Before I Forget

There are a couple of projects I kept under wraps in the run-up to the holidays that I can share with you now. Although, one will be more appropriate to share with the Stitch Along gang so I'll share that in Sunday's post. 😊

Of course I neglected to take a picture of the pillowcases I made for the four granddaughters. 😒One each, for everyday use, in their favorite colors. This has become a tradition with us. One year I made them Halloween themed cases, another year it was Christmas prints. I hope to be able to keep the tradition going for many years yet.

The biggest gift I made this year was a quilt for our elder son and his wife. It began when I saw this panel from Jason Yenter for In the Beginning fabrics. I had to find an excuse for purchasing it!

Husband would have been happy to have the panel live with us but we honestly have more quilts than we need already. So then the question was whether to make a wall hanging or a couch quilt. The fact that there were smaller companion panels featuring other dragons helped to seal the deal for a couch quilt.

Then it became a matter of how to fill in the areas between the panels. I had to find something that would be quick to piece given the time constraint. This is what I came up with:

The idea was to pull jewel colors out of the panels as if they were part of the dragon's hoard. The gold zig-zag was meant to replicate the Celtic knotwork in the panel. The colors are a better match in person but even so we had a hard time finding acceptable hues. Our local quilt shop didn't have quite the shades of red/orange I was hoping for. There was a wide border stripe available as part of this line. I bought enough of that to make end borders.

Even though the quilt appears square it actually measures at 60" high and 80" wide. James custom quilted this one, no simple meander or overall pattern! There was a lot of outlining involved. It crinkled up beautifully when it was laundered.

You may remember this shot of the back when I was stitching down the binding.

Now I'm told Son and DIL are thinking of hanging it on the wall instead of using it on the couch after all!

I still haven't begun assembling the top I was making blocks for during Advent. I have one or two other quilt projects to tackle in this new year too. Stay tuned!