In December 2020 I participated as one of the Chefs for Moda's Countdown to Christmas Quilt Along. This year's theme was Winter Frost and the fabrics chosen where a mix of prints and Moda Grunge in Ice Blue, Royal Blue, Aqua and White.
While designing blocks for these events, I've come to the decision that I don't want to end up with random blocks that get put away, never to be seen again. I didn't have time to make the entire quilt so I chose to make a wall hanging with a limited number of blocks.
My contributions to the quilt along was this North Winds block which is a version of the Windblown Square block.
My other design is this Winter's Beauty block which is a version of the American Beauty block.
It was fun choosing which of the other block designs to use for the wall hanging and selecting just the right fabrics so that the resulting quilt has a wonderful cool and frosty vibe. It's perfect displayed on my Vietnamese bamboo textile hanger above the desk which is along the wall between the eat-in area of the kitchen and the great room. It finished at 36" square.
Originally I wasn't going to do any more than the wall hanging but I fell in love with the Mittens block so a pair was made and a cute table runner was the result.
I picked one of the other blocks to sandwich in the middle of the mittens blocks. For the panto design, I used Bora Bora which certainly gives the feel of the winter winds blowing.
I just added a variety of rectangle strips to bring the runner to 18" x 42" which is a great size for our smaller kitchen table.
I actually quilted all 3 pieces at the same time by loading the wall hanging to the left on the frame, the place mats in the middle, turned sideways, and the table rummer at the end. This way, I was able to stitch a full length of the design and all 3 pieces were finished quickly.
During the quilt along, I made a few more blocks as possible additions to the wall hanging that I ended up turning into place mats, which I actually use as table toppers on the end tables in my great room instead of at the dining room table.
I don't know about your crew, but with my luck the minute these went on the table under plates of food would be the minute they ended up stained with pasta sauce. Nope, not happening! These aren't going anywhere near the dining table.
I added strips of White to show case the block and then added a print strip to either side to bring them up to 12" x 18".
Each one turned out unique but they also blend together nicely.
Everything was backed with this Blue and White print that I found locally. It wasn't quite the shade I was looking for but it worked.
I'm really glad I found a way to actually use the blocks I created for the quilt along and now, as a bonus, I have 3 great new pieces to decorate my spaces with after Christmas.
It is odd to leave the holiday wall hanging up way past December and now I don't have to. Next I guess I'll need to make a few more wall hangings for this spot so that I have quilts to display during other seasons throughout the year.
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