Winter Wonderland Received

Yesterday I received my quilt from the Quilting Gallery's winter swap. It's just perfect. Although this was a secret swap, we did receive our recipent's email address, enabling us to contact them if we wished. I didn't, but Kathy, who was making for me, did; it was a lovely surprise! She warned me there were photos of my quilt on her blog, so I didn't look... but I confess that I was chatting with Adds on MSN at the time the email arrived, and I sent the link to her for a nosy - and she promised I'd love it. Adds - you were right!

I love the way everyone has a slightly different image of winter. Just like I wouldn't normally have thought to use pink and brown in my wintry quilt, I would never have thought to include these summery, citrussy colours, yet they really complete the quilt. The border makes me think of candy-canes, and with the ginger-bread-y houses gives it a bit of a Christmassy/North Pole feel.

Of course, anything with snowflakes is bound to be an instant favourite, and Kathy has added a generous sprinkling.

I know all too well how long it takes to do the fiddly applique along all the short sides, and she's outline quilted them in detail, too. The rest of the background is cleverly quilted in swirls whcich match the batik print.

I don't know if it was Kathy's intention, but the quilted lines down the snow-capped mountain from the houses look like ski tracks to me.

While summer might be officially over, and we're currently experiencing some lovely days in the mid-high 20s, we can be fairly confident of some more hot weather through March. This quilt will help me think of our planned skiing holiday and keep cool until winter arrives for its brief visit.

Thank you again, Kathy! I love my new quilt!