The class was taught by Lynn Bristol and I remember that she had some coloring book pages and other pictures of snowmen to share so that each person's quilt was unique. I know that I subdivided some of the space in the lower half of the quilt because it almost seemed like the designer got tired of all the little blocks and just wanted to be done. I love all of my snowmen. Many are three dimensional with loose scarves and plenty of buttons. A total of 29 buttons if you can believe it.
This flying snowman is made with red corduroy and gold lame (pronounced lamay) wings. I'm actually amazed at all the detail when I look close. The ear muffs are black velvet. There are shoelaces stitched into the boots. I painted the stars gold and then glued them on. In all these years they have stayed put. All the applique is done using black floss and the blanket stitch.
The mittens are made with Warm & Natural quilt batting and are attached to the quilt with a button. The hearts on the mittens are not appliqued on but were attached with a fusible webbing. You can see it coming loose in a few spots but to me it just adds to the charm.
I'm not sure where I collected all the blue background fabrics but this one is especially perfect for the 22" tall snowman and the bird on his hat. Like most of the snowmen (but not all), he is made of soft, cotton quilt batting. Wish I had taken close ups of all the blocks but that is probably enough. They are all cute to me.
I love this fabric on the back, although you never see it. When it came time to quilt this 20 years ago, I called the only person I knew who did that sort of thing. It was the same woman who had quilted my "Village Quilt" on a little Pfaff just like mine. She was busy but agreed to free motion quilt around the snowmen if I did all the quilting in the ditch first. So I did and then she did. There is not a lot of quilting but it holds the quilt together which is the most important function of the quilting anyway. I made a pocket at the top of the back and slip a 2" x 1/4" flat board to hang it from and it keeps it from sagging. There are two tiny holes drilled for nails and I just stick those nails back in the same holes in my wall every year. And if you care to know, the quilt is 38" x 44".
Here is a glimpse from my front door. If I'd known I was going to take this picture I might have put up the garland on my stairs but decided it wasn't worth the effort this year. No kids or grandkids will be here. I got my gifts organized early this year and delivered most of them when we were all together in Maryland for Thanksgiving. Makes for a much more relaxing December.
And this is what it has looked like around here for the past 10 days. We've had two small storms about a week apart. The schools have already had four snow days and some folks had to finally learn to drive on packed snow (or at least try). There was maybe a total of 4" but the temperature has stayed below freezing so nothing melted and it has looked beautiful. Until today. If I hurry, I can get this posted before the snow is gone because the rain is back and it will likely stay above freezing for the next week at least. This is good news for me because I hope to visit my family in Alberta to help celebrate my dad's 90th birthday on New Year's Eve.
Can I write a little more? I guess I can because it is my blog. Several people have recently read my blog for the first time and have told me how much they have enjoyed it. I don't claim to be a writer but I too enjoy looking back over my posts and can often get sucked into reading for an hour or more. The pictures are fun too. It is nice to feel like maybe I have given someone some encouragement or an idea about what to make next, but truthfully, my blog is mostly for me. It is easy to forget what we accomplish in the day to day routine of living. Have a wonderful, glorious Christmas! Until next year, then...
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