Twelve Quilts of Christmas 2022 – #1

 

This year I am celebrating quilts with circles by design.  Circles represent unity, wholeness, a sense of completion, and the cycle of time.  Even though quilts with circle designs can often be very energetic, drawing you in to the design, I find they can also provide a sense of peace visually.  I hope you enjoy this year’s selection.  Y’all know I sooooo believe that we have so much to learn from antique quilts! 

 

As I was choosing the quilts for this year’s line-up of the Twelve Quilts of Christmas, I remembered back to when I was studying fashion design. On the first day in one of my classes, the professor began the class by asking the class if there is really anything new to create in design.  It was a provocative question that has stayed with me all these years.  Of course, at the time, something in me wanted to say, “yes, of course there are new things!”  And yet at the same time I couldn’t totally agree because I could see trends and how fashion had been influenced by many things that had gone before.  That professor’s question prompted me to consider what made something truly different and ground breaking; where was the line that distinguished a design as new. Their question has stayed with me, and challenges me, to this day, causing me to continually examine my own work and process.  It is a great question to keep in mind as you look at the quilts this year and contemplate how you will take what you learn from these quilts and bring those yummy design lessons forward into your work.  

 

 

This quilt just vibrates with joy and is such a wonderful way to start out this year’s Twelve Quilts of Christmas. I love a good two colour quilt.

 

Notice how the “stems” at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock lead the eye back to centre They also point to the thicker “fans” that are created where the blocks are joined … what an interesting secondary design. The stems also work in tandem with the thicker red border to contain all the energy this quilt exudes!

 

This quilt definitely livens up the season!

 

I am so glad you are here.  Thank you so much for stopping by and remember to Quilt with Abandon!

 

Mary Elizabeth