don't want to have to dust Christmas decorations so I'll wait until the week before company comes.

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  2. My daughter's birthday is also in December. Actually next Monday. And our anniversary was this past Monday, so we have quite a busy month too. I do love your idea though of waiting until his birthday is over to decorate. I love his quilt that you made for him. Just very cheerful!

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  3. That is a beautiful quilt - it is said and I'm not sure how true it is - that the Amish make a mistake in all their quilts. Love the fact that your son's quilt contained that type block...it reminds us that no one is perfect!

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  4. Oh it is wonderful! I love the colors!

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  5. It takes a special and thoughtful parent to see to it that a birthday isn't lost in the HoHoHo shuffle - as a January baby, I know a little bit about that *s*
    Such a wonderful gift - made with love by your friends. And just think, someday it will be used by another generation. That's a lot of cuddles in just one quilt!

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  6. A child of December here! 12.28. These days its a bonus. Why? Because everyone forgets about it and I can age gracefully and quietly thank you very much! ;)

    Now, onto this lovely quilt. Your friends were so magnificent to make this adorable quilt and as a fan of PERSNICKETY I'm appreciative of yet another great quilt. Love the humility block added in there. I really love the bright colors and the plaid, too. Just stunning and shows how loved you are & have always been so!

    Beautiful People Love, *karendianne.

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  7. I came across your blog through "A Simple Girl" and your comment there. Just thought I would let you know that you had a visitor and that the quilt shown really caught my eye. It is not an elaborate quilt but oh so nice!

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  8. it's beautiful! The colours against the cream background are lovely. Your home must be full of beautiful quilts :-)

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