CollectIn Texas Gal

12/8/12

Favorite Holiday Treats...Both Tasty and Tasteful

TASTY TREATS

Both TASTY AND TASTEFUL

My Favorite Christmas Quilt

Tasty Cupcakes come and go...that's expected.

Tasteful Table Settings for Christmas Dinner can be duplicated.

But this Christmas Quilt was a Once In A Lifetime experience and now a Forever Family Heirloom.

Here's it's Story...

Back In The Day when the InterNet was new and DialUp was what we knew, I joined 'Quilt Talk'.

It was...what we now call...an Online Quilt Website that was like a

DotCom, Blog, YahooGroup, ChatRoom, Friends and Followers all Rolled Up in One!

In the Summer of 1998 I signed up for a Christmas Block Swap.

By the end of the summer I had Swapped Blocks with Twenty-five Quilters from all over the world.

(click on the blocks above to enlarge to see the signed blocks and their origins)

I made 25 Ohio Star with the Fussy Cut Santa Blocks...first one in the strip...and sent one to each of the 24 Quilters in my Swap Group. In return, I received a block from each of them. We each assembled the blocks in our own design and quilted it to our individulal taste. At that time, I was a Newbie Longarm Quilter and hesitated to machine quilt this very special quilt top. But I wanted it finished for the Swap Show and for Christmas, so I put it on 'QuiltALottie' and did my FIRST CUSTOM Quilting job. It took what seemed forever, but I learned so much and found that I really enjoyed Custom Quilting.

Linking To:

Beverly's How Sweet the Sound

Holiday Treats Pink Saturday

and

Claudia's Mockingbird Hill Cottage

A Favorite Thing #15

Happy Holiday Treat Baking and Quilting!!!

12/6/12

Poinsettia Points...I Get The Point!

There are a couple of Points I would like to make about Poinsettias

that have nothing to do with Quilts!

Did you know they were named after a person, and that they are not native to the United States?

In 1825, Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US Minister to Mexico, introduced the plant to this country.

In Mexico it is known as "Noche Buena", which means Christmas Eve.

The Noche Buena's association with Christmas began in 16th Century Mexico, where the legend tells of a young girl who was too poor to provide a gift for the celebration of Jesus' birthday.

The tale goes that the child was inspired by an angel to gather weeds from the roadside and place them in front of the church altar. Crimson 'blossoms' sprouted from the weeds and became beautiful poinsettias.

From the 17th century, Franciscan friars in Mexico included the plants their Christmas celebrations. The star-shaped leaf pattern is said to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem.

You can read more about the interesting history, the creation of the Poinsettia industry in the United States and the Poinsettia Poison Myth on Wikepedia....HERE.

In my Christmas Collection, I have two of these Christmas Girls with Poinsettias. They were made by Lefton and are numbered 7698. Originally, they were sold as a Threesome. The third girl holds Christmas presents. Maybe one day I will run across her, and reunite these three sisters.

Now about Poinsettia Points in Quilts....I GOT Them...FINALLY!

I have to say, though, it took awhile and lots of Pointy Practice!

I started out to make a Christmas Bed Quilt using Bethany Reynolds Stack and Whack Eight Pointed Star pattern. Then I got sidetracked and the Star Blocks got put in a WIP Basket....for several years. As I said...FINALLY...I got back to the Points of the Poinsettia Blocks and made TWO Wall/Table Topper Quilts. So, Yes, I Get the Point of Poinsettias....