Sunday, August 24, 2014

Christmas Table Topper Finished


My Christmas table topper is finally completed. I blogged about it in this post - how it was my first real project and how it got set aside and how almost four years later I rediscovered it and decided to finish it.

Besides moving twice in those four years, there were a couple other reasons I didn't finish it. Although I really liked the teacher of the beginning quilting class I took in 2010, she was a member of the "points police" and made us redo any blocks that had less than perfect points. I never had to redo any of my piecing, because I spent hours making sure my points were perfect (although now I see some errors on my blocks). I am grateful to my teacher for instilling good "points ethics", but it created a kind of dread when I thought about finishing. And I was very nervous about quilting it, since the class did not include any quilting instruction. So it sat in a basket.


It wasn't until I started examining pictures on the blogs of experienced quilters that I realized my points did not have to be perfect and my quilting was going to look good to a non-quilter no matter how elementary it looked to me. The tide began to turn, and now I love every part of making a quilt.

I quilted with no plan, but I am pleased with the way it turned out. Each block has its own quilting pattern. The only thing I would do differently now would be to rearrange the blocks to help balance the two lighter blocks with the two darker blocks. It finished at 26-1/2 inches square.

Center

Simple flowers and leaves and mazes

Each block quilted with different pattern

My version of the Christian symbol of the fish on the sashing

Binding is one of Moda's Fruitcake line

I toyed with the idea of donating this to our church fall market, but I think I would rather keep it as a reminder of my first class and use it for Christmas. I am linking it to Rachel's Purge-Along and to Lily's Quilts Small Blog Meet.


Small Blog Meet

24 comments:

  1. Hello Linda! Your quilt looks fabulous! The quilting is lovely and I love the colours you have used. It is going to look great on your table at Christmas! :) xx

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  2. I love the quilting you did on this and the fabric is beautful.

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  3. Hallo Linda,
    die Tischdecke sieht fabelhaft aus und sie ist so wunderbar gequiltet.

    LG Uta

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    1. Thank you Uta! Or I guess I should say "danke"! I am keeping Google Translate busy. ;)

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  4. Howdy Linda - Your blog caught my attention when I Googled TX A&M quilting...Love your sweet blog. We are an aggie family! Your recipes look good too!

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    1. How cool! My son and DIL are Aggies. :) Thanks for visiting.

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  5. I'm really glad you tackled this otherwise neglected mini. I especially like your use of the striped fabric on an angle. Well done!

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    1. Thank you for the compliment and thank you for visiting, Michelle!

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  6. I love the topper! It's so pretty! I bet you can't wait for Christmas to use it.

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    1. Thanks Emily! I am looking forward to using it. :)

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  7. What an exceptional addition to your Christmas decor. It's lovely and the quilting is fabulous.

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  8. your points are perfect! That teacher would have put me off for life, I only match points by accident! The quilting looks great too.

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    1. Lol Wendy - it did kind of put me off for awhile! Thanks for visiting my blog and for your nice comments.

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  9. Even that quilting teacher started somewhere, or did she think she was born with a needle and thread and a quilting hoop already in her hands? It's a hobby, isn't it? We all have wonky points sometimes.
    I think your quilt has turned out perfectly and will make a nice decoration on your Christmas table.

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    1. Thank you Marly - lol I agree with you, it is a hobby. I think I might make a quilt sometime called Wonky Points - love that. :)

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  10. Huge congratulations for finishing this long-held-onto project! And thanks for sharing at the Purge =)

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  11. I love your table runner! I think I may do this with my Halloween fabrics for fall (beautiful points BTW!)

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    1. Thank you Amy! I can't wait to see your Halloween runner. After I found the link to the Saltwater Quilts one, I am so tempted to buy the pattern.
      Thanks for the points compliment - my points may never be so perfect again. ;)

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  12. There is a picture that says the purge just above the comments. It tries to be a link but doesn't work right, I think.

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    1. Thanks Jeri! I guess that is an old link, so I went ahead and removed it. I appreciate you letting me know. :)

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