A Favorite Sampler Quilt

This is one of my favorite quilts.  I have it hanging with several other quilts over a ladder in my family room, but at Christmas time I put it at the top of my stairs over the railing.  You may not think it looks all that Christmasy, but it is red and green, and most of the fabric is from a collection called "Folk Art Christmas."

The pattern came from a class I took years ago at "The Quilt Shoppe" taught by Carole Monahan.  She called it "English Country Garden".   It has 20 different 8" blocks and about 50 4" filler blocks that are a combination of flying geese, square in a square and pinwheel blocks.  The finished size is 64" x 76".  It is a lot of work cutting out a quilt like this but oh so fun to sew because each block is unique and it's a celebration every time you finish one. 

This was the second quilt I had Quiltmasters do for me and over the years I've learned what to ask for. It's not that I don't like this quilting, but now I know to request small or extra small instead of medium density quilting (on most things) because I like that even better.  I've used this "puzzle" pattern on many projects and love it!

The block in the lower right corner of the picture above is called "Weathervane" and is one of my favorites in the quilt.  Can you find the other nineteen?

I've been having great fun this week going through all my flannel scraps.  I think I have the makings for 3 quilt tops and maybe next week I'll give you a sneak peak at some of the blocks.   Don't these cold, rainy days just make you want to stay indoors and sew something?  It's less calories than baking something, that's for sure.