Life in the Scrapatch: Christmas Quiltings

Showing posts with label Christmas Quiltings. Show all posts

Monday, August 3, 2020

Christmas Quiltings ~ Summer 2020

Christmas in July has spilled into Christmas in August.

I is hot and humid outside again and I am staying cool inside

in my happy sewing place.

The hurricane off the east coast may meander this way in a few days

but it is already feeling tropical here.

It has been a long, hot and sometimes stormy summer.

Here are the backs of my Christmas Cushion Covers.

I like to make seasonal covers for my favorite sofa toss cushions

so I only have to store the flat covers and use the pillows I have.

If you are interested in how to make this type of cushion closure,

click below for my complete tutorial:

Snap Back Cushion Cover How-To Here

This is the front of the new Christmas cover for my favorite lumbar support cushion

for my reading chair.

I added a bit of ric-rac to the top of this pillow for fun.

These covers were made with scrap bits and pieces

from my Christmas in July Projects.

With the smallest scraps I made a coaster and a book mark.

Machine binding made quick work with the coaster and
I added a ric-rac loop so I could even use it as an ornament.

I added bits of the ric-rac to the bookmark, too.
It looks like a Christmas Candle to me now ... :)

I never used to do so, but I am finding this is a great way to

complete some of those seasonal projects that never seem to get done
in the busy weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I am cleaning up my sewing are today
and trying to decide if I am want to sew more
Christmas projects or move on to fall or sew summer ...
or move on to fall.
I will see what my Quilty Muse says as I neaten up and put away.

Do you like to make Christmas Quilts in summer?

Happy Christmas Quiltings!

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Slow Stitching Sunday

Sunday ended with some slow stitching for me and my quilty kitty helper.

We were sewing the binding to the back of my large Christmas Cushion Cover

Started Here

Kitty and I added snaps to close the envelope backing to my cushion cover.

If you are interested in how to make this type of cushion closure,

click below for my complete tutorial:

Snap Back Cushion Cover How-To Here

Here is the back of my finished cushion cover.

I like to make covers for my sofa toss pillows

to update them for the season

rather than store them in my limited closet space.

Here is the front on my large cushion cover.

It is made with a strip from the tree skirt panel and end of my swap fabric

and extra binding from the quilt.

It is made from the scraps for my

Christmas in July Poinsetta Winter Quilt

and Starburst Tree Skirt

I love using up scraps before I clean up my happy sewing place

to get ready for the next project.

:-)

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Christmas in July ~Then and Now ~ Blog Hop ~ My Day

Welcome to my

Christmas in July ~ Then and Now

Here is my "Then" quilt.

In 2012, I posted this photo of Katniss' First Christmas with us
and said I had made it a "few years ago" so I know it predates 2012.
As it does not appear in any other photos on my blog, I know it also
predates my blog which was started in 2009.

All I know is it is the first Christmas quilt I made.

It was made with a panel, some fat quarters and yardage
from an old Nancy Halvorsen collection.
I love the colors in this quilt and the vintage designs.

I made a pillow with then leftover fabrics

Here is the pillow with my "Now" quilt.
The greens and shades of red are similar and there is a bit of gold.

My "Now" quilt is this one ...

A Poinsettia Winter from In the Beginning Fabrics

I love this quilt!

Please enjoy visiting all the lovely Christmas in July bloggers today

July 28

Life in the Scrapatch (you are here)

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Thanks to

Carol @ Just Let Me Quilt

for hosting this festive blog hop!

For more Christmas in July fun, click on the link below for my

Starburst Christmas in July Tree Skirt

To make this I cut my Poinsettia Winter scraps into strips,
added some other scrap strips and
used a Free Tutorial and Wedge Template,

More Christmas in July coming soon!

Thank you for visiting me today.

Happy Sewing!

Friday, September 6, 2019

A Sweet Christmas Quilt In the Making

Block 5 ~ Hour Glass Four Patch

Ultimate Beginner Quilt Along ~ Block 5

Free PDF pattern ~ Block 5 ~ Hour Glass Four Patch

I am really happy with how this quilt is working up.

I started this quilt along here

Here are Blocks 4 and 5 side by side.

This will make a sweet Christmas Quilt

Ho-Ho-Ho!

Monday, July 29, 2019

Day 29 ~ 149 Days Until Christmas ~ Getting Ready

This is my Christmas in July Quilt Conundrum

Today I went spelunking in my fabric stash cave

and came up with these treasured gems.

I am making a Christmas Quilt, in August, actually.

My daughter and I are both sewing along

and making Christmas quilts with the

The Ultimate Beginners Quilt Along @ Fat Quarter Shop

They have released the

Beginner Quilt Fabric Requirements & Coloring Sheets PDF

They also have a lovely kit in solids

Ultimate Beginner Quilt Kit for Fat Quarter Shop

but I want to make a Christmas quilt and I want to sew my stash.

So I went stash splunking today and came up with these choices:

(1) North Pole by Stacy Hsu for Moda Fabrics,
which was my favorite Christmas collection from last year
and I scooped up these beauties in the after Christmas sales.
I would add a white solid for the sashing, I think
The print on the upper left is enough for the backing.
I think I would use the red text print as the binding
and the green snow print on the right as the outer border.

(2) Kringles Sweet Shop by Maude Asbury for Blend Fabrics.

This is all yardage and I think there is a gray cookie print that eluded me

in my search. If I picj this one I will have to explore my stash closet again.

The red and white basic is a Christmas Basics by Lori Holt for Riley Blake fabrics.

I might use a white solid instead.

(3) Ring the Holly Days by Mary Carey for Henry Glass Fabrics.

The pretty metallic vines is a yard of Bonnie and Camille's Vintage Holiday

and it is a good color match for the sashing or border.

The red and green dot is another Christmas Basic by Lori Holt for Riley Blake.

(4) Season's Greetings by Sentimental Studio for Moda Fabrics.

This fat quarter bundle was bought on deep clearance a few years ago

and I know I have a couple of yards of one of the blue background

fabrics ... somewhere. I will find it if I pick this one.

The colors are very rich and it has an old-timey Christmas vibe.

I have always wanted to make a quilt with this but I have just never gotten 'round to it.

(5) Last bit not least is this lovely

Glad Tidings FQ Bundle by Brenda Riddle for Moda Fabrics.

I love Brenda Riddle's designs and colors.

If I pick this I will have to look for fabrics to match it.

It should be an easy with these colors

or I might go find one of these prints online.

I would likely use white or gray sashing as there are light gray prints

as well as white.

Well those are the choices!

Which would you choose?

I will, of course, also be consulting with my quilty kitty helpers,

my hubby and anyone who stops by.

Here is Katniss inspecting today's Kinship Sampler quilt block.

Here is Katniss sitting on the block to get an ear rub.

Here, without further furry help, is today's block!

Day 29 ~ Block 29

#100days100blocks2019

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Christmas in August ~ Part 2

Katniss and I have been busy.

Snowflake Shimmer Quilt Along

By the time I got the rows pieced into the flimsy,

most of the light was gone on this rather gray day.

The beautiful lustre of these fabrics are lost in this photo.

I shall have to take it outside for a better photo

when I have the quilting done.

I really love this design and will sew it again.

Maybe in fairy frost.

My hubby loves this fabric line.

Maybe scrappy in blue and white snowflake fabrics.

I have a lot of these in my stash from a swap a few years back.

Maybe in a very different theme.

This pattern is well written and goes together perfectly.

The only sewing change was to cut 8.5" squares of the background fabric and sew the corners into a four block unit and then cut a double row wide piece to fit between.

Time for September's projects.

September is going to be

Farm Girl Month!

Friday, August 9, 2013

Twinkle - A Modern Christmas Quilt

An Improv Christmas Star Block

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Today is my day!

Thanks to Madame Santa Samm for getting us all in the holiday spirit by sponsoring this festive blog hop!

To find all the elves who have been busy, busy, busy
getting ready for Christmas,

visit our

Cheery Head Elf Carol

Thanks, Carol!

For this blog hop I wanted to try something new.
I saw a improv modern star block somewhere on a blog awhile back
and have been wanting to try it ever since.

So my Twinkle Star Quilt is born!

Here are the gorgeous shimmery fabrics I am using for my new

Modern Christmas Star quilt!

I cut the silvery background fabric in sets of rectangles in three sizes:

3" x 5" , 4" x 6" and 5" x 7"

I cut the corresponding strips for the stars in three widths,

1", 1.25" and 1.5"

I used my Easy Recs Tool to cut the corners.

I did not make any effort to cut these even sizes.
The idea is that the stars points will be uneven.

I laid out each improv star.

I sewed on the strips for the star shape.

I sewed the rectangles together, pressed

and trimmed into rectangular blocks.

The blocks are not all the same size.

I squared the block by laying a straight line across the middle seam.

Here are some of my blocks in an improv layout.
The idea is that there will be a lot of "negative space" in this quilt
with the shimmery gray background fabric.

Butterfly is being very helpful and playful in my sewing room

by keeping me company, pressing my fabric

and helping me arrange ... and rearrange ... the pieces.

I am having fun playing with the pieces to this puzzle, too.
I have an idea of how I want my quilt to look, but I have not drawn it out on paper or computer like I usually do.
For this quilt, I want to keep is easy and let it fall together as it will.

I do wish I had a little more at this time to show you.

Over two weeks ago I made this "test block."

For more "how-to's" on making this block, click Here.
This quilt should have gone together quickly and easily.

Unfortunately, this week I have had to take time away from my sewing room for an unexpected visit to an opthamologist.

As many of my friends and regular readers may know, I have had vision problems all my life and for the past few years my eyes have taken a downward turn. Recently my vision has become much worse, much faster than anticipated. For the last month or two, I have tried to ignore the signs while I was focused on my daughter's wedding preparations, but the time has come to face facts.

My regular eye doctor has been telling me the last few years that I would someday need surgery "sooner or later."

"Sooner" has arrived. The first of several eye surgeries is being scheduled three months from now, the earliest that can be accommodated by the surgeons. Afterwards during recovery, I have been forewarned that it may be slower than is usual for this procedure, due to the other problems in my eyes. Then I will initiate the process to repeat the procedure to have the second eye operated on. Somewhere further down the road there will be more surgeries. These surgeries are all efforts to prolong my vision.

I will be taking things each day as it comes.

I have faith that will keep me strong and going forward.

Sewing is my the best therapy for me right now and I will be in my sewing room as much as possible and hope to have more to show for my efforts soon.

... just keep sewing ... just keep sewing ...

Thank you for visiting my scrapatch.

I hope you have enjoyed my post and all of the