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Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Ho! Ho! Ho! and NTT

Welcome to Needle and Thread Thursday, y'all!  I have been thinking that I want to make another Christmas quilt, but though there are lots of patterns that I love, none felt quite right.  I had a spark of an idea the other night though, and I'm SO excited about it.  I started sketching on graph paper, which is what  I always do when I'm first fleshing out a design, and I was so pleased with it that I couldn't wait to make him!

Pictures can be deceiving, so let me just tell you that this block is small!  Santa himself only measures 5" x 12", and all the tiniest pieces and snowball corners (the silver belt buckle, and around his hands) finish at only a quarter inch!  This is all traditionally pieced, and I try to never sew that small if I can help it, but for this project, I knew he couldn't be too big.  

I was so happy with the way he turned out that I immediately jumped into my next idea, thinking that it would be just as straightforward, and boy was I wrong!

Rudolph was so much trickier!  I worked and worked to get the proportions right, and the hardest part by far was the angles of the legs- and those antlers!  Again, this block is traditionally pieced, and while Santa has just a few 1/4" pieces, Rudolph is full of them!  Just to put this in perspective, all of those antlers are in a tiny, 3" x 3" section!  Rudolph himself measures only 7" from nose to tail, and just 10" from antlers to hooves.  

I confess to almost throwing this block away a couple of times during the 8.5 hours it took to make him.  Yes, you read that right.  Eight. and. a. half. hours!  I'm so happy I stuck with it though.  Rudolph is going to make a great addition to my quilt.

Now that these two blocks are finished, the rest of the quilt should be much easier.  It will still be a little bit fussy, but it won't be difficult like this.  We are hosting a Christmas party on December 4th, and my goal is to get this one finished and hung on the wall in my den before then, but with Thanksgiving next week, and all of the other prep stuff that has to happen before the party, that is a lofty goal.

Last week's party was full of inspiration, both holiday themed and not.  Amanda at Quilt As We Go shared with autumn beauty.  It's perfect for getting into the Thanksgiving mood.


This fresh, pretty quilt is by Linda at kokaquilts.  Linda is in New Zealand, so she is feeling all of the spring vibes in her hemisphere right now!

And Deb at A Scrappy Quilter linked up this warm, cozy, scrappy quilt.


Okay, friends!  Let's get our party going!  But before we do, I want to let you know that NTT will be taking a break next week (11/24) for Thanksgiving!  BUT, be sure to stop by on Black Friday!  I'm gathering up the best sales and holiday specials from my favorite shops on the web, and I'll be putting it all into one special post.  And we'll get right back to NTT the following week, 12/1.  Happy Thanksgiving!

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10 comments:

  1. Santa and Rudolf are amazing and I'm excited to see how the rest of the quilt evolves. I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving and hope that despite your lofty goal that you can meet it with this new quilt!

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  2. Your santa and reindeer blocks are fabulous!!! Great job sticking with it until you got it right! I'll be interested in seeing it come all together.

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  3. Wow! Such talent to design such beautiful blocks! Such tiny pieces and they came together so beautifully! Congratulations!

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  4. Those blocks are super cute! Look forard to seeing what you do with them! xx

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  5. The Santa may not have eyes but I have eyes only for him. He is handsome and totally adorable.

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  6. It's nice to see what you've been working on, and those little blocks are really cute! I would never attempt to make a block quilt like these, let alone put together enough blocks to make a Christmas quilt by December 4. You must work better on a tight deadline than I do!

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  7. I understand how you wanted to "toss" poor Rudolph. I had the same feeling this past week with a block - and mine was not that small. These are exceptionally adorable!

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  8. Loving your Santa & reindeer blocks. Those small pieces came together so well! Look forward to seeing what happens next. Oh, and thanx for featuring my quilt top this week too.

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  9. Like I wrote on Insta, I just LOVE these two! So freaking adorable.

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  10. These blocks are adorable. Well done. Happy early Thanksgiving.

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