Home For the Holidays–Quilts at Christmas, by Beverly Hicks Burch

I started quilting in 1986. Quilting had been an elusive goal up until then. One fostered by a long ago viewed quilt my great-grandmother Rebecca Shafer McGee of Lawrence County, Tennessee had made. I guess you could say quilting was part of my heritage.

So one day in 1986 I sat down and decided to make a quilt. I knew very little about quilting and almost as little about sewing, although I had taken home ec in junior high and wasn’t a total stranger to a sewing machine.

That first project was a pitiful little wall hanging I was very proud of at the time. I still hang on to that little wall hanging for various reasons. The two main reasons: sentimental value and to show me where I started and where I came from and where I am now. It’s my personal yardstick. I also use it to encourage beginning quilters when they get discouraged and utter those words we all utter at one time or another, “I can never do this. My work will never look like your.”

“Oh yeah? Well, take a look at this…”

One thing I went absolutely gaga over when I started quilting was Christmas quilts. And, I have the quilts to prove it I actually have a few more in various stages of completion (UFOs as we quilters call them) that hopefully will be finished by a Christmastime in the future soon.

Over the years I have made many and I pull them out during the holidays and used them all over the house. It’s so much fun to see these old friends again. It’s like having special Christmas visitors. This year was no exception and was actually the first time in a few years I was able to pull some of these “friends” out.

So, here’s Home For the Holidays – Quilts at Christmas…

Chinese Mandarin Garden – this is a sampler quilt and the result of a “block of the month” class I taught several years ago. Everyone would have a Christmas quilt when finished. Fabric choices were left up to the individual.

Grandmother’s Fan – the fan blades are pieced together then the fan is appliqued to the background fabric and then the fan corner piece (green) is appliqued last

Monkey Wrench – this block combines piecing and hand applique

Shamrock – this is a hand applique block

Honey Bee – this block combines piecing and hand applique

Grandmother’s Flower Garden – this block was English paper pieced then appliqued onto the background.

I don’t recall the name of this block, but I think it was called Single Wedding Ring. It is a pieced block.

Ohio Star – pieced block

Sun Bonnet Sue (some people also call this block the Little Dutch Girl) – this block is hand appliqued using the freezer paper applique method and appliqued to the background square.

Basket Block – combines piecing and hand applique

Maple Leaf – combines piecing and hand applique

Dresden Plate – the blades of the plate are pieced together, then appliqued to the background square. The center of the plate is hand appliqued last.

What Christmas block is complete without and Angel block? The block combines piecing and applique.

Border and quilting detail for Chinese Mandarin Garden

Oh, Christmas Tree – the tree is strip pieced. I hand quilted the wall hanging with metallic gold thread.

Rudolph – pieced wall hanging, and yes, he has two eyes, he’s just winking

Christmas Tree Pillow – pieced and folded method

Visions of Sugar Plums wall hanging – pieced using the kaleidoscope pattern

Visions of Sugar Plums – Blocks A & B

Visions of Sugar Plums – border detail

Christmas Poinsettia – hand applique and hand quilted with gold metallic thread

Poinsettia detail

Poinsettia leaves detail

Christmas Poinsettia quilting detail

© 2011 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved

 

Advertisement