December 28, 2021: Monthly Mini – “Christmas Forest”; Earthly Delights

Greetings dear readers! My perception of time is changing as I get older. It truly feels like it’s going faster and faster and here we are on the cusp of another new year, 2022! Let’s hope that 2022 is the year the pandemic is finally over. Not only is it not over yet, but the Delta variant is still causing a lot of illness and the new Omicron variant is running rampant and disrupting our lives. So frustrating! I’m eternally grateful for the vaccine and cannot comprehend why so many refuse it??? No man is an island. If we care for our fellow human beings, we get vaccinated. Period! End of discussion!

Because of the holidays, I wasn’t sure I would get a Mini done this month, but some things were cancelled and the time was found. I’ve been wanting to make a ”little tree” quilt for a long time. I don’t really have a Christmas quilt for myself and wanted to remedy that situation so I made a mini with Christmas trees! Here is ”Christmas Forest”:

I drafted my own little foundation paper pieced tree pattern. Tree blocks are 2 x 4 inches. I have a small stash of Christmas fabrics and tone on tones that go with them so had no trouble finding a different fabric for each tree:

That background fabric is a Moda Christmas print that has been in my stash for at least 15 years, waiting for the right project!😊 I used it on the back, too:

I combined machine and hand quilting – machine quilting for outlining the blocks and hand quilting for outline quilting the border leaves, quilting inside the trees, and for making trees in the open areas of the border:

The opposite corners have the vines and leaves:

I’m quite happy with my Christmas Forest!!

Final size is 16 x 21.5 inches. What a year it’s been for me participating in this wonderful group of quilters devoted to making minis! I’ve really loved the challenge and managed to make something every month! In an upcoming post I’ll be reviewing the year and showing photos of them all. Thanks to Wendy at The Constant Quilter for making the sharing of these happen; go to her web site to see the other December minis.

I’m sharing some earthly delights today! First, this amazing amaryllis with 8(!) blossoms blooming on it at once!

We had freezing rain much of Christmas day and the temps fell afterward, leaving a coating of ice on everything. It was beautiful!

The woods looked enchanted:

I liked how the snow accumulated on the trunk of this tree:

And how the ice on these branches created an intricate weave of lines:

Last week I was lucky to see a beautiful Mackeral sky:

If you are interested in seeing photos of some great quilts, here are 2 recommendations. Jenny Lyons shows a lot of great photos of quilts from the recent Houston Quilt Festival in 2 November posts on her blog at quiltskipper.com. There are many wonderful pictures of quilts from a recent Australian quilt show at victorianquilters.org. Enjoy!

Hoping to post again before the end of the year, but if I don’t, I wish all of us a healthy and satisfying year ahead, full of creativity and friendship!

Be kind, be grateful, and cherish each day, Gladi