curvy Christmas kingfisher

I decided last Christmas

that it would be festive

to (eventually) have a ton of Christmas quilts,
now that, you know - we'll have room for them.

I'm not one to change decor

- or anything -

all that often,

so they'd have to be not so Christmasy 

that they'd need to be put away by Jan 1st,

'cause in all likelihood,

these babies would be out from the day after Thanksgiving

through at least February,

maybe even longer.

When I got back to sewing in March,

after not sewing for 2 1/2 months,

I started making patchwork forest trees

as my leader/ender project.

When I cut my fabrics into the 9x11 pieces

that I'd use to make the trees,

I also cut another 9x11 piece of each fabric.

My thinking was that I could sell this custom bundle

to somebody who adored my quilt,

but didn't want to spend the time and money that I had

to amass fabrics.

(not that I spent a ton of money mind you, (Honey)

but buying a bunch of fat sixteenths

is a whole lot cheaper 

than buying a bunch of fat quarters and half yards,

no matter what kind of a sale you got them on)

In mid-May, Rachel announced a Summer stitch-a-long.

While I liked the quilt,

I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep up with the pace,

especially since our vacation wouldn't fall

 in the 8 weeks of the sew along,

and there was a lot of hand-stitching involved.

(and remember, we are still building a house,

so sewing time is limited!)

Plus - I already have a kazillion quilts on my to-make list.

Two weeks later,

my pre-ordered copy of Florence's book,

Flossie Teacakes Guide to English Paper Piecing

arrived.

By the time I'd finished chapter one

(which is worth the price of the book, in my opinion!)

I decided that I would join the Kingfisher Stitch Along

after all.

And I would use those fabrics that I had already cut

into 9x11 pieces!

Those fabrics had already been chosen to make a Christmas quilt,

why not use them for another Christmas quilt too??

I scurried around and collected more coordinating fabrics,
(there are 99 in this quilt)

and ordered 300 1" hexagon papers

and on June 5th,

I started prepping hexies using barely diluted liquid starch.

Two weeks later,

my dad had a horrible freak accident

and ended up with a severe spinal cord injury,

and died 8 days later.

And it turned out,

that English Paper Piecing was a saving grace to me.

I could force myself to work on just a few flowers a day.

No thinking was required,

as I'd already had my fabrics ready.

I prepped hexies,

and I sewed them together.

repeat.

repeat.

repeat...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When I decided to join the stitchalong,

I started thinking that,

since this was to be a Christmas quilt,

wouldn't it be cool if instead of diamonds,

my background fabrics were in the shape of ornaments??

Ornaments would be especially fitting, 

since we give our children a special ornament each year....

I couldn't get it out of my head,

so I searched and searched for a quilt pattern 

with an interlocking ornament shape 

that wasn't pieced.

I figured I could adjust the size to suit my 9x11 pieces of fabric.

No such thing exists

(or if it does, I sure didn't find it)

so I set out to make my own.

After lots of trial and error

(I could get my shapes to almost fit together perfectly,

but not quite.)

I consulted with my engineer/mathematician son

and he told me that there was a formula

(of course there was...)

and that the curves needed to change directions
exactly midway horizontally.

With this new info,

I was able to draw a properly interlocking ornament shape

without too much trouble

and then add 1/4" seam allowance all the way around.

I had sewed 4 'ornaments' together to test my shape

the day before our world changed forever.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After I had the all hexies at least prepped,
over the course of a week,

I heavily starched the background fabrics.

Folded them in fourths and pressed them again.

And then cut them out.

I machine applique'd each hexi flower
to it's background with black thread,
after adding an extra layer of batting
to each center hexagon.

Repeatedly,

I found myself so grateful that I had joined this sew along;

all I had to do,

was the next thing.

The stitching soothed my broken heart,

just a little.

And I was making something beautiful.

Eventually,

the 'next thing'

was sewing all those darned curvy ornament shapes together

and that was absolutely no fun at all.

There was a lot on unsewing 

and re-sewing 

involved, too.

There are quite a few not-perfectly-matching seams in this quilt;

if couldn't get it right in 3 tries,

it was deemed good enough.

After completing the top,

I added 50/50 wool & cotton batting
(which was it's own little nightmare!)

and a lovely (but slightly weird) Liberty of London lawn backing

(my first Liberty fabric!! that stuff is sooo expensive)

and quilted on my home machine.

I bound it by machine with the same striped vintage sheet

I used to test my ornament shape

(which I then used in the quilt, obviously)

Though tinged with great sadness,

this quilt also holds wonderful memories for me.

There is no doubt in my mind that God Himself 

orchestrated my participation in this sew-a-long.

Stitching truly is therapuetic for me,

and this is not the first season of my life

where sewing has played a huge role in healing.

(It's why I donate sewing machines to Rahab's Rope..)

When all I wanted to do was sit in a chair
and stare off into space

and/or cry

I sewed.

Just a little bit.

To try to keep up with the sew along.

 I'd post pictures on Instagram

and everyone was so encouraging and lovely,

and I made a few new friends.

The season that Curvy Christmas Kingfisher was made in

 was awful,

and while this quilt holds many tears,

it mostly holds gratitude.

For the gift of sewing.

For the gift of sewing friends,

and mostly for the gift 

of that precious last week with my dad.

Curvy Christmas Kingfisher will be on display
at the Belle Point Quilter's Guild quilt show
if you would like to see it in person.