Getting Ready to Fold Up the Holiday Quilts

Christmas Stars is my first finish of the year! Yay! I had a couple other things to post about, but this needed to go on record before January was over and done with. Kinda late for a first finish {for me}, but what can I say? The binding work just didn't seem super exciting compared to some other options.

It looks so cozy!

After a little bit of back and forth about possible colors and shades for the binding, I finally settled on something of a medium green. It took several pieces of similar colors to make up the total length, but I have to say, this was spot on for being the perfect complement.

Christmas Stars is a true blue finish!

I am in LOVE with this quilt. It's one of those that I look at and say, 'Did I really make that? Me?' It just seems so unlike so much of what I do and yet.... it's all there. The simplicity of color repeats, the sawtooth stars in scrappy prints, the flying geese. I've done all of this before. It's really nothing new.

Love the touch of florals in this quilt

One of the things that I've always been so resistant to in Christmassy quilts is how precious the prints often are. I adore that this quilt actually has very minimal true Christmas themed prints. It's all in the colors and feel. It can be a holiday quilt or not.

Flying geese are always a good border idea

So very, very glad that this Basic Grey red fabric was sitting there in the stash waiting for the perfect project. How sad that it didn't work out as the original intent of being a backing fabric. Not! I'm pretty sure this is not something that I would have ever willingly chosen for the overall background fabric in a holiday quilt. Do you see how velvety it looks in the right light though? How could anything else have possibly worked better? Total serendipity to have this on hand when I was in the mood to play. 

Looking ready for serious use!

And the oldie moldy greens that found a good home in the flying geese units?*sigh  This quilt has a super special place in my heart and mind. It will be great fun pulling this one out year after year, I can assure you! And though I promised my younger daughter a Christmas quilt of her own {after her older sister talked me out of a previous one}, these will not be in the offing.

A successful use of all the boring fabrics

The backing ended up looking pretty good after all the quilting texture was added too. So scrappy and utilitarian. Really fills me with the glees to see all these off colored greens hop onto the back of a good quilt and finally be useful. It's about time! I think this is the second backing I've made just from the random green fabrics that seemed too awful to use in the front of a quilt. Why of why did I buy so many of these years and years ago?? Ughh.  The Tired Greens project is definitely helping get fabrics out of the stash totes, but, unfortunately there is more to do...

These are the keepers

And just for fun, I took a picture of these three Christmas quilts together. The primitive-look Festival of Trees finished up in 2010, the quarter log cabin quilt finished up last year and the new Christmas Stars. These three are mine forever, never to be given away. I have found that I quite relish getting out my holiday quilts every year and enjoying them for 6 weeks to 2 months--usually right up to the first of February. The Festival of Trees one has definitely gotten sun faded in that long strip of plaid fabric right in the center of the quilt. It happened in the first two years of use, in the very short window of time I leave it draped over the back of a chair during the holidays. So disappointing, but nothing else seems faded. And now I'm accustomed. Oh well. About time to fold them all up and put them in a darkish cupboard until next December!