Today is the first day of Hanukkah 2022. While it's not a major Jewish holiday, because it comes around the same time as Christmas, it is embraced as one. When I lived in Maryland many years ago, my neighbor Heather (Jewish) told me that it became a way for her family to counter all the bling and lights and presents and parties of their kids Christian schoolmates! They wanted lots of presents, too! Hanukkah card I have had a small amount of Hanukkah fabrics in my stash for at least 20 years. The fabric in the card above is one of the oldest. I came upon a set of these window cards in the Dollar store (meant for Christmas family photos) and decided to feature some fabric. I put batting on the back, quilted it in a swirl and glued it inside. I love this! Hanukkah Dreidel Coasters (6" square) I designed a simple Dreidel block for paper piecing and made a few coasters. You've seen these before. I used the same pattern to make a little gift bag. It appeared in a quilting magazi...

While I'm not Jewish, I do have Jewish friends and neighbors. And, believe it or not, I have some Hanukkah items on hand for gifting when needed! I've even made some special blocks for my quilt guild's holiday block swap. I made 12 in Christmas fabrics and 12 in Hanukkah fabrics! I don't know where the pattern for these came from, but they will finish to 10". 4 of my 12 blocks I've made cards using those "window" openings and placed some pre-quilted fabric (just fabric and thin batting) inside. Hanukkah Card I've made coasters using my paper piecing Dreidel block. Dreidel Coasters I used this in my Dreidel gift bags which was featured in Quilting Arts Magazine a few times (2015 and 2021). The simple 6" block is paper pieced. I built the bag around the block. Dreidel Gift Bags And last December, my local library asked me to fill their display case. I devoted half to Hanukkah and half to Christmas. Display case with my holiday items By far, my...

One of the earliest Hanukkah themed quilts I made was about 22 years ago. It was published in Quilt Magazine. I based it on some fabrics with printed Stars of David and menorahs. I pieced small blue and white pinwheels and set them on point. These blocks are 3-1/2" square (finished). Festival of Lights (1998) I also patterned this in two of my Block a Day calendars. This one uses only 9 blocks. This appeared in my 2019 calendar. The Stars of David and menorahs are appliquéd. The pinwheels are pieced. 9 Block Hanukkah Quilt This block is English Paper Pieced from the Block a Day Hexagon calendar by Katja Marek. This is the December 18 block. It will make a beautiful coaster. Or I could appliqué it to a small gift bag. English paper pieced block: December 18 I still have small bits of this navy fabric with the Jewish symbols. I plan on a few more EPP blocks. Next time I'll be sharing my wonderful Hanukkah Star quilt, which is a variation of my Double Star pa...