Holiday Favorites Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Holiday Favorites Blog Hop hosted by Lori of Humble Quilts! I'm so happy to share the fun of this holiday celebration. I'm so excited to share the fun of the holiday season and our shared love of all things quilting.

Anyone who has ever been to my house knows without a doubt, that a quilter lives here! Many years ago, when I finished making quilts for each bed, I started making Christmas quilts for each bed. I always swap out the Autumn quilts the day after Thanksgiving and instantly the house starts to feel like Christmas. Here they are, waiting on the railing. That's a peek at my Dear Jane quilt hanging on the wall in the back.

Obviously, the quilts are not limited to the beds in my home. I always have one on the dining room table. This is my Piney Grove pattern. I love how festive it is and how the design isn't interrupted by the centerpiece. I planned that. LOL And I drape a garland on each light fixture to add a little cheer.

And then there are little ones scattered about on table tops and more are folded up ready to be used for snuggling. My collection of old wooden bowls comes in handy for holding extra ornaments.

The tumbler table runner is also from my shop. It's also the same template for the mini in the photo above.This size is perfect for a charm pack and I can't even remember how many of these I've made and gifted! 

The little hand quilted tree quilt was made by my dear friend Mary Ruth. She's gifted me many small quilts that I enjoy using for seasonal decorating.

This is an old stereo cabinet (remember those?) from my parents. I discovered that it fits quilts and is just the right size for this odd little corner in my house. Win, win!

This is a tiny twister that I added a couple of layers of batting to and I use it to set the hot pie on when it comes out of the oven. It's good to be prepared!

And if the quilts aren't enough to get us in the holiday spirit I have a collection of Jim Shore Santas all featuring quilt designs. For many years, I bought or was given one a year. Now I have enough to scatter them everywhere because the collection has outgrown the mantle!

Our Christmas tree even has some quilted ornaments from friends and a few Jim Shore Santa ornaments as well. Most of our Christmas ornaments come from our travels. We try to pick up an ornament or two on every vacation or adventure we take. It's a fun travel reminder of good times that we've had this year, and for many years in the past.

Other than the quilts, Santas, and tree, I keep it pretty simple. After years of hauling storage bins in and out of the attic, I decided to streamline a bit. Years ago, someone said that if you focus on the tree, the mantle, and the table you're decorating is complete. I agree.

My daughter and I did however, make this wreath a couple of years ago by hot gluing almost every round ornament we could find to a wreath form. We had so much fun, and aside from a hot glue disaster or two, we are really proud of the result.

I also add jingle bells to the door handle and they give a holiday welcome to everyone who visits! And Santa that I made almost 20 years ago still sits and watches from the front hall.

But honestly, my favorite part of the holiday decorating is what my husband does. He lights up the outside of the house so it looks simply magical. He's gotten to the point in life that he hires someone to do the roof peaks (for which I am so thankful!) Several neighbors on our street go together to hire the same company and in one day, our entire neighborhood becomes a Christmas village!

(Christmas 2014 when Boomer was a baby!)

We will be home for the Christmas holidays as usual, and I'm so looking forward to time with my 3 college kids! Wherever you spend you Christmas, I hope it's filled with love and warmth and lots of quilts! Now go visit the other stops on the hop...

Dec 9- Lori, humblequilts.blogspot.com Dec 10 KatyQuilts, katyquilts.net Dec 11  Beth, lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com Dec 12 Diane, butterflythreadsquilting.com  Dec 13 - Kyle, kyleredente.blogspot.com Dec 14  Kelly, pinkadotquilts.blogspot.com Dec 15  Juliann, chasingstories.wordpress.com Dec 16   Knitty Quilter, suehoover.blogspot.com Dec 17  Lizzy,  gone2thebeach.blogspot.com Dec 18 Barb, funwithbarbandmary.blogspot.com Dec  19 Judy, smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com Dec 20-  Kevin, kevinthequilter.blogspot.com

Enjoy the HOP!
Diane