#twelve days of chrstmas

[sweethomeallegra]

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse

[johnthestitcher]

Quilt # 10 - The Twelve Days of Christmas

Size: 90" x 108"

Completed:  June 1982 

This quilt was inspired by a Hallmark ® Company Christmas card. It became one of the most intricate ones that I worked on, and went through several transitions of size, placement, and arrangement before I settled on the final design. The first consideration was that it was a ‘lateral’ card to be translated into a ‘vertical’ quilt, and did not have borders (see last picture}.

The individual card blocks were colorful and charming; they screamed to be translated into appliqué. In my preliminary sketches I carried out the complete card design, but somewhere during the process I decided that the Pipers and Drummers blocks were too plain: a pipe with ribbons and a military drum. I decided to change them into a block with a human playing the instruments and attempted to match the original artist's concept of design.

It was the borders of this quilt that changed the most often: how big and what scale and what to quilt in them. This quilt was originally sized with the extra border to 'tuck under the pillows', but I felt that wasted too much of the top space. The four repeated corner blocks were changed to two large and two smaller blocks and everything resized again so that the twelve appliquéd blocks would cover the mattress surface. Once that was decided, I drew the block designs full-sized and started cutting appliqué pieces.

I decided at this time that the title of the quilt would be part of the quilting design, and also decided that the lettering would be in 'Olde English' as befitted the carol. Since I knew there would be no way to draw the border designs in once it was put into the quilt frame, I used 'disappearing carbon paper' in red and green to trace the quilting designs onto the long borders. This would later turn out to be a grave mistake. I knew I would be quilting the red and green narrow borders with a plastic template of a cable design, marking them (and removing them) as I went along.

My notes show that one of my original considerations was to quilt a specific border around the edge of each block, such as eggs for the hens and the geese, shoes for the dancing Ladies, and footprints for the Lords A’ Leaping. This was also simplified using a pre-cut plastic stencil of a heart border, marking it in with a blue disappearing ink pen. I decided on fifty-two hearts per block, one for each week of the year. The background quilting would consist of connecting the tips of the hearts to make a quilted diamond background. Everything started to fall into place. It was a lot of work. When I needed a break from this project, I would work on the embroidery of quilt #9.

It was great fun finding appropriate fabrics to duplicate the card designs. There are also embroidered detail such as French Knots and chain stitching for some of the small details that could not translate into appliqué, even in an eighteen-inch square block. Once I completed the appliqués, I assembled the top and began quilting in earnest somewhere in the autumn of 1981.

It was during the quilting that I discovered a major problem: the 'disappearing carbon paper' did NOT disappear! Unlike the blue disappearing pens that I was using to mark the quilting design on the blocks, when I was finished quilting a letter on the borders no amount of dabbing the marks with a wet cotton swab would make the marks go away! A slide taken in April 1982 labeled 'Quilting Disaster' shows the almost completed quilt draped over chairs. I had finally taken to spraying water on the marks and drying the stain with a hair dryer to soften the lines. I was only moderately successful. Knowing that many quilts still bear the markings of their designs, I decided to let them remain. This would also be a mistake on my part.

Soon after its completion, this quilt and several pieces of mine would be packed off to the National Quilting Association (NQA) Show #13 in New Orleans. Perhaps the number '13' should have been a warning. When I arrived at the show (not exactly an event a lot of men would attend) I was met by then-president Alice Skarda who was so enthusiastic about my quilt! She dragged me down several rows of quilts to my Twelve Days of Christmas quilt - which I was surprised DID NOT have any kind of ribbon hanging from it. (Grandmother's Fan-tasy would win a third prize at the same show). Hanging fully open on the quilt stands, I was finally actually able to stand back and see the entire quilt at arms' length for the first time; it looked dirty. The red and green carbon paper ink was carried as far away as the water diluted it, and when it dried, it noticeably discolored the muslin. I was crushed. I had high hopes for this quilt.

Still, Alice was enthusiastic about the quilt and asked about obtaining the designs. I ended up donating the designs to the NQA after the show. While at the show, I bought a bottle of liquid quilt soap.

Once I returned home and my quilts arrived safely, I was faced with the decision of washing the quilt top. With my heart in my mouth I filled the bathtub with warm water and the quilt soap and slowly lowered the quilt (soon to be appraised at $1000) into the tub. I spent several minutes hand agitating the quilt up and down, hoping the cotton fabrics would not run, and hoping that the stains from the carbon paper would truly disappear. After two or three clear rinses, I squeezed as much water from the quilt as I could and carried it outside to dry flat on clean sheets. That was the one and only time this quilt was washed; it dramatically improved the quilt's appearance, too late to win a prize at a national show.

This quilt was appraised for $1000 by a professional appraiser.

Owner: the quilter

Condition: excellent; washed once to remove quilting markings

Please check my archive for more pictures of my quilts, quilting, wall hangings, hoops, and patchwork clothing. 

Exhibitions & Prizes:

1982 -     NQA #13 - New Orleans, LA

               Goshen, CT Fair - First Prize

               Bethlehem CT, Fair - First Prize

               Mad River Fair (Waterbury, CT) - First Prize and Best of Show

               Rita's Quilt 'n' Sew Center (New Mexico) – prizewinner

1983 -     NSQG World of Quilts #4

               Thames River Quilt Show

               First United Methodist Church Show

               Westerly, RI Quilt Show

1984 -     Connecticut Agricultural Fair - First Prize and Best of Show

               Festival of Quilts #3 - Southington, CT

               Warwick, NY show

1985 -     Ivoryton, CT ‘Quilt Heaven’ show

Magazine Pictures and/or Articles: 

QUILT, Winter 1983 p 18-19 “Getting Your Quilt Appraised” includes a B/W picture of The Twelve Days of Christmas, ‘how-to’ article on appraisals. The reprint of this article in Best of Quilt 1984 does not include the picture.

Books the author appears in (1989):

Gallery of American Quilts 1860-1989; Book 2” – published by the American Quilter’s Society. A full-color picture of Quilt #10 appears on page 21.