The holiday spirit crept in this week without much fanfare. Because of our schedule, we hosted our annual Friendsgiving last night. As I was welcoming our friends and feeling overwhelmed by gratitude at the home that allows such gatherings, the food we were sharing, and that warmth that comes from familiar faces, I walked by the entryway (to change after spilling caramel sauce on my shirt) and saw the twenty pairs of shoes by the door and it just made my heart happy. There’s no better feeling than gathering with friends and family. I sometimes wonder at the generosity of our Heavenly Father in allowing us so much beauty mixed in with the hard. The friendships, the sunsets, and the changing leaves all bring me the type of joyful gratitude I sometimes don’t know how to handle.
This week I attempted something I’ve never done before. With more company coming for Thanksgiving Weekend, I wondered if I would be able to put an autumn or holiday quilt on every child’s bed. That means 8 new quilts. So, on Wednesday night I cut out two quilts, a Woodland Chocolate Sonnet and a girly-bookish-autumn Limerick. I chain pieced them together and at the end, I had one finished quilt and one in blocks. Today I’m hoping to finish the Limerick top, baste both and possibly quilt one. I am driving the carpool route tonight so we’ll see how much I can finish.
That’s such an awful photo of two absolutely gorgeous quilts. The chocolate Sonnet I put together quickly on Saturday before our date to the Symphony (where I heard the most amazing rendition of Faure’s Requiem by the Utah Symphony and Opera Chorus). Sunday was about preparing for company and I’ll get back to stitching today. My two at a time method was so successful, I think I’m going to try it again with Heritage and holiday themed Nostalgia quilt. We will just have to see how that goes…
My favorite blocks in the Woodland Chocolate Sonnet are the hymns, but the little fairy homes are equally sweet. The toadstool and house fabric are from Under the Canopy for Windham Fabrics and it’s an organic cotton. I wish there were more organic options, to be honest.
Because these are quilts I intend for children, I include a little puzzle in each one. I might talk about this more later, but in antique charm quilts, the makers would include one print only once and it would give children something to busy themselves if they were sick by finding the unique print. This one has one print I used twice just to throw them off the trail. And then I snuck a 2.5″ brown mouse print from Lizzie House’s Catnap collection as the unique piece. Can you find it? These chocolate kits are in my shop and more than half gone. You can find them here.
I think I’ll do the same in this quilt. I’ll probably hide it in a bottom corner because I have finished the rest of the blocks. For my bookish niece, I think this will be well received. I love the little stacks of books, the plaid that reminds me of cozy, English-style rooms, the sweet toile, and the tilda roses which may be my favorite print of all time. I do have kits for these here.
Til next time, friends. Time is a blur lately, but with any luck I’ll have more to share shortly. I’m also going to do a belated post on my trip to England. The memories I made on that trip have been getting me through some challenges and I dream every single day of going back. And I will say so many of the photos we took are EPIC. We went to a Granite Edge and found the spot from the 2005 Pride and Prejudice. It was absolutely dreamy but I was a little terrified by the height and couldnt force myself closer to the edge.
Thank you for being here <3 Amanda
The Chocolate Sonnet is so lovely. And I love the hymn centers. I love all the Sonnets, but this one is just special.
Love the chocolate sonnet