Christmas Quilting

My friend commissioned 4 quilts by me this year.  She asked me the day after Christmas last year.

We finally decided on a pattern in November, and it was a mad scramble to get them done before Christmas!

This was her favorite pattern for the project.

It could be made with the same fabrics, but in different order.

This way, the quilts would coordinate, but be unique.

The first task was trying to find the pattern!  It was so hard!

I found a store that sells kits for it, but they were out of the book that the pattern was in.

Finally, after a LOT of searching online, I found the booklet on Amazon.

It was about $18 total for the booklet.  There were several reviews where the people didn't think the booklet was worth that much.

But, I found the pattern I needed, the directions were easy to follow, there were several more patterns in the book, and I like it!

Book is "Holly Jolly - This & That," by Sherri K. Falls.

Pattern book fabric design

I was so excited about this awesome Santa fabric, on left!!!

It would be perfect for some of the quilt backs, so I bought almost 10 yards of it.

Luckily, I pre-wash every time there's new fabric.  

At the same time I bought this, I also bought a fabulous, off-brand dark red.  It bled, and the Santas all looked like they belonged in Florida. :(

I re-washed the fabric many, many times with color catchers, and they did lighten up.

But, with someone paying for this project, I didn't want a fabric that had flaws.

It finally felt a little like the Christmas season when I started on the first sample quilt.

I made 6 quilts total, with 2 being extras.

This way, I could figure out how to be accurate with the measurements, and the rows would hopefully line up correctly.

 Starting to chain piece with my 1955 Singer.

Before the project was through, my trusty Singer had motor issues, my back up machine kept breaking needles in the seams, and I had to go buy a new, inexpensive machine at Costco.

(which, by the way, sews like a DREAM!!!)

 I used so many baggies!

I pre-cut for all the quilts at once.

Each baggie was organized by color.

Each baggie with white background fabrics were organized by block type.

Gallon baggies held the contents of one whole quilt each.

 First top laid out!

 First quilt top ready to head to the long-arm quilter!

 This was the first quilt to be quilted by the long-arm.

I had her do the "jingle bells" design in red.

After this one, we changed the rest to be done with white thread, and in a more swirled design.

The white swirled design looks like swirling snow to me.

This quilt got to go to my mother-in-law and her sister!

 I had LOTS of Christmas fabric, but no pieces really big enough to match seams and sew together for a back.

So, I cut strips of a bunch, sewed them together, and added a solid Christmas print on the other side.

Each quilt had a different order and size of the strips, and a different solid print on the side.

The Official 4 Commissioned Quilts

The 6th quilt was not put together (sandwiched, which means having the batting and backing stitched to the top), since I didn't need to have it done right away.

We are going to keep the 6th one, and I will either machine quilt it simply sometime soon, or have it embellished by the long-armer.

While making these, I swore up and down that I wouldn't do another quilt for hire again.

But, it's so satisfying to create something that someone else really loves, and will treasure for a long time!

Also, it's very satisfying to finish something successfully, that has so many details.

So, I think I would do quilts for hire in the future, but I would have some requirements that would have to be met first. 

Main requirements would be agreeing on pattern and fabric 6 months in advance, and nothing that needs to be finished in November or December.  

Thanks Jenny!  This was a fun project!!