Twelve Quilts of Christmas – #1

This year’s Twelve Quilts of Christmas is the better late than never edition. When life happens, sometimes you just need to adjust to keep a tradition alive.

For 2024, we are celebrating Tulip Quilts! When I was doing my research I kept track of some numbers for my own curiosity and I thought I would share them with you. I know I look at tens upon tens of thousands of quilts as I scour through my books and through various websites. In the end here is how I got to where I landed in my research and got to my final 12 … well sort of.

Short list of tulip quilts to consider: 283. (This number is the grand result of gathering all the options from what I have seen. I don’t try and edit before this. It is helpful to see trends and detect personal bias.)

First elimination round: 58

Second elimination round: 26

Third elimination round: 17

Fourth elimination round: 15-22 some jumping back in. 

Final: 13. And it stayed at 13 until today. I was still humming and hawing between two choices for the final pick, but in the end, the photo of one quilt was just not going to be great, so I was glad to have that extra one in my back pocket. All that being said I am saying it is in my back pocket because in verifying some information today, I saw another potential candidate and, well … you get the idea. They truly are never definitely decided until I hit publish some years.

Truly every year is a struggle to pare down the options, but it is a struggle in the best way. In the pursuit of variety (the short list showed very clearly my personal bias for crossed tulip designs) I was propelled to consider other options and in doing so I expanded my design vocabulary. That is a very good thing!

The tulip motif can be found in design going back centuries, so it is no surprise that it continued to be popular as a quilting motif. During the past 13 years of The Twelve Quilts of Christmas, tulips have certainly appeared in the quilts highlighted. You can find some examples here, here, here, here, and here.

I am so glad that you are joining me again this year as we continue to soak up some amazing tulip quilts and tons all of ingenuity from the makers that have come before us.

This red, cheddar and dark green, on white background, quilt is a wonderful example of the power and potential of exploring a design using a single motif. I love the detail of the four “unstemmed” flowers in the middle. What is really interesting is that the maker was extremely comfortable with her sewing machine and she straight machine stitched down all the appliqué components on this quilt.

The graphic nature of this quilt is compelling. Do you see the “x” that interplays with a centre square on point. And the bit of extra fabric she added on to the top and bottom of the quilt is a delightful addition, that doesn’t bother me at all or detract from the design. Toes had to be kept warm!

What do you think of this quilt?