Friday, July 15, 2016

Christmas in July - Part 2

I'm back with more Christmas quilts!

This is Christmas Stars, probably the most famous quilt on my blog.  I didn't use a pattern, it's just an Ohio Star variation block I'd seen somewhere and then figured out a way to construct it.  For my tutorial on how to make this block, click here.


This quilt became "famous" because it was beautifully quilted by Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple and people seeing the photos on her blog asked questions about the pattern, etc, and got directed here. The wide borders are perfect for fancy quilting!  Below is a close-up of one of the blocks.


I made Sparkle using the pattern Jelly Stars from Fig Tree Quilts and a jelly roll of a Moda collection called Blitzen from Basic Grey.  Their 2016 collection called Juniper Berry would work well for this quilt.  This quilt is much, much easier to make than it looks, all because of the clever techniques in the pattern.  It makes a great throw size quilt or large wall hanging, while one star could be made into a small wall hanging.


Here's one of the blocks.  The diagonal seams through the corners result from the easy construction.  No set in or Y seams!


Evergreen was my first two-color quilt (though I actually used three fabrics, the two greens being close to each other in color).  The original pattern is called Twilight Hopscotch and is in the book Simple Comforts by Kim Diehl.  The pattern results from alternating two different blocks. 


And here is Merry and Bright, from the pattern called Trellis Crossroads in the book Modern Bee.  It is a good quilt to make from stash and scraps but I will warn you that I found the directions lacked completeness and were hard to follow.  I tried to give some tips in my post here.


I'll leave you with this photo of the stockings hung by the chimney with care.  The red one belongs to Miss Main Street and is the first one I made.  The green ones are for our corgis, Reggie and Dillie (I'm not sure they are aware they are dogs).  I incorporated pieces from my stash of "cutter" vintage lace and linens when I made them.  They are just simple shapes, both front and back sandwiched with thin batting and backing (the backing ends up as the lining), with minimal quilting, then the two pieces are joined with bias binding just like a quilt.


I hope you've enjoyed this little bit of Christmas in July.  Maybe it has given you and idea for making your own 2016 Christmas quilt.


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3 comments:

  1. What a great "Christmas In July" photo parade Cathy and enjoyed them....beautiful!!! Now my list of want "to do's" has gotten longer and will have to start saving new fabrics......Love your parade and great quilts!

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  2. I can't believe that you had more Christmas quilts to share! Your Christmas Star is gorgeous. It's so classic and beautiful with the white background. Are you making a new one for this year?

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  3. Love your Ohio Star variation with the yummy triple sashing, gorgeous. I also love your green and white quilt, I have wanted to make that quilt since I bought Kim's book few years ago. I just finished a High Cotton quilt top from the same book. Thanks for sharing, your quilting is lovely.

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