It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like . . .

The 12 Days of Christmas!

I finished this quilt top this evening--I used the Schnibbles pattern, Reveille, and then I added the outer border. (I had the stripe in my stash; it's not from the 12 Days line--I'm always on the lookout for interesting stripes, especially red and white. Remember my obsession with peppermint and candy canes? Yeah, that's why.)

When I asked you about Christmas lines the other day, a couple of you mentioned the Riley Blake line, Colorful Christmas, and Monica's Holiday Happy by Lecien. Colorwise, both of these fabric lines are similar to the 12 Days line I used, although Colorful Christmas has a few other colors thrown in. AND . . . that polka dotted white I used with the 12 Days line? Riley Blake's Christmas line from last year called Be Merry. These seem to be the "new" Christmas colors. Along similar lines, I stumbled upon Quilt Soup's 2010 Christmas offering, Hip Holidays for Henry Glass (if you click on the Hip Holidays link, it will take you to the main Henry Glass site, but check out Hip Holidays from there). I've been trending toward these colors the last couple years and using them primarily in my Christmas decorating scheme in my kitchen, but I think this year I'll pull them into at least one of the bedrooms--after all, I have a fat quarter bundle of the 12 Days fabric and plans to buy some of Monica's Holiday Happy when it comes out too. I need to use it all SOMEWHERE!

Along more traditional and elegant lines, while you're at the Henry Glass site, scroll down to Heather Mulder Peterson's At Home for the Holidays. And, of course, there's the French General line, Lumiere de Noel. I tend to be a little more traditional in the living room, so maybe one of these lines will find its way there, although I'm ready for a change in the living room too, so we'll see.

In any event, the Schnibbles quilt above is a good start on Christmas, and working with those happy colors doesn't seem too odd in May. I suppose we'll hear about a few more lines at Quilt Market or soon after and goodness knows I have fabric from last year I didn't get around to using, like the Glace line. I'm just sorry Christmas doesn't come twice a year!

The foregoing post is intended as a public service announcement for those quilters among us who are under-tempted by new fabrics. Decreased fabric libido CAN be treated and should not be suffered alone or in silence. One of the goals of this blog is to provide healthy creative stimulation to ALL quilters. If you or someone you know suffers from textile dysfunction and you are unable to provide the help and treatment they need, refer them to this blog.