Christmas In July Blog Hop

Merry Christmas in July Blog Hop! 

I have been having a very wonderful month of July.

It feels like Christmas ... except maybe for the hot summer sun.

I have been swapping gifts:

I made this clowder of kitties for a
Christmas Kitty in July Swap
with a group of online quilty friends.

Here are the kitty swap blocks I  recently received in return.

This cat block pattern is from

The Cat's Meow by Janet Kime

These blocks were hand delivered to me by my friends,
Cherie, Debbieann and Vanessa,
at the Quilt Odyssey show in Pennsylvania
where I went during our vacation.

I have been online friends for many years with these
quilty and kitty loving friends.
It was the first time we all met.
It was a wonderful time.
We exchanged gifts and dined and had a great time together.

I bought the kit for the wool stocking ornament at Quilt Odyssey

My Christmas in July gift to me!

This adorable wool mitten ornament kit with complete pattern and instructions
and an extra scrap bag of wool felt to customize my ornaments.

The  instructions called for using regular sewing thread to stitch
around the decorations on the mittens.
I started to hand stitch these and my hands got tired very easily.

I did also use Heat n Bond Light to attach the cutouts to the mitten.

So I decided to do a machine blanket stitch for this part of the process.

I did manage to hand blanket stitch the mitten pieces together
to form the pocket
and to add the decorative stitches on the cuff.

I am pretty happy with the results!

These can be found online at
Rachel of Greenfields
in Lancaster, PA.

The Lancaster area is a wonderful place for quilters.
So many beautiful shops and quilts to see.

I also did some quilt shop hopping in Lancaster County.

Here at Zooks/Sauders Fabric  I found a ...

... pretty Kitty Christmas fabric for my swap kitties quilt.

My Christmas in July has been wonderful!

I am home from my travels and moving my stuff back into my
Sewing Room Makeover 
but I have not been doing much actual sewing, though.

So this is all I have to show right now.

My you enjoy all the merry

@

Carol @ Just Let Me Quilt


Please be sure to make all the stops today

July 27th

Life in the Scrapatch

Quilt n Party

Days Filled With Joy

Quilt Fabrication

All Thingz Sewn

Just Let Me Quilt

Christmas in my house just would not be Christmas 
without a tree ... 

So ...

Here is my Christmas Tree in July ... ;) 

A Meowy Christmas Tree! 

Maestro, Nutmeg and Katniss say, 

"Have a Meowy Christmas in July Blog Hop!"

How I Am Spending My Summer Vacation ~ Part 2

Here I am at the 

Quilt Odyssey 

show in Pennsylvania

where I met up with my longtime, online quilty friends and 

Stitchin' Sisters,

Cherie from NJ and Debbieann and her daughter, Vanessa, from Ontario, Canada.

Cherie and I met many, many years ago at the old defunct, Block Central Forum.

Then we met Debbieann on the Quilt and Needle Forum.
Vanessa started quilting a few years later and joined our stitchin' sisters group.
It was wonderful to finally meet them!

After the quilt show, hubby and I went on to visit Lancaster County,

Where I quilt shop hopped and found some fabric at 

Zooks/Sauders

and tried

Shoofly Pie at Dutch Haven

and brought home a pie to enjoy. 

Then we went on to see the historical sites at

Gettysburg

There were heavy rains off and on but we were able to tour the battlefield

during a break in the clouds. 

Hubby explored this misshaped and broken canon 

which must have overheated 

when firing during the battle.

It seems so peaceful there,

but it is an eerie, unsettling peace.

A place to honor and remember

How I Am Spending my Summer Vacation ~ Part 3  
~ Coming Soon! ~

Clementine Quiltalong ~ July ~Finishing Month!

It's July!

Time to finish my Clementine Quilt! 

um ... I wish

Finishing instructions are available today on

The Jolly Jabber

For all you  you need to know to sew along go to the

Clementine Quilt Along Main Page

The Clementine Quilt Along benefits the

 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital 

to help advance cures and means of prevention for catastrophic pediatric diseases. 

Fat Quarter Shop is happy to be partnering with Moda Fabrics to match up to $20,000 of donations for this awesome cause. 

Their Clementine Quilt will be auctioned our Clementine Quilt Along quilt at the end of the program, and 100% of the auction proceeds will go to our St. Jude campaign. 

So please DONATE today!

These are the fabrics I planned to use for the setting and finish for my

scrappy red and white quilt.

These fabrics are from my stash of

Nordic Stitches by Wenche Wolff Hatling for Moda Fabrics

I decided I really wanted to use the red hearts on white background for my

setting triangles and border.

As this is from my stash I only had what I had,

I was cutting it close to having enough anyway ...

... and ...

late at night when I was trying to get my top finished before I went away for a few days,

I made a dreadful cutting error on the squares needed to set the smaller blocks.

"Measure Twice, Cut Once"

Well, I thought I had but this time I needed to check the cutting instructions better.

I determined I really, really wanted this fabric

for the setting triangles and the borders.

Problem is that this Nordic Stitches print seemed to be sold out everywhere.

After an intensive search online I got lucky and found  

more than enough in an etsy shop. 

So I have ordered more fabric and I am on hold until it arrives
and I get back home to sew after vacation.

In the morning, things looked brighter and I was able o salvage enough of the fabric 

I had to set one of the blocks for my post this month.

I followed the instructions carefully this time.

I am happy I invested in the 20.5"  ruler recommended for 

squaring these blocks.

I squared the block twice.

First time is shown here when I squared and trimmed the white block border fabric.

Second time was after I sewed and flipped the corner triangles.

Creative Grids 20.5" Square Ruler

Did I need this ruler?

Yes.

My largest square ruler is this old 12.5" one that I bought for $10 over 10 years ago.

It is getting very worn and hard to read.

I would have had to use my 24.5 inch cutting ruler and my cutting mat 

to try to square this block.

It would not have been easy.

With my poor vision issues, I need all the help I can get.

Better rulers mean better quilts.

I put a lot of time and effort and fabric into making them.

I need quality rulers to make them. 

Looking forward to finishing my red and white Clementine Quilt soon!

This is the setting for this quilt.

The red hearts on white will appear where the light blue on white print shows in this diagram.

I really love this pattern.

Sew much sew, that I am going to start the kit version of this quilt ...

Clementine Quilt Kit

Here are the kit fabrics!

Aren't they yummy?

Looking forward to sewing with these beauties from August to December 

right after I finish with my 

 Sewing Room Makeover 

It is going well and I shall be ready to move back in.

When I get home.

In the meantime, I will be away from my sewing machine on vacation

Happy Summer!  

How I Am Spending My Summer Vacation ~ Part 1

Time to move back into my sewing room!

Son #2 moved out again.

I will miss seeing him all the time,

but I am happy to move my sewing mess out of my dining room.

Nutmeg is new to this sewing room thing.

She is actually missing my Matty. 

There is one piece of furniture left from my daughter's

youth bedroom set, an old storage/TV unit,

that I will fill with fabric and stuff again.

The shelf ledges used to hold her photos and trophies and treasures.

Soon they will hold my sewing notions.

Maestro is not sure what to make of this either.

We are repainting the walls and ran out of the original gallon of paint.

Time to get more paint.

They are both very curious though.

More photos coming soon!

Nutmeg Says

Nutmeg says, "Good Morning, Mommy!  

Time to work on our new quilt?

I got up before you so I decided to get started."

"Maestro says 'Me, too!'"

"Do you like new arrangement of the blocks?"

"Maestro helped!"

"These fabrics are sew nice and soft and colorful."

"What is the bag of trim scraps for?

Can I play with it?"

"We love to help you, Mommy!"

... signed, Nutmeg <3 

Summer Sewing Progress

7 rows of 7 blocks

This is my progress on my

Kaffe Fassett Jewel Quilt begun Here

I am enjoying the hot and lazy days of summer.

Sometimes I sew.

This is my project of choice at the moment.

Next step:  sewing the sashing strips between the rows.

This pattern is a free download from 

Fat Quarter Shop and Free Spirit and Rowan Fabrics

Jewel Frames Quilt Pattern

Happy Summer Sewimg! 

Happy 4th of July!

Eye of the Eagle Quilt Post Here

Celebrate Freedom!

Have a Safe and Happy 4th of July!

New Blog Hop in September

Sign Up Here

I love house quilts!

My door will be open.

Hope to see you in September ... :-)

It's a Wild Life BOM ~ July Block

July is here!

Time for another fun free block from the

It's a Wild Life Block of the Month

I have the pieced river background done for my block.

I am thinking to add an applique splash of white where the river meets the green ground
to try to make it look like a waterfall.

I love waterfalls.

Think that would work? 

I am still choosing fabrics for the adorably cute fishing bear

in the applique design from 

Carla @ Creatin' in the Sticks

Download this month's pattern now while it is free for the month.

and join 

Sew Incredibly Crazy BOM FB Group

to see all the blocks!

Have fun sewing along!