I love to work on textile projects with the colors of the season. That means that I now need to stitch on red.
I have a couple of big projects in progress, but they aren’t red. So to soothe my soul, I reached back for this piece and began hand quilting it. During the Christmas season, this has been a glorious practice for me. I’m revisiting a piece I made several years ago – improvisationally stitching some Japanese fabrics in freeform hexagons on a linen remnant. It needed color, I thought, so I added the red wool flower.
I’ve learned that a piece doesn’t have to be finished to be enjoyed. This piece has been no exception… it’s hung about on chairs and falling out of baskets for several years when I needed an accent of red. Here you see it in a basket on top of a clock in the breakfast room.
The block from 52 Tuesdays proves how long this has been in the works…and my plan for quilting around the hexagons. This piece, still untitled, was appliquéd in 2015.
A couple of weeks ago, I layered it on a bit of felted wool and began stitching. Two layers of fabric, a needle and beautifully smooth thread, and I am content. The top layer is thin linen (used and washed again and again in its past life); the bottom is a lovely gray wool. There’s nothing like pulling a needle and thread through delicious buttery wool. (I’m using Aurifil #12 and loving it!)
Ahh… Stitching peace in this season.
Another example of display yet unfinished is this holly on wool. Here it is draped over another quilt on the ladder in the den (the backside of Tree Farm). This is one of Maggie Bonanomi’s designs.
And yet another wool appliqué posing atop something else. Just to add a splash of red to the dining room wall during Christmas. Again, the wool pattern is from Maggie Bonanomi.
I've stitched my way through life. Early skills in utilitarian and decorative sewing have merged with art in the world of quiltmaking. My love of journaling has now crossed into the cloth world, too. I love old songs, old souls, old words; my collections attest to my fascination with memories.
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4 thoughts on “Christmas Reds”
I enjoy looking at your Christmas pieces! They are soo pretty. I’ve been hand stitching some mostly green civil war repro fabrics in bow tie blocks. I’ve thrown in a few red ones here and there to give a punch of color. It will be a wall hanging for my breakfast room. Merry Christmas! And I enjoy reading your blog!
I enjoy looking at your Christmas pieces! They are soo pretty. I’ve been hand stitching some mostly green civil war repro fabrics in bow tie blocks. I’ve thrown in a few red ones here and there to give a punch of color. It will be a wall hanging for my breakfast room. Merry Christmas! And I enjoy reading your blog!
Oh, bow ties are on my to-do list…I was just thinking about that the other day. I want to see photos!
All the pieces are beautiful. Sandy, you have so much talent.
Isn’t it nice to have something new to work on even tho it is old.
I enjoy cooking recipes that I usually only cook during the holidays, for ex. my mother’s Lane Cake and this year Japanese Fruit Cake.
Miss seeing the two of you. Always saw you during the holidays. Have a very Merry Christmas.
I miss seeing you, too. I think of you so many times while I’m cooking using some advice you gave me.