Hello friends,
This past week I pulled out a few more Christmas decorations. It has been cold and snowy, so the weather is perfect to put one in the mood for decorating! I mentioned to my husband that the ONE decoration that signals the Christmas season the most for me ( well, other than the Christmas tree, of course!) is the installation of my collection of Santas. Have you met my Santas? Let me tell you the story behind them:
Years and years ago, when we lived in Bozeman, Montana, there was a sweet little quilt shop called Quilting in the Country. It was located on the property of an old farmstead, and came complete with barn, outbuildings, and a wonderful old farmhouse. This is where I was lucky enough to take my very first quilt class, and where I spent many a happy hour shopping or participating in events.
One year, Jane, the owner, and her staff offered a Block of the Month program. The monthly package included one Santa and one set of fabrics and instructions to make blocks to accompany that particular Santa. I am going to admit right now that I wasn't crazy about the quilt design, but I NEEDED to have those Santas! So every month I would drive to the shop and collect my goodies. The Santas were all gathered with our other Christmas decorations, and the fabrics I saved, never doing anything with them. I had actually quite forgotten about those fabrics and block instructions, until about a month ago or so, when my hubby found a bin filled with UFOs. And yes, there among all the other treasures was my collection of the Santa blocks! And you know, this many years later, I like the quilt so much better~ and am also a way more confident quilter~ so now feel perfectly at easy swapping out some of the "not my favorite" fabric and the "no desire to make them" blocks! So, although it obviously won't be done in time for this Christmas, I will get started on making that quilt, and maybe you will see it appear in next year's Christmas decorations!
Here is a close-up look at the Santas:
