Christmas In July

Okay, so nothing is normal this year and I was just thinking, what the heck should I blog about? Then I realized that I was folding and sorting Christmas Quilts. And the lights came on!! Christmas lights if you will. I decided it would be fun to share some of my Christmas quilts with you. I've made lots of Christmas quilts over the years, and I am certain that I'm not finished making them. They are just too fun and who doesn't love an extra holiday snuggle during the middle of winter?

The first quilt above is called Peppermint Pie and it's available in my first book Scrap Quilt Secrets. You can find it in my online shop HERE. The table runner version above is a fun WORKSHOP that I have taught many times. It is great because we learn about freezer paper templates, sewing curves and getting perfect points every time. Also, it's not scary because it's small, but I'm always thrilled when folks choose to keep going and make the large version.

Under the Mistletoe is kind of my trademark PATTERN and WORKSHOP. I can't even count how many times I've taught this workshop and I will never get tired of it! It's such a fun way to learn about 'sew and flip' using freezer paper, curves and templates and making all those pieces lay perfectly flat. It's always a joy to see timid students gain confidence and experience those 'tada' moments in class. I really hope I get to teach this one again in the post COVID world. The pattern is available HERE.

This is an easy nine patch called Christmas Candy. It was made using blocks I won in a guild block swap. We would put blocks in to swap and blocks in for a drawing. I won the drawing the month the theme was the color green. By adding some red half square triangles I ended up with a fun holiday quilt. This one gets pulled out every year, and while it is showing it's age, it's still a favorite. The pattern is available HERE.

Piney Grove is a more recent pattern of mine that was fun to make because it was inspired by the tree blocks that were part of my Scrappy Block of the Month Series I created for Craftsy oh so many years ago. The 16 patch blocks are all strip pieced so that go together in a flash! The key to making it sparkle is using every shade of red you have and every shade of green. The more you mix it up, the better it gets! The pattern can be found HERE. The pattern also include a table runner version.

Sparkle was a shop sample I made last year (and recently sold) but I am fairly certain I'm going to make this one again. While I love the grey and red combination, I think this might be fun to do in shades of red and green with bits of everything tossed in for fun. I also want to make it the larger version (pattern includes two sizes.) The pattern can be found HERE.

This fun and easy 9 patch is one I finished just in time for last Christmas. It's a free tutorial on the blog. Click HERE to see all the information. I used a fat quarter bundle but you could use any scraps you have. It's a great basic 9 patch setting that doesn't need to be limited to Christmas colors, but I sure love it just like this! I also had fun using one of my favorite designs on my longarm to quilt it. 

This was a free sew along I shared a couple of years ago. You can find the information and free pattern HERE. It was so much fun to see all the variations of those who sewed along and I've even had the honor of quilting a few of these. Meanwhile, mine is still a UFO but it's almost finished! I am custom quilting it on my longarm and while I've done more than half of the quilting, I still have quite a bit more to do. Maybe I'll be done by Christmas 2020!

These log cabin quilts were the first holiday quilts I made for my twin boys. They had bunk beds at the time and these quilts looked so festive together! They are well loved and well worn and I pull them out every holiday and fold them across the end of their beds for extra warmth and a festive feel. 

And now that I'm in the holiday spirit, let's have a Christmas in July Sale! 

All of these patterns are 50% off through the end of July. (use code JOY at checkout for discount!) It will only work on the Christmas patterns (sorry books not included.)

Be sure to share with your friends, this is a deal too good to pass up. Happy Holidays and Merry Stitching and all the good tidings of the Season. 

Diane