Christmas Blanket, Revived

After the traditional transitional period contemplating the holidays past and new year ahead, plus a short visit to my grandkids (and the sun) in Las Vegas, I think I'm ready for new projects!


When we were first married, my mom made Christmas blankets for each of us children and our families--the tradition is to get them out at Thanksgiving and put them away at the New Year, and to add new names to the blocks as the family grows.

I made my own version for each of my children's familes when they married, butI haven't had my own blanket out for several seasons, since it was falling apart from years of love and use. This year, I decided it was time for an update, so I snipped out and washed the squares that could be rescued, and I've been incorporating them into a new, resurrected version over the last couple of weeks. I only wish I had taken a 'before' picture!

I actually still have some of my mom's Christmas blanket fabric collection in my own 'fancy fabric' box. She loved to use a wide variety of textures for her Christmas quilts, and it was fun incorporating some of her pieces into the new, old version. The rescued squares had to be recut slightly smaller then they were originally, so some of the names on them were infringed on a bit after seaming, and a few of the squares with names did not survive. I'll enjoy updating the names and adding trim and embroidery as a New Year project, and the tradition will be ready to be revived when Christmas comes again!