Dreaming of Peace

Peace is a universal wish, and it seems the world needs it now more than ever.  Embody the dream of peace, and keep it alive throughout the year, with rows of angels as seen in Kimberly Rado’s Peace Angel pattern.

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Peace Angel quilt pattern by Kimberly Rado at Starry Night Hollow (California)

We love the contemporary blues and grays of Kimberly Rado's quilt. But this design is also beautiful in bright, floral prints (as shown below) ! This Kaffe Fassett version is being featured at Quilt Country in Lewisville, Texas (just north of Dallas).  In fact, Lori LaParche is presenting a class on this quilt on Monday, Jan 29, 2024! (CLICK for class info)!

Peace Angel quilt at Quilt Country, Texas (CLICK)

Image credits:  The Peace Angel pattern is copyrighted by renowned fiber artist, Kimberly Rado. For more of her fabulous designs, check out the Starry Night Hollow pattern page.  The photograph of the Kaffe Fassett version is the property of Quilt country.

Peace on Earth

Here is a beautiful quilt by fiber artist Jean Baardsen.  The message, "Peace on Earth", has special meaning at this time of year. As described in the story of the Nativity,  the heavenly angels appear to shepherds in their fields.  The angels praise God with these words:  "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." 

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Peace on Earth, 27 x 21", by Jean Baardsen

We are drawn to Jean Baardsen's quilt because of its elegant design and timeless appeal. Jean says: "This was my 2000 raffle quilt. The idea for the dove and streamers came from a Christmas card. I used green magic marker on blue fabric to make the earth. The dark blue background fabric already had the white hounds tooth and pink dots on it. "Peace" was added with couched gold trim. I wanted to call the quilt "Peace on Earth" and if you look at the detail, you can see the word "on" written in one of the pink dots!" (shown below).

Close-up, Peace on Earth by Jean Baardsen

Jean Baardsen has been making art quilts since 1995; she also paints and creates works of art with mixed media. She says: "The principal source of inspiration for my art work is nature. Birds, fish, trees and flowers make frequent appearances. And then there’s the fabric. Thrift shops exist to provide me with fascinating fabrics for my art quilts. Whatever clothing is colorful, strange, unique, or weird makes its way home with me. Old blouses are the bread and butter of my fabric stash."

 Image credits:  The image is shown with the generous permission of Jean Baardsen and was originally posted at Quilt Inspiration in December, 2012. We previously featured Jean's "Red Sky at Night" quilt in Quilt Inspiration Classics: Nautical Quilts.

12 Days of Christmas Quilts: Silent Night

Merry Christmas to all our readers! To celebrate the season, we've been posting 12 beautiful Christmas quilts from our favorite shows.  We hope you enjoy the beautiful details expressed in this Nativity scene.

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Silent Night by Mikelle Price,  Utah

Mikelle explains, "This quilt was my first major paper piecing and quilting project. I saw this pattern and immediately thought of three special people in my life that I wanted to make it for.

(Note:This quilt is based on the Advent Nativity Pattern at Paper Panache.)

Here, Mary holds the newborn Christ child, as the Wise Men and the animals of the manger stand by in reverence during the cold winter night.  Mikel's very precise work ensures that even the smallest details of this work can be clearly seen.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2019 Springville (Utah) quilt show.

12 Days of Christmas Quilts: O Holy Night

Merry Christmas to all our readers! We hope you enjoy our photos of this beautiful stained glass quilt.

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

O Holy Night, made and quilted by Samantha Wright (Arizona)

Samantha Wright says O Holy Night was inspired by a pattern she found on Etsy. (Scroll down for the pattern source.) "Having collected Nativity items most of my life, I was immediately challenged  to make it!"  The finished quilt includes over 700 applique pieces and quilting was hand guided by Samantha. The Nativity scene, highlighting Samantha's outstanding quilting, is shown below.

Many details can be seen here, including the jewel tone fabrics in the robes of Mary and Joseph; the woolen head scarves of the shepherds; and some very woolly sheep!

This lovely quilt was exhibited at the 2020 Road to California quilt show. Marbled fabrics in a range of hues were used to create the buildings in the town of Bethlehem. Samantha says, "The first time I attended Road2CA in 2017, I purchased the fabrics used in the quilt." 

The quilt was based on a pattern that Elsie Montgomery sells on Etsy. Elsie designed the pattern from Cass Moore’s art on a Christmas card, leaving off the minarets for they were not ‘invented’ at that time. Then she was asked by many for the pattern so chased the copyright for a long time (years) before locating the company that manages Cass Moore’s work, and securing the rights to make the pattern. The pattern, titled When God Became a Man, is available at ElsieQuilts on Etsy.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2020 Road to California quilt show.  A big thank you goes to Elsie Montgomery for the background and source of the pattern!

12 Days of Christmas Quilts: Gloria

Merry Christmas to all our readers! To celebrate the season, we're posting 12 beautiful Christmas quilts from our favorite shows.  We hope you enjoy the beautiful details expressed in this Nativity scene.

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Gloria by Shauna M. Kawasaki

Surrounded by yarn fringe and covered with embroidery and beading, Gloria is an original work of art by Shauna Kawasaki, who says: "I love to decorate for Christmas. Recently, I was not home at Christmas to decorate, so I made this quilt and decorated and decorated and decorated...."

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2016 Springville (Utah) Museum of Art quilt show.

12 Days of Christmas Quilts: Oh Christmas Tree!

Merry Christmas to all our readers! To celebrate the season, we're posting 12 of our favorite Christmas quilts from recent shows.  We hope you enjoy the beautiful details expressed in these masterpieces!

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Oh ! Christmas Tree, 55 x 62, by Elizabeth Eastmond  (California)

Oh ! Christmas Tree, designed by Australian quilt artist Wendy Williams, was the subject of a quilt-along by Elizabeth Eastmond at OPQuilt. Elizabeth writes, "I hand-stitched all the flowers and birds while on a trip to Lisbon [Portugal] and Spain in order to complete the quilt in under a year. This pattern... was an inspiration of fun, whimsy, and technique. I did finish the quilt just shy of Christmas Day."

Close-up, Oh! Christmas Tree

Quilt designer Wendy Williams is known for her wool applique and contemporary, simple shapes depicting elements of nature, such as birds, flowers, and trees. They are rendered here in clear, bright wool felt embellished by Elizabeth with embroidery thread that is often in analogous or complementary colors. The beautiful birds and leaves give a sunny, almost tropical mood to this tree of life motif.

Close-up Oh ! Christmas Tree

At the base of the tree is a lovely Nativity scene featuring Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, with the Star of Bethlehem shining brightly overhead. These pure, color saturated fabrics shown against the white background, along with Elizabeth's beautiful stitchery, provide a joyous sense of energy and liveliness.


Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2018 Road to California quilt show.

12 Days of Christmas: Winter Snow Storm

Merry Christmas to all our readers! To celebrate the season, we're posting 12 of our favorite Christmas quilts from recent shows.  We hope you enjoy the beautiful details expressed in these masterpieces!

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Winter Snow Storm by Char Gasker

We loved this modern quilt, with its modern evergreen trees set against a snowy gray and white background. Char Gasker says, "To ease the boredom of the pandemic, I decided to take an online class.  I loved the Crazy Christmas Trees pattern* so much that I created this larger version using my stash and some purchased fabrics."

This quilt was machine quilted (computer guided) by Char Gasker. *Note: The original pattern was designed by Karla Alexander and published by Cut Loose Press.

Image credits: Photos were taken at the 2022 Arizona Quilters Guild show.

12 Days of Christmas Quilts: Simply Splendid

Merry Christmas to all our readers! To celebrate the season, we're posting 12 of our favorite Christmas quilts from recent shows. We hope you enjoy the beautiful details expressed in these masterpieces!

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Simply Splendid by Ruth Davis

Simply Splendid by Ruth Davis won the Director's Award at this year's Springville (Utah) quilt show! While it is not necessarily a Christmas quilt, the colors and sparkle fit the season perfectly!! The 12 quilt blocks in this art piece are Disappearing Hourglass blocks; you can see a photo of the pieced quilt top at Ruthie Quilts, along with a photo showing her block construction. Ruth notes, "Setting it on point with wide-open spaces allowed me to let my machine quilting "shine".  I completed it using some computerized quilting, with micro quilting and pebbles done by hand."

Ruthie added couching with semi-metallic cream colored yarn, and she painted the "pebbles" with metallic paint.  This was followed by the application of hundreds of gems for additional sparkle.  We couldn't resist showing several photos of Ruth's outstanding quilting and embellishments! And for more details on technique, see the August (2018) UFO post at Ruthie Quilts.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2019 Springville (Utah) quilt show.

12 Days of Christmas Quilts: Peppermint & Holly

Merry Christmas to all our readers! To celebrate the season, we're posting 12 of our favorite Christmas quilts from recent shows.  We hope you enjoy the beautiful details expressed in these masterpieces!

Also check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns, fabric, and vintage jewelry!
For more free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.

Peppermint and Holly by Cherie Swanson, quilted by Nancy Stein

Here is a festive quilt featuring baskets of blooms and berries, with peppermint sashes and an elegant holly leaf border.

Cherie Swanson says, "Piecing and hand applique are my favorite combination of techniques. The holly gives hints of Christmas but this quilt will stay out all year." The Peppermint and Holly pattern is from Quilting the Garden by Barb Adams (Blackbird Designs, 2004). Cherie's beautiful applique work can be seen in the closeup photo, below.

 

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2022 Tucson Quilters Guild show.

12 Days of Christmas Quilts: Visions of Sugarplums

Merry Christmas to all our readers! To celebrate the season, we're posting 12 of our favorite Christmas quilts from recent shows.  We hope you enjoy the beautiful details expressed in these masterpieces!

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Visions of Sugarplums, made & quilted by Cherie Swanson

A delightful quilted tree, made in rows of different blocks including nine patch, square-within-square, baskets, and sprigs of holly! The base of the tree is shaped like a large spool. This Christmas quilt is beautifully pieced and appliqued.

Winner of a ribbon in the Small, Primarily Pieced, Machine Quilted category, Cherie Swanson says, "A white Christmas in Tucson (Arizona) doesn't happen - except on a quilt! The delicate snowflakes let us pretend." The pattern source is Tannenbaum by Laundry Basket Quilts. 

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2023 Tucson Quilters Guild show.

12 Days of Christmas Quilts: Father Christmas

Merry Christmas to all our readers! To celebrate the season, we're posting 12 of our favorite Christmas quilts from recent shows. We hope you enjoy the beautiful details expressed in these masterpieces!

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Father Christmas by Laurene Sinema (Arizona), quilted by Shirley Weagant and Una Jarvis

Laurene Sinema was the founder of the Arizona Quilters Guild and the Arizona Quilt Project.  She also co-authored Grand Endeavors, Vintage Arizona Quilts and Their Makers as well as more than 60 quilt patterns. For 25 years she owned the Quilted Apple quilt shop in Phoenix, Arizona.

Father Christmas was hand appliqued, embellished, embroidered, and hand quilted. This 1995 block-of-the-month was immensely popular, selling over 15,000 patterns.  BOM patterns were free the first week of the month and cost $1 after that - another way to get customers into the shop.  Laurene loved Christmas!

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2022 International Quilt Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah.

12 Days of Christmas Quilts: Tole Christmas

Merry Christmas to all our readers! To celebrate the season, we're posting 12 of our favorite Christmas quilts from recent shows.  We hope you enjoy the beautiful details expressed in these masterpieces!

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Tole Christmas by Denice Kitchen, quilted by Emmy Evans

As you can see, this is a tessellation quilt, wherein the negative space defines upside-down trees. Denice Kitchen says, "Two friends from my quilt group made this quilt and there was fabric leftover for a third! I was the lucky recipient.  After decades of piecing quilts, this is my very first Christmas quilt and I can't wait to display it this season." Emmy Evans' beautiful machine quilting makes this quilt extra special.

(Note: Tole Christmas is a free quilt pattern available at Moda Fabrics (CLICK for PDF download).

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2022 Springville Museum quilt show (Utah).

12 Days of Christmas Quilts: By The Chimney with Care

Merry Christmas to all our readers! To celebrate the season, we're posting 12 of our favorite Christmas quilts from recent shows.  We hope you enjoy the beautiful details expressed in these masterpieces!

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

By the Chimney with Care by Karen Turnbull (California)

This delightful, original applique quilt is one of our all-time Christmas favorites. The creator and quilter, Karen Turnbull, says that her Norwegian heritage inspired her to create a Scandinavian [Christmas] scene. "I was inspired to make a fireplace scene to hang on my living room wall each Christmas, because my house doesn't have a real fireplace and mantel."

The technique is fused, raw-edge applique, using Pellon Wonder-Under, and sewn on a domestic Janome machine.  Karen says,  "I even taught myself to make Norwegian Hardanger lace to decorate the stockings and mantel." She also created the appearance of fireplace tiles, and quilted floral motifs within the "tiles", as shown below.

Each part of this quilt has something fun to see, including the pretty woven and embroidered ornaments on the tree!

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2018 Road to California show.

12 Days of Christmas Quilts: Merry Christmas Tweets

Merry Christmas to all our readers! To celebrate the season, we're posting 12 of our favorite Christmas quilts from recent shows.  We hope you enjoy the beautiful details expressed in these masterpieces!

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Merry Christmas Tweets by Linda Lygre, quilted by Penny Allen.  

This very cheerful quilt has birds in all 4 corners, perched on branches above Christmas stockings! The candy cane ribbon border - and peppermint candies in the borders - are so much fun! There are also 5 different, adorable birdhouses, which are all decked out for the holidays.  The block called "Snowbirds Welcome" has an adorable ice skating Penguin (shown below). 

The holiday scenes are beautifully appliqued, pieced, embellished, and quilted! 

The pattern source is Peppermint Place by The Quilt Company.  Linda Lygre says, "I saw this pattern in a charming quilt shop a number of years ago, and just had to buy it.  It took a while to collect all the fabrics, and a few more years to complete it.  It was really fun [to make].  I enjoy hanging it in our home for the holidays." 

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2023 Tucson Quilt Fiesta.

Christmas Ornaments from Scraps

OK folks... it's time to break out the fabric or felt scraps and whip up some Christmas ornaments. There are so many inspiring projects on the web, and most of them take 30 minutes or less!

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Gifts Hoop Ornaments, 3", free tutorial at Cotton and Joy (CLICK for tutorial)

Aunt Lydia's Christmas Disc ornaments, free pattern at Yarnspirations (CLICK for PDF download)  

For 27 more FREE projects, check out our Free Pattern Day (CLICK HERE):

Image credits: Individual images are copyrighted by their owners. Please respect their generosity in sharing their free patterns, and the restrictions they have placed on the use of these designs; complete information can be found at the designers' websites provided in the links. The photo montage shown on this page is a derivative work that is the property of Quilt Inspiration. If any links are broken, we'd love to know so we can fix it. Please email us at QuiltInspiration {at} gmail {dot} com.

Free pattern day: Christmas Pillows & Cushions!

Here are 20 FREE pillow patterns to enhance your holiday decor.  They make great gifts too!  We hope you enjoy these holiday favorites. NOTE: This post has been updated!  Please check out the latest version at this new link: Free patterns for Christmas Pillows (CLICK HERE!)

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Image credits: The photo montage shown on this page is a derivative work that is the property of Quilt Inspiration; please do not copy or post on your own web page.  Thank you!

Easy Pieced Wreath: Free Tutorial!

It's time to visit one of our favorite tutorials: the Easy Pieced Wreath!

When creating this wreath we looked at many methods, including tying fabric strips to a wire frame, but we were put off by these words of wisdom:  "You will tie and tie for days and days".... and: "I got blisters on my fingers from the fabric when I tied it".  So we came up with this easy method that produces a beautiful, full wreath. For the original tutorial, CLICK HERE!

 Image credits: Images are copyrighted by Quilt Inspiration.

5 Easy DIY Christmas Tree Skirts & Free Patterns!

It's nearly time to decorate for Christmas. For many people, putting up a tree is a Thanksgiving weekend tradition. How about dressing up your tree with an easy, DIY tree skirt? 

Made with either fabric or felt, and with fusible interfacing or glue, here are 5 FREE tutorials that do not require a sewing machine. These would make fun weekend projects. Read on for ideas and more inspiration.

DIY 30 Minute No Sew Tree Skirt at Dimples and Tangles (CLICK for FREE tutorial)

What a cheerful look! This tree skirt begins with extra-wide felt in peacock blue, along with red  polka dots for the top, and green half-circles for the scalloped trim. For details, please visit Dimples and Tangles.

Glitter Star tree skirt at A Beautiful Mess (CLICK for FREE tutorial)

Make a special tree skirt this year with a little more glitz! Start with a plain tree skirt, then cut small, medium, and large stars from glitter cardstock paper or fabric for an easy, elegant design! For details, visit A Beautiful Mess.

Star of Wonder Tree Skirt, free pattern at APQS (CLICK for PDF download)

Eight large stars are fused to a background circle cut from 1-1/4 yards of 44" wide background fabric. The FREE pattern includes a star template and an easy placement diagram for the stars. The one in this photo was quilted, but you could easily finish the back with fusible non-woven interfacing instead.

DIY No-Sew Plaid Christmas Tree Skirt tutorial by Sincerely Saturday

Made with 2 yards of inexpensive plaid fabric, plus 4 yards of pom pom trim and a hot glue gun, this tree skirt comes together fast! The trim gives it a charming retro look.  Check out the FREE tutorial and related links at Sincerely Saturday.

DIY No Sew Moroccan Wedding Blanket Tree Skirt tutorial by Almost Makes Perfect

 

Alternate 2" strips of white shag fabric with sequined trim.  The strips are attached with fabric glue to a plain white fabric background cut in a hexagon shape. It would be so much fun to pick out the trims... these sequins add a truly festive sparkle. For details, visit Almost Makes Perfect.

Make (or buy) a Faux Fur Tree Skirt

For a cozy look and simple project, create a tree skirt from a circle of faux fur.  Alternatively you can find one on Amazon for under $20 (CLICK!)

Last but not least, check out our Free Pattern Day for Christmas Tree Skirts (CLICK HERE):

Disclosures and credits: Images are owned by their creators; please respect any restrictions they may have placed on their websites in the links shown. Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission should you choose to make a purchase via the link. We love these products, and hope that you will too!