Christmas Tree Quilt |
In my home,
Christmas preparations begin the day after Thanksgiving with the hanging of the
Christmas quilts. It is a tradition as firmly set as blowing out candles on a
birthday cake. That’s just what happens in my home. The quilts themselves have
stories. (Pardon the poor photographs)
The first quilt is homely. An experiment
made by an inexperienced quilter. No matter—it’s a Christmas quilt. Slap it up
on the wall. Always in the same place.
Wreath Quilt |
The wreath
quilt has some sparkly jewels glued onto the holly shaped leaves. Not bad, not
good. It must hang near the tree. That’s where it belongs. No negotiation.
Snowman Quilt |
Goofy snowmen
march tirelessly over the couch. It was once a class project involving striped
fabrics. Everyone else picked beautiful, elegant stripes, nope, not for
me—snowmen.
And the last,
the largest and the one that matters most is The Christmas Tree quilt. It hangs
on the wall just inside our front door. It is always the background for holiday
photos, the boys growing into men. The dog of the era. A procession of them.
Add in a daughter-in-law, and later a grandbaby. It’s not the quilt that
matters but the memories, both good and bad, that having it hanging there
releases. Like the aroma of pine, there is a whiff of sadness. I worked on the
holly shapes that form the branches for a long time but many of them on a trip
my mom and I took after my dad died. Pushing the needle through the fabric by
hand, trying to make nice sharp points—some better than others, grief and
laughter combined.
And the
laughter continues. I quilted it by hand and was teased mercilessly. It took me
years because I only worked on it for a little while each year—October to
December. I took it to quilt retreat every fall and my friends mocked me for
bringing it so many times. I amassed a huge collection of jingle bells in all
sizes, and colors; some I bought and some were donated to me by friends
thinking I might not have enough. I did. I had enough to cover the quilt and
still supply everyone in the state with a bell.
Like writing a
book or making a quilt, the fragments are rearranged, some discarded, new ones
added. The characters are growing older and new ones are added, but the quilt
is loved, not because it’s beautiful, but because it belongs to a family. This
guardian of tradition will, someday, hang in a different house, but for now it
still welcomes the holiday in mine and waits until the end of January to be
taken down and carefully folded, obliquely rather than in a tidy rectangle, and
the bells jingle as it is returned to its home in the closet. Until
Thanksgiving.
Murder by Sunlight: The Charity
Quilt, book 5 in the Quilted Mystery series.
Crimes heat up tiny Park County, Tennessee. A corpse in a tree signals the beginning
of an onslaught of murder, mischief and mayhem. Sheriff Tony Abernathy and his
small staff are overworked. His wife, Theo, a quilt shop owner, is drawn into
the hunt for clues—not just the ones in her mystery quilt (pattern included).
Buy Links
5 comments:
The quilts are beautiful...and, they remind me of my grandmother. She loved making quilts. Happy Holidays!!
What a wonderful way to wrap up your family Christmas quilt traditions. Your home must feel quite cozy with such treasures and heirlooms all around.
Wishing you all the best, Maggie
Barbara, those quilts are wonderful. I never had the patience for quilting, but I love the way they look and always visit the big quilting show they have down here in Northern Colorado, envying the talent and commitment that goes into the art. Thanks for a wonderful post.
The stories behind the quilts are as important as the quilts themselves. What a wonderful tradition - thank you for sharing it with us.
I am sorry to be late checking in. Almost no internet service and playing with the grandchildren have conspired against me. Thank you for your kind comments and Happy New Year!
Post a Comment