Christmas in July

I've got my first finish for my Christmas in July sewing marathon.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 182

The pattern is Round and Round by Camille Roskelley for thimble blossoms 

The fabric is Mostly Manor by Victoria Findlay Wolfe for Marcus Brothers Fabrics

It finished at 72" x 72" (my favorite size)

It has approximately 634 pieces.

This is my second Round and Round finish, I made this quilt in December 2013,  using Kate Spain Christmas fabric.

I really enjoyed all the white space after my last project.  Now on to the next, I'm hoping to get at least one more Christmas quilt done, two more would be better, I'm just not sure how long I'll be able to stand working with Christmas fabric this time of year.

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Two Finishes . . . .

Finish number one,  I got the Christmas tree in my sewing room out and decorated.  This tree should be the first decoration I get out, not my last.  All those pink decorations on a fluffy white tree put a smile on my face.  It's a random assortment of food, beverage, Hello Kitty, Barbie and bedazzled ornaments, but they're all pink so it works, or so I think!  It even lights up.

Finish number two, my Joyful Round and Round!  This is the quilt that will be hanging in my living room next Christmas!  I think I'm one of the last stragglers to finish for Camille's Round and Round-along, but this is definitely a perfect case of better late than never.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 121

The pattern is Round and Round by Camille Roskelly for thimble blossoms.

The fabric is all by Kate Spain for Moda.  There's some "In from the cold", "12 days of Christmas" and even a little "Joy".  The background fabric is the white on white snowflake print from "In from the cold".  It doesn't show up in this picture but it looks great in person, all those snowflakes surrounding my blocks.

I've even pieced a scrappy binding to match.

My quilt finished at 74" x 78".  I added a 3 inch outer border to give the blocks a little more float.

It has approximately 625 pieces.

If you've seen this finished quilt out in blogland and have not added it to your To Do list, and really, I don't even know how that could be humanly possible, give it another thought.  It looks even more wonderful in person, and better yet quilted I'm sure, but besides that, there's just some sort of zen peaceful quality about working on the quilt that you need to experience.  I'm not sure if it's all the white background or the easy piecing, but when you need a relaxing project, this is the one for you, it was the perfect relaxing yin to my hectic December yang.   I always enjoy Christmas, I truly believe it is the most wonderful time of the year, but some years I have more spirit than others, this year I have plenty and even some to spare, and I think it was working on this quilt that got me there.

Christmas officially starts Saturday at my house, that's when my favorite daughter arrives home for the holidays!  I have a little wrapping left to do and the big grocery store shopping trip, but I plan to be drinking an eggnog latte while I finish up that to do, so it won't even be a chore. I hope you're getting the sprit of the season and well on your way to reaping the benefits of your time and hard work.

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Tis the season . . .

I had the nicest Thanksgiving week, thanks so much for your best wishes, I hope you had a great week too.

So as several as you suggested, I've been unsewing my Starlight blocks a few at a time.  I'm making progress and have just a small stack left to go.  I still need to trim the blocks and figure I"ll do that all at once.

I'm not going to press and trim these blocks, I'm gong to cut new ones.  That's just some Moda Bella Solid that I buy by the bolt,  I figure at $6 per yard that's the most efficient way to go.

So while I finish trimming my Starlight blocks I figured I would start something new, a Christmas something. 

I like to make Christmas quilts in December, in 2009 I made Oh Christmas Tree (LQ# 53), 2010 I made Red, White and Wonderful (LQ#64), in 2011 I wrapped up my FQS Kate Spain Mystery BOM (LQ#)71,  and last year I made Vintage Holiday (LQ#100).  This is the start of Round & Round by Camille Roskelley for thimble blossoms.  My half square triangle units are trimmed and ready, I'm hoping to make some blocks this week.  The fabric is by Kate Spain for Moda.

I plan to attack my Christmas To Do list this week, so sewing time will be scarce.  I did get a start on my decorating this past weekend.  Here's something new for my house, an advent calendar.  This came from Pottery Barn, is hand painted canvas, and huge.

Those numbered pockets are a great size, perfect for giant chocolate bars, but I figure if I filled those pockets with chocolate bars they wouldn't make it a week, let alone a month.  So I'm going to do my advent calendar in reverse, and add a candy cane to each pocket each day.  Once it's Christmas my wall hanging will be full of pretty candy canes instead of empty candy bar wrappers.  

Even though this is a very busy time of year, it's my favorite, let the fun begin.

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