Send me a card....

I have a place to put it!  Today I made a Christmas card holder.  I purchased some Christmas fabric at Quilts Bayou, a cute little quilt shop in Lake Charles, on our way home from Texas several months ago.  

I didn't realize it before but I've been hooked on this soft ice blue for some time.  I noticed it today when I decided to use the fabric. It has the same blue in it that I chose to use on this year's tree.  It's probably not a coincidence but it sort of feels that way.  

I decided to use the focus fabric separately to make a top for the holder.  Then used the other three fabrics for the back and the envelopes.

The olive is sort of unusual for a Christmas color but it contrasts nicely with the blue.  I love that one of the blue has the titles of Christmas songs on it.  Had I paid attention to that I may have used it for the back piece. However, it's a bit late for that now. 

Regardless, I really like my little holder and am looking forward to our first Christmas card.  I am fairly sure my mother-in-law will hand me one in a day or two....she is faithful to her traditions and giving out Christmas cards is definitely one.

I've decided this bird is a partridge.  Since I like it so much, I chose to quilt the bird by quilting around it and following some of the lines on it for detailing.  The end result is that the bird pops forward and the detailed lines really add to the look.  

I just wish I hadn't cut off the little guy's beak.  It's just a tiny little bit but still, it bothers me.  

For the rest of the quilt, I practiced some quilting designs that I learned in an Angela Waters Craftsy class.  The top block is quilted in squares, the second in shells, and the third in circles.  I really need to practice some more, but in a few days the quilting will be covered by cards and next year I will be laughing that I did such a poor job of it.  

What Christmas sewing have you been doing?