I finished some Christmas lights just in the nick (St. Knick) of time.
Remember those old, old Christmas tree light strings? The kind that were so delicate and temperamental. If one light went out, the whole string went dark. To fix it you had to remove one light bulb at a time and replace it with one you knew was good. You would go from bulb to bulb and finally two bulbs from the last one the string lit up!
This was a tedious process. It was important to plug in the string and see that it lit up before you hung it on the tree. My father did this. After a few days of admiring the tree with its festive display, one string would go dark. To do the testing and replacing one had to crawl around and into the tree. It was worth it.
Today, I sewed up some 4.5" square Christmas lights quilt blocks that will never blink off.
If you would like to make your own paper pieced Christmas lights, click on the graphic below and you will find a three-part foundation to print out. If you don't know how to paper piece, go to my Paper Piecing Primer http://www.winnowing.com/ppp.html
Here is a suggestion for fabric placement:
Merry Christmas, Christine. Your quilt block makes me feel so nostalgic. I'm thinking of using it for the Rainbow Scraps challenge this year and making blocks all year long ... with a plan for a new Christmas quilt next year.
ReplyDeleteSuch a delightfully clever block - I love it. It is good to see you here - I think of you often.
ReplyDeleteI remember those lights -aren't the newer ones wonderful.
I love this! Merry Christmas and a blessed new year!!
ReplyDeleteThis brought back memories of my father sitting in the kitchen with these lights on the table or in his lap. I was anxiously waiting because the lights had to go on first. Although he told me what he was doing I didn't undertand why he couldn't just hurry up. I heard a few words that parents could say but not children. I also remember one time when the tree was partially trimmed with ornaments and it fell down. Some of the lights didn't work then so ... Thanks for the memories and the block. I like your blog but didn't see any olace to sign up for it so I'll check back again.
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