Christmas Then and Now Blog Hop

Welcome to day two of the Christmas in July - Then and Now - Blog Hop hosted by Carol of Just Let Me Quilt  This is a fun hop to show off some Christmas creations we made either in the past or something made recently or both!

Today I am going to show off a few of my favorite Christmas Quilts, and my newest finish.

Let's start with my newest finish!  My Christmas Dresden Quilt!  Quilted and bound!

Finally!!

This is an old UFO I started in 2012 and used lots of different greens and reds prints.  some were Christmasy, some were just red or green.

I started with strips  of alternating red and green and cut all my dresden fans from those.

I made 20 Desdens, but only ended up using 12 in the quilt.  

Once I added the sashing and Cornerstones the quilt was getting really big!  

So now I have 8 more Dresden blocks that I need to put into new projects.

I finished the top in January 2015 and then it sat patiently in his labeled box  while I worked other projects and deadlines.

This blog hop got me inspired to finally give this quilt a deadline so it would get finished!  

It has been on the UFO list for a long time and I am so happy to have it complete and just in time for Christmas in July!

Now lets check out some of my older projects, made way back when... 

First up is the very first Christmas quilt I made.  

It was created in 2007, using all sorts of holiday novelty prints and the Split Nine Patch Block.

I still pull this one out and drape it over the couch every Christmas.

This next one was finished in 2012.  It is a Schnibbles pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company called Spot.  This was the first time I bought a pre-cut and have never turned back.  I used to think precuts were a waste of money because they cost more than yardage when you added it up, but I soon realized sometimes being able to get a whole fabric line was worth the little extra dollars.

Like buying grated cheese.  The block is cheaper, but pre-graded saves so much time.

I loved this fabric line so much I made another lager quilt out of it called Starry Eyed.  I copied the pattern right down to the fabric choice. This one was finished in 2013.

This next one is another one of my favorites.  I finished this one in 2014. It was my own design and I just love all the red and white pinwheels.  Reminds me of Christmas Candy.  I gifted it to my sister and have always thought in the back of my mind I will make one just like it for myself one day.

This round table topper was a small project that I love.  I made two of these, one for my good friend in Tennessee in 2011 and one for me in 2014. It fits perfect on my round side table.  I had fun playing with the 10 degree ruler from Phillips Fiber Arts to make these.

This next one was my second One Block Wonder Quilt and made in 2017.  I had fun making this one from start to finish.  Other than when I played along with Project Quilting, this was probably the fasted I have made a quilt without putting it aside to work on other projects.   I bought the fabric November 28th and had it ready to gift on Christmas Eve.  I gave this one to my Aunt, she absolutely loved it!

The last one I want to show off is the one I made last year for my other Sister.  She was long overdue for a Christmas quilt.  I finished these festive trees last year and shipped it out to her just in time for Christmas.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my favorite Christmas Quilts I made over the years.  Make sure to check out the other Blog Hoppers and see what they have made, then and now.

July 28

Life in the Scrapatch

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Karrin’s Crazy World

Vroomans Quilts

Quilted Delights  (me)

Songbird Designs

Websterquilt

Karen's Korner

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Christmas in July - Island Batik Ambassador Challenge

I love sharing my love of quilting and this month Island Batik and Accuquilt are letting me do just that in a big way!

For the July Challenge, Ambassadors were sent a an Accuquilt GO! Me Fabric Cutter Starter Set, a small version of their GO! Fabric Cutter that includes a GO! Half Square Triangle-3” Finished Square and GO! Quarter Square Triangle-3” Finished Square.  

We were challenged to make a project using only the dies that came with the starter set and give that project and the Go Me Starter Set to someone.

I chose to give it to my friend Catrina. She came to my beginner quilt class over a year ago and has really taken off with quilting.  A month before class she had never even opened her sewing machine and now her goal this year is to finish nine quilts for her relatives for Christmas. She is almost done with all the tops! She said the next quilt she is going to make is a pinwheel quilt so this cutter set is perfect for her! 

I wanted to make a throw sized quilt for Catrina and asked her in advance some of her favorite colors. She gave me a lot to play with: Blue, green, teal, ocean colors, and sunset colors. 

I went through all the fabrics Island Batik sent me ended up using the last bit of my blues from River Valley fabric line - created for Deb Tucker of 180 Studio Desings by Kathy Engle, a wee bit of orange from the Ancient Etchings line - designed by Jackie Kunkel of Canton Village Quilt Works, and several pieces from Island Batiks foundations: Pumpkin, Cornmeal, Lagoon, Wavy Dots Cherry, and Sprinkles for the white background,

I cut strips wide enough to cover the die, layered them up and ran it through the Go Me.  I cut out my Half Square Triangles within 15 minutes the first night and cut out the Quarter Square Triangles the next evening. Cutting was super quick.

This quilt is made by alternating two different variations of the Ohio Star Block, each block is made with only HSTs and QSTs.

Block A

Block B

Block B.   I like to sew one block and then chain piece the rest.  I stack the finished squares in the layout I want them and then start sewing.  

These are the pieces for the Quarter Square triangles for Block A.

Again, I put all my pieces in the layout they should be in the quilt.

Then turn them slightly so the seam I want is facing the way they will go under the sewing machine.  That way I know I am sewing on the correct edge.

All my Block Bs with one block A.

Working on Block A. I stacked these as well and eventually made one big pile of unpieced A blocks then chain pieced them together in rows.

These blocks show off a lot of the River Valley blue fabrixs.

 

I wasn't sure how to quilt this until Catrina commented on one of my instagram photos this block reminded her of Hawaiian Lava, then it hit me to quilt some all over flames.  I used a lovely soft yellow Auriful Thread for this, #2130 and in the middle of the quilt sandwich is Hobbs Nautical Cotton batting. 

 

And of course I quilted it with a Schmetz microtex needle.

I seldom think to take a picture of the needle, but these needles work great with my projects!

Some of the Quilting

This one ended up being border-less.  And goes slightly over throw size by a few inches.

It measures 45 x 63.

Make sure to check out all the other Island Batik Ambassadors to see their Christmas in July projects and their recipients.  Happy Quilting!

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Island Batik Ambassador Box #2

It's that time of year again when Island Batik sends us ambassadors a box of wonderful supplies to finish up the challenges for 2020. Check out my unboxing video to see all the goodies I get to work with for the rest of the year!  Close up photos and links below.

Happy Quilting!

Ruler from 180 Studio Design by Deb Tucker

William's Garden.  Precuts Available now.  Yardage coming in September/October,

Island Batik Foundations.

American Frontier available now.

byAnnie supplied everything to make the Divide & conquer bag.

Thread by Aurifl

Several different battings from Hobbs

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