If you’ve been following my quilting adventures for a while,
then you know how much I love samplers. My very first quilt was a sampler and I
love them for the stories they tell, the different names the blocks have….and
maybe a slight bit of “easily bored” on my part 😉. I enjoy playing with my quilts and bringing
fun and whimsy to this amazing art! I want my quilts and patterns to tell my
story and help other quilters tell their stories. A quilt block that is a cup
of hot cocoa may look like just that…a cup of hot cocoa…or, if you’re me, it’s
the time I came in from playing in the snow with my brother and sisters when I
was about 10 years old and my Mom was waiting inside with homemade hot
chocolate for each of us. See what I mean? There is so much joy to be found in
the simplest things and quilting has become an opportunity for me to paint
those pictures in fabric and thread.
Making and designing the Gingerbread Quilt for Love
Patchwork and Quilting issue 66 was an absolute joy! Playing with those light,
candy-like colors just made my heart happy! When I was planning the design, I
knew I wanted it to be a specific theme within Christmas. Let’s see…Christmas
carols.....Christmas sweaters…Christmas…Christmas…..Christmas SWEETS! Of
course! Visions of sugar plums danced through my head as I imagined a fun,
throw-sized quilt with dancing sugary Christmas happiness in each row…think the
“Be Our Guest” song from Beauty and the Beast! (Ok, I promise I didn’t literally
have visions of sugar plums but it would not be out of the realm of possibility
for me to have a random song stuck in my head so the “Be Our Guest” part is
right on 😉).
Each row holds a special meaning or memory for me, as I’m
sure Christmas itself does for a lot of us. The gingerbread men look just like the
ones I made at my Grandma’s house. Does your family make gingerbread men or
gingerbread houses for Christmas? The sugar cookies remind me of sitting down
with my family every single year and decorating homemade, from scratch, sugar
cookies using my Great-Grandma Summer’s recipe, frosting them with white
frosting, and sprinkling them with an endless array of brightly-colored sprinkles.
What are your favorite Christmas memories? Do any of the
blocks in the Gingerbread House row quilt help to remind you of those memories?
If nothing else, I hope that you take as much joy and have as much fun making
this quilt as I did designing it! Join me (@burlapandblossompatterns) and Love Patchwork and Quilting (@lovequiltingmag) on Instagram for our #gingerbreadqal
where quilters from all over the world are making the row quilt and sewing
along together. You can pick up your own copy of the magazine from www.lovepatchworkandquilting.com
. The magazine is full of amazing quilty inspiration in every single issue! And
so, with that, from my heart to yours, Merry early Christmas-quilting projects 😊
<3 
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