Winter Reds Handmade Quilt

Winter Reds Handmade Quilt was shared at the fall Piece and Plenty Quilt Guild show in Rolla.

Winter Reds Handmade Quilt

If there is one bird that should be the Christmas bird I nominate Missouri's red native cardinal. I have a couple of pairs that live in my garden, visiting the bird feeders at dusk to enjoy a dinner of sunflower seeds. In winter, the bright red of the male cardinals stand out against snow, their color even brighter by contrast.

This handmade quilt called "Winter Reds" reminded me of bird-watching from my living room window during winter. The small quilt was among a number of entries in the Piece and Plenty Quilt Guild's fall 2017 show in Rolla, Missouri.

The quilter, Joyce Darr, has done a nice job of melding several different kinds of printed cotton fabrics with cardinals on them in the overall design. The darker panels contrast against the ones with a snowy white background.

Closer look at the beauty of the printed cotton panels in this charming handmade quilt.

Beautiful machine quilting adds a snowy feeling to the white fabric surrounding the center quilt block. Sometimes the quilting can compete with the quilt design but in this case, it adds to the overall feel of the design, as if snow has fallen around the red birds.

Every quilt has a story and this is the story that was posted with Winter Reds Handmade Quilt.

There is snow in our weekend forecast, a promise that we may have a white Christmas, or at least Christmas Eve, this year. I will look forward to watching my bird feeders to see if any of these lovely red birds make an appearance.

There is a charming Ozark legend that red birds appearing are visitations from a loved one. Native American Indians attributed many special attributes to Cardinals and a quick search on Red Cardinals shows that these lovely birds have held a colorful history in many cultures.

I just like them simply in this handmade quilt, a reminder of the beauty of red against white.

Merry Christmas!

Charlotte