Merry Christmas to Me

My house is not in the least decorated yet for Christmas. No tree yet. No outside lights. No stockings. My husband's too quick to remind me that the wreath that hangs outside the front door, which had Easter eggs on it (gasp!) was only taken down 3 weeks ago. I am vowing to make after Christmas easier by not over-decorating this year. But I have pulled out a mini quilt I made 1-2 years ago which I really like -- my Kaffe version of a partridge & a pear tree. And I have done the almost unthinkable at this time of year. I have decided to keep a table runner that I actually made for someone as a gift! Oh, Eeee Gads - this is awful, isn't it??! I just got it almost finished, and decided it was time for the quiltmaker to actually have a nice quilt too.
All the fabrics were bought (well, selected - Handi Quilter actually did the buying!) in Utah on my Handi Quilter retreat. They are all Asian prints with a gilding. Generally this type fabric does not appeal to me a whole lot, but when I finished the runner, I decided it looked holiday-formal, and that it should stay right here in my home. Afterall, next year we will have that nice, new dining room table to put it on. Plus it reminds me of that fantastic & magical trip. This year it is on my smaller buffet because the dang table is covered with Thermodynamics crap (and the usual fabrics!).

The quilting is simple, so as to let the fabrics be the focal. I copied part of the design I used for the mini wall quilt to use on this runner. I love the minimalist look which does not just scream Christmas. That's handy since I'm not diligent about removing those pesky holiday decorations right after the holiday!

I still have a pear stem, a bird's beek & eye to applique on, but it is mostly finished.

Here's a peek at the back. I couldn't bring myself to using the gorgeous Asian print for the backing, where the quilting wouldn't really show. It's just a brown Bella solid I had.

Now, this is causing quite a stir because I now have another person that I will have to shop for, and we all know how much I HATE to shop, especially now that winter is really here.

Another of Santa's offerings have come a little early this year too. OK, "he knows when you've been bad or good"...so no lies. I went shopping and opted to stock my stocking early myself (a wise woman never leaves this job to her husband or she'll get only kitchen gadgets and underwear!). There. I have purchased a few new templates. There are 2 rulers for making the cathedral windows for my Italian floor quilt (and just because I have really wanted some of these !!), and the other one is also for the same quilt, and to make insanely little circles...or curved cross-hatching that actually results in perfect little circles!

After not receiving any comments a few posts ago when I said I was adding yellow and orange flowers to this quilt, I assumed that the rest of the quilty world thought I was just nuts, and that you were too polite to say so. As you can see, I have mostly finished the addition of these flowers, and have done some pencil coloring on them to add lighter areas to the petals to give the flowers some dimension. I will shade the darker areas, and make petal definition with stitching.
I plan to add a few tendrils in a brighter green for the flowers, and perhaps add a flower bud or two on each corner. But you get the general idea...

My initial thoughts are mixed. I definitely love the added flowers, but know that this will be a total pain in the ass to quilt! The best things in life are always a double-edged sword.

Now I need to investigate whether I can still scallop the edge of this quilt, or if I have appliqued too close to make this feasible.