Jolly Holiday Blog Hop- Day 1

Hello bloggers! Welcome to the Henry Glass Jolly Holiday Party!  I am the first of the Henry Glass designers to post.   Thanks for coming!  We have lots of great prizes so be sure to follow all week. 

Each of the designers is going to answer a few questions about the holidays.  Then we will share a project we designed just for you.  Let's get started!

First, the questions:

1. What is your favorite holiday food?

Zupfe bread. This Swiss bread is braided and it's so pretty!   (And yummy.)  I love making it and eating it.  It's a favorite of mine because my mom was Swiss and it's a family tradition.  I'll share the recipe with you in a few weeks.  You're going to love this.

2. Does your family have a favorite holiday tradition?

So many! We love decorating, preparing, cooking, eating, and, playing, and just getting together.   But one of my favorite family traditions is making paper snowflakes to hang from the ceiling.  This started as our family tradition because Randy and I got married in December and our reception was at my home.  We hung paper snowflakes from the ceiling in the whole first floor.  It was magical!  Every year since then, (that's 35 years now--WOW--times flies!) we have cut and hung snowflakes.  Click here to see the snowflakes last year.  If you want to see the tutorial, click here.


3. Did you like or hate sitting on Santa's lap?
Are you kidding? Do you know how long ago that was?

4. Was there a gift you really desperately wanted?

I don't remember ever wanting anything in particular, I just wanted to be surprised, and Santa always surprised me.

5. What's your favorite holiday movie?

It's A Wonderful Life, of course.  I watch it at least 4 times each December, and never get tired of it.  After all, George Bailey IS the richest man in town.

6. Favorite holiday song?

Handel's "Messiah. "  I put on the soundtrack when's no one's home and sing along at the top of my lungs.  With the symphony and huge choir--there's nothing like it.  I also love all kinds of Christmas music, especially Rock and Roll!

7. Do you make many holiday presents?

If I make them, they're almost never finished. So it's almost better not to get a homemade present from me! 

8. Would you prefer a large fully decorated tree or one like Charlie Brown's tree?

I love a large tree. In one of our homes, we had a two-story family room.  So we had an eighteen foot Christmas tree. It was awesome! (despite the fact that it fell down during a gathering of about 60 ladies one night. All the men in the neighborhood had to come help put it up again!)

9. If you could go back back in time, when would you say was your most favorite holiday memory?

Christmas as a child was magical.  And my Dad loved it just as much as I did.  Every year my Dad wrote NOEL on the side of our home with Christmas lights. Our home was on a hill and the lights could be seen from anywhere in town. He put large speakers on the roof and played Christmas music every night through our stereo system.  Each evening we would get calls from folks asking us to turn the music down so that their children could sleep.  Then we would get calls asking us, "Where's the Christmas music tonight?" My dad was a legend in our little town.

10. Do you like a big family gathering, or do you prefer a small dinner followed by hot chocolate by the fire?

Since I have a large family, its hard not to have a a big gathering. After all, the best part about the holidays is getting together with your loved ones!

Okay, so now it's time to share my project with you.  I designed a little pillow--

                 "Holiday Lane"

All those little houses are waiting in the snow for Santa's arrival!  You can make this into a pillow, like I did, or you could frame it or use it as a table runner.  So many possibilities....

 The piecing is simple and a few embellishments complete the fun. 

Remember, this is a free pattern so just download it and enjoy!

HOLIDAY LANE PATTERN

I made this little pillow to go with another  Christmas pattern I have.  "Christmas Village" is a lap quilt, and it just needed a pillow, don't you think?

Christmas Village

Now on to the prizes:  To qualify to win the Grand Prizes from Henry Glass, visit each blog this week (I will post a schedule) and collect the key words.  Mine for today is  TURKEY.    (How's that for a creative way to tell you?)  Post the list of key words in a comment on the Henry Glass blog between Nov. 20 and Nov. 26.

I am also giving away a prize right here!  Just sign up to "follow" my blog and leave me a comment.  At the end of the week I will choose a winner for a fat quarter bundle of my newest fabric line, Sorbet Garden.  (I used some of this line in my pillow.)

 

Note:  I am offering  kits of the "Holiday Lane" pillow on my website for $24.

Now on to the next designer, my friend Kari Ramsay of Fresh Cut Quilts.   Kari and I are Sunday's designers.  I will post the rest of the list tomorrow.

Happy Hopping, and thanks for stopping!

         Jill

Download the Pattern for HOLIDAY LANE

Whoops, you need this, too:  The applique patterns

Here's a few more closeups of the details on "Holiday Lane."