Christmas Quilts that Last Past Christmas

This post a couple of examples of making Christmas quilts out of traditional quilt patterns - as opposed to a quilt pattern specifically designed for Christmas. It's one of my favorite kinds of Christmas quilts to make. Mainly because they don't overtly shout "CHRISTMAS!" so I tend to leave them out all winter. In other words: Christmas Quilts that Last Past Christmas.

The first quilt I purposely did this with was the original Sentimental Stars quilt in Liberty Christmas prints. Adding the navy made it less overtly Christmas and I keep this one out through March. Also, flannel on the back makes it a nice cozy quilt.  

Today I finished piecing the quilt top of my Fraulein quilt pattern using Liberty of London's Woodland Christmas collection + coordinating red, black, and green prints from my stash. (You can see the origins and more details about this quilt here.) Still need to add borders.

I had big hopes to get this one pieced, quilted and finished before this Christmas, but a few unexpected events this past week mean that probably won't happen. (One of which being I'm still waiting for the backing fabric that I ordered a couple of weeks ago.)

And that's okay. Again, the beauty of it being more of a "Winter Quilt" than a "Christmas Quilt" is that I'll still get it finished in the next few weeks and enjoy it through the next few months.

The Fraulein pattern is available here. It's such a great one for playing with color and fabric combinations. This pattern is also Jelly Roll friendly - meaning 2 ½" strips work perfect for this quilt - so you could even go to your scrap bins! And strip piecing means the blocks come together relatively fast!

Here's another example of a Christmas version of one of my quilt patterns. New team member Suzy J. made a Christmas version of the Gratitude Quilt pattern.

How pretty is it in warm, scrappy Christmas colors? Some Christmas-specific prints, but mixed with lots of other tones and prints to give it depth and contrast. And I think it's another variation that can last through the winter months!

So there you go, three versions of Christmas quilts that transition after the holidays - that last past Christmas - and still keep your house cozy through the winter months.