Joyful Traditions
What are your favorite traditions during the holidays? Everybody has them! And they tend to bring us joy and put a smile on our face.
I consider myself very blessed to have been from a large family, where everyone still lived relatively close to each other. My grandparents owned a dairy farm and were blessed with 5 GIRLS!!! My granddaddy offered land to all of them, but only two chose to stay on the farm. I was lucky that my momma was one of those. We lived about a half mile down the road from my grandparents (opposite ends of the property lines) and one of my aunt’s was next door to us. It was so wonderful growing up so secluded and private. Then I had an aunt that lived in town (about 10 minutes away), another that lived about 30 minutes away, and one aunt moved to east TN, about 3 hours away.
I say all this to explain how close we all were. We were the family that got together for Sunday dinner after church. I was at my grandmother’s every weekday morning to catch the bus. It was a second home to me. One of our biggest traditions is that we would all gather at my grandmother’s house to decorate for the holidays. My exclusive job was the Nativity!!! And I still have such a love for nativity sets today, and collect them. But, we all did the tree together. I loved going through all the different ornaments and hearing the stories behind each one.
This is a tradition that my husband and I have continued with our son. He is lucky to have my parents living on the same farm now as we do. And, every year, we buy him a new ornament that reminds us of something from the year. That way, we can look at the tree and think of all the past years and wonderful memories we have made, and continue to tell our own stories. I even have a few of my grandmother’s old ornaments as well.
Joyful Traditions was designed with this specific tradition in mind. It isn’t just another tree quilt. It does act as a skill builder focusing on half square triangles, quarter square triangles, half rectangle triangles, and four patches. Along with some strip piecing. Assembling the quilt leaves you with something fun and beautiful. And, there is so much room to have fun with it, swap some fabrics up, and make it your own.
But, there is an added bonus. I have included two ideas to “decorate your tree” or embellish your quilt. This part is totally optional and I only include two ideas, but it makes for such a fun addition. The pattern includes instructions for both a 36” square Wall Hanging or a 72” square Quilt.
I would love to hear about your family traditions. Leave your favorites in the comments below. Also, I would love to see what you create!! Make sure you post your makes on instagram using the #joyfultradiationsquilt or #joyfultraditionswallhanging.