My regular readers are probably fed up of seeing this quilt because I only made it about a week ago and I blogged about it last week. If I’d thought about it, I should have waited for a few days before posting but I’ve decided to enter my Magical Midwinter Quilt into the Blogger’s Quilt Festival anyway :)
I first had an idea about making a quilt something like this last Christmas when I made my Old Man and the Sea Wall Hanging. I thought, suppose the old man accidently caught that fish…and of course that fish would ask him not to kill him…and naturally the old man would agree…and of course the fish would really be a woodcutter under some kind of unfortunate enchantment and by saving his life the old man would break the spell and the fish would return to his human form.
And I thought that, as Christmas approached, the woodcutter would naturally cut down the finest tree in the forest and leave it as a gift outside the old man’s cottage. The old man’s children would find it and they would be delighted because they’d never had a Christmas tree before but, unfortunately, the tree would be too big to fit in the house. (This is something that always happens to us and we end up cutting off a bit at the top and a bit at the bottom but that wouldn’t make an interesting story or an interesting quilt!) So the children decide the only solution is to put the tree on the roof.
Since they’ve never had a Christmas tree before, they don’t have a star to put on top so the boy gets a ladder and rests it against the moon and climbs up to get one from the sky.
…and throws it down to his sisters.
The background fabrics are from the Collage line by Carrie Bloomston for Windham fabrics and I especially like the way the coloured dots are the same across the two colourways. Apart from that, I’ve used scraps. I machine quilted the background and house in straight lines and hand quilted the roof and snowy ground, which have a double layer of hobbs fusible wadding. This gives good texture but I don’t recommend it! I stitched the children’s hair with anchor stranded embroidery floss.
I am entering this piece in the Wall Hanging category, although, for the moment it is hanging across some internal french doors. It measures 23″ X 43′” and has a hanging strip across the top on the back.
Thank you for visiting my blog. Happy Sewing!
Celtic Thistle
I love the imagination behind your quilts Janine, this is absolutely stunning!
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Rebecka
I love your quilt and the story. Beautiful work!
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Carla
I love this! So whimsical and fun
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nerospost
Wow Janine! I missed your post with this quilt and I'm so happy to see it now! It's fantastic! I love your story on this quilt and it's made so beautifully! Absolutely my favourite! x Teje
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Cindy Sharp
Brilliant! Thanks for sharing your wonderful imagination with us.
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Soma Acharya
What a wonderful story to go along with a pair of stunning quilts!! I love reading your posts as much as I love seeing your creations. Beautiful!
-Soma
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Pam @Threading My Way
An awesome quilt, Janine!!! Such attention to detail and I love the story.
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CitricSugar
What a great little story – beautiful quilt!
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Susan Owenby
Cant imagine being sick of this one! It's so sweet and cute!
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Patti
I am so, so happy to see that you added this to the Festival, Janine! I just love everything about it, including your magical tale!
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Nat at Made in Home
It is amazing! Great entry!
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Catrin Lewis
What a great story! Something tells me that you really enjoyed making this quilt. SO much so that I bet that you're just itching to make another one aren't you? My address is…..
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Willit Neverend
Wow, just by looking at this quilt I thought it was wonderful, but then the story went and added another level of wonder. Beautiful.
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fallingforpieces
This is so charming!
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Mina
This is so very, very cute and creative!
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Vicki Posten
Quite frankly…you amaze me with your original designs!
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Benta AtSLIKstitches
I think you should send this all off to a publisher!!! A great story with illustrations all done too!!! Love it
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junacreationsuk.blogspot.co.uk
Janine!, This is F A N T A S T I C, I absolutely love it. It was like reading a proper fairytale, I was enchanted. Well done that Gal!!!
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Deb@asimplelifequilts
This is so amazing… LOVE everything about it!
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Collette
what an amazing story to go with this quilt I totally love it!!! It is fantastic in fact I can't think of a good enough word to describe it!!! well done xxx
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joanne
Collette is right!
I am completely in love with the story and the quilt! It is STUNNING!!!
So much more than just a quilt or wall hanging!!!
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LynCC
Janine, this is so delightful~! And such a fun story to go with it. It made the best lunch break. Thank you. :D
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Nicole Hannah
That's really lovely. Well done.
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Sharon
Lovely stories! Beautiful quilt!
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Karen
Janine your work is exquisite ! I love the story, the fabric, the applique and the quilting. Also just love old man in the sea! Just love the festival — it's so inspiring to see so much beautiful work!.. Thanks for sharing. Karen
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Adrianne
Wow, this quilt is so so stunning and the story behind it is truly magical. I'm sure this will bring you a lot of joy from many Christmases to come!
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pennydog
This is fabulous, so creative!
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AlidaP
Such a cute story and great wall hanging!!
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Lucy @ Charm About You
You creativity astounds me. Truly you are so special. I love the story, agree you should write a children's book! The wall hanging is just precious!
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P.
I'm late to the party here, but what a wonderful, whimsical quilt! Love the story too!
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grapes and hearts
My favourite wall hanging during this festival for sure! Such a wonderful idea!
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Cloud CouCou
Such an AMAZING quilt!! Your makings are always so creative. Loving the collage creations they're fantastic!
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