Get inspired by holiday quilting projects I’ve made over the years: 11 ideas
Today, it’s exactly seven weeks until Christmas Eve, which is the important date for us Finns who celebrate the holiday. This gives us quilters enough time, perhaps, to prepare some holiday-themed quilty makes. Here are 11 examples of things that I’ve made over the years and that an eager quilter/sewist could make for Christmas – if not this year, then some other year.
Except for the snowflake, I only used Christmas themed fabrics in this quilt top, and almost the whole back piece too. I had A LOT of them when I started and the stash looked just as substantial when I’d finished.
Block: Squares and half-square triangles according to the pattern
Size: 175 cm x 210 cm (69” x 82,5”)
Quilting: Longarm quilted by Soile Kivinen at Töölön Tilkkupaja
Quilting pattern: Sashiko (Star) pantogram
Backing: Pieced, using a variety of holiday-themed fabrics
Binding: Self-made binding of two different fabrics in red. Cut 6 cm wide, folded in half before attaching.
Finished: December 2019
Quilt number: 54
Though Frost Flower is essentially a holiday quilt, it still resides on our sofa throughout the year. Our late kitty Sokeri appreciated it especially:
One of my early pieces was the “Joulupalloilua” quilted wall textile, inspired by a Christmas card design. Apologies for the poor quality of this photo!
After making this and using it to bring holiday cheer to our living room that year, I realised that I didn’t much care for the colour combinations. It’s stored somewhere (has been ever since).
And this was my version – without the trunk and pot, though:
I had just got to this point and was wondering how to finish the tree properly when my friend saw it and said she would love to give it a home! She promised to add the trunk and pot herself, and I was glad to give it to her.
The charm of my tree design has faded over the years, but this cushion cover still looks fresh in my eyes. I could not find its name in my archives. Could it be one of the makes that never got a name, poor thing?
Lovejoy is not officially a quil item because there are only two layers – no batting, but because I’ve painstakingly quilted it with a nice stipple pattern, I consider it a quilty make all the same.
Even today, I worked on 16 such coasters: 12 holiday themed ones, and four with cats on them, very colourful ones:
These coasters from more than a decade ago feature fun Christmas cats:
I’ve figured a suitable recipe for making these, but even so, it takes surprisingly long to make one. That’s why I usually make them in sets of four or six at a time. The feature fabric in this coaster is one of my all-time favourites:
Every card maker will get a card in return, and because a few people are generous, some non-participants will also get a card as a surprise. This has been a well-liked activity and I’m preparing for it this year, too.
Of course I have to participate! I suck at making realistic-looking pictures in fabric, but in 2024 I made an incredibly successful-looking picture of a candle for my patchwork Christmas card.
I make my cards in the easiest way, creating a design that is the size of an expendable post card. I place the design on top of the picture side of the card and zigzag them together at the edges. Easy-peasy!
Perhaps you will get an idea or two also from the quilty holiday gifts that I’ve made over the years!
But the flip side with a “pocket” for one’s hand had a holiday theme:
That way, they could be in use through the year without looking off season.
15 years ago, I made rather a holiday-themed-looking potholder for my sister. I used a free pattern but cannot find that from the web any more. I made three potholders using the same pattern, all in very different colours. This one was my favourite (and so was Sokeri):
Because the pouches go to teenagers, I’ve tried to make them look more modern than my traditional quilted zipper bags, using denim fabric, for example:
And the year after that, Dear Daughter made cute bracelets for gifts and asked if I could sew small pouches to put them in. Which I promptly did!
Last year, in 2025, the posts were all about colours (and I’ve used them as source material for my Splendid colour tips series this year). It took quite a bit of time to write them because I wanted them to be helpful to my readers.
Because the calendar posts were in Finnish, I also shared them in a Finnish quilting group in Facebook. Last year, I had got off to a good start – to day seven or so – when the moderator of the group approached me and asked me not to share the posts once a day. Someone had complained that the daily posts were crowding their feed. The moderator suggested that I limited my advent calendar posting to once a week or so.
To put it mildly, I was surprised. I’d written 24 informative, helpful posts for quilters on colours. They were not commercial messages. And it was an advent calendar, whose idea is that there is a new thing every day from the 1st to the 24th of December.
What would you have done after such a message? I left the group of course, but I also decided to turn my blog language to English and start sharing my tips to more international audiences, which has been a lot of fun! Nobody (so far) has asked me to write less often or post less frequently not to flood your feed.
Quite the contrary! This post is the result of a positive comment: Jeannine, who subscribes my biweekly newsletter, suggested that I share tips and quilts that use holiday themed fabrics. I hope that this blog post delights her even though I’ve only covered one holiday – Christmas.
By the way, one of my go-to gift ideas are those quilted coasters in tip #5 – what are yours? Let me know in the comments!
1 - Quilts and quilted wall textiles
I’ve made one holiday-themed quilt and it is called Kuurankukka / Frost Flower:Quilt details for Frost Flower
Pattern: Snowflake by Modern Handcraft https://www.modernhandcraft.com/pdf-patterns/snowflake-quilt-pdf-patternBlock: Squares and half-square triangles according to the pattern
Size: 175 cm x 210 cm (69” x 82,5”)
Quilting: Longarm quilted by Soile Kivinen at Töölön Tilkkupaja
Quilting pattern: Sashiko (Star) pantogram
Backing: Pieced, using a variety of holiday-themed fabrics
Binding: Self-made binding of two different fabrics in red. Cut 6 cm wide, folded in half before attaching.
Finished: December 2019
Quilt number: 54
Though Frost Flower is essentially a holiday quilt, it still resides on our sofa throughout the year. Our late kitty Sokeri appreciated it especially:
2 – An evergreen Christmas tree
My first blogging year saw me work on a miniature, scrappy Christmas tree using a pattern and instructions from a Japanese quilting magazine. It looked so cute that I could not help but try and make one myself. This is how it was supposed to look:
3 – Cushion covers
In 2010, I made four Christmas tree themed cushion covers. I gifted three of them, but one is still with me. Here they all pose in suitably wintery surroundings:
4 – Tablecloths
Over the years, I’ve made many holiday themed tablecloths, some more successful than others. My absolute favourite of them is called Lovejoy:5 – Coasters
Quilted coasters are my favourite quilty holiday themed make, and I must have sewn way more than a hundred of them over the years. Around the year 2010, I figured out suitable measurements and a process, and from time to time, I go back to my own instructions and make a couple more.Even today, I worked on 16 such coasters: 12 holiday themed ones, and four with cats on them, very colourful ones:
6 – Mug rugs
A few years ago, a quilty friend from my guild asked me to participate in a challenge – to make a holiday-themed mug rug using fabric that she provided. I’d never even thought of making a mug rug, but I managed it in the end:7 – Holiday cards
My quilting guild has had a Secret Santa type of exchange of Christmas cards for a number of years already, with me as the organiser. I collect the names of those who want to participate, and note if they want to send more than one card.Every card maker will get a card in return, and because a few people are generous, some non-participants will also get a card as a surprise. This has been a well-liked activity and I’m preparing for it this year, too.
Of course I have to participate! I suck at making realistic-looking pictures in fabric, but in 2024 I made an incredibly successful-looking picture of a candle for my patchwork Christmas card.
Perhaps you will get an idea or two also from the quilty holiday gifts that I’ve made over the years!
8 – Potholders
In 2018, I made a batch of heart-shaped potholders. One side of them was just quilty – not Christmas-y:15 years ago, I made rather a holiday-themed-looking potholder for my sister. I used a free pattern but cannot find that from the web any more. I made three potholders using the same pattern, all in very different colours. This one was my favourite (and so was Sokeri):
9 – Zipper bags
Of course I’ve gifted at least one zipper bag to every family member and every friend! For many years, I’ve also made simpler pouches which I’ve filled with small items or put in a gift card for a charity organisation who distribute Christmas gifts to children and youngsters who would not otherwise get any presents at all.Because the pouches go to teenagers, I’ve tried to make them look more modern than my traditional quilted zipper bags, using denim fabric, for example:
10 – Sleep masks
In 2017, I made a sleep mask for my husband, and when a friend learned of this, she asked me to make one for her as well. She got hers as a Christmas gift (this is definitely NOT my husband's sleep mask):11 – Reusable gift bags
For some reason, I have more Christmas themed fabrics than I’ve ever been able to use (not for lack of tyring, mind). In 2023, I made a small dent into the stash by making eight gift pouches. I used the free tutorial by Jeni Baker and it worked perfectly.
Final thoughts
Every December since 2017, I’ve written and shared a series of advent calendar posts in Finnish. After the first one, I felt so inspired by the idea that I started planning the next one months before December!Last year, in 2025, the posts were all about colours (and I’ve used them as source material for my Splendid colour tips series this year). It took quite a bit of time to write them because I wanted them to be helpful to my readers.
Because the calendar posts were in Finnish, I also shared them in a Finnish quilting group in Facebook. Last year, I had got off to a good start – to day seven or so – when the moderator of the group approached me and asked me not to share the posts once a day. Someone had complained that the daily posts were crowding their feed. The moderator suggested that I limited my advent calendar posting to once a week or so.
To put it mildly, I was surprised. I’d written 24 informative, helpful posts for quilters on colours. They were not commercial messages. And it was an advent calendar, whose idea is that there is a new thing every day from the 1st to the 24th of December.
What would you have done after such a message? I left the group of course, but I also decided to turn my blog language to English and start sharing my tips to more international audiences, which has been a lot of fun! Nobody (so far) has asked me to write less often or post less frequently not to flood your feed.
Quite the contrary! This post is the result of a positive comment: Jeannine, who subscribes my biweekly newsletter, suggested that I share tips and quilts that use holiday themed fabrics. I hope that this blog post delights her even though I’ve only covered one holiday – Christmas.
By the way, one of my go-to gift ideas are those quilted coasters in tip #5 – what are yours? Let me know in the comments!
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