Friday, July 21, 2017

12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop - Day 8!


Hi, all!

 I think this Christmas thing is catching - my youngest granddaughter was singing "Jingle Bell Rock" in the car today!  Well, a little Christmas spirit never hurt anyone, did it?  She's actually pretty good, too.  Not bad for a deaf kid!

 I do hope you're enjoying the hop - I've loved reading all your comments, although I'm way behind in responding to them.  Please know that they are received and appreciated, and I'll try to get a quick response off as soon as possible.  It's been a crazy week!

 Here are today's stops on the hop.....
Friday, July 21st




I hope you're as excited as I am to see what Kate of Katie Mae Quilts, Paige of Quilted Blooms, and Susan of QuiltFabrication have for us today.  After you leave a comment here, be sure to hop over to their blogs and check out the great Christmas inspiration - then leave comments on their blogs.  All your comments (in addition to giving them some great feedback and thanks) are entries in today's giveaway.  You can read more about that here, but you definitely don't want to miss out on the chance of winning some Holiday Homies precuts by Tula Pink! 

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And now for today's tutorial step for the Santa's Trip Around the World quilt! It's really simple - take another of your strip/tube sets and, using yesterday's instructions, make another quarter panel for the quilt.

And in the meantime, I want to share some more Christmas inspiration with you!  One of my favorite things to do at Christmastime is to eat lots of yummy things - how about you?  


This (Christmas Crack) is one of my sister's favorite things to make, and is definitely one of my husband's favorite things to eat!  It's simple, and amazing!


And I just found this recipe on Pinterest, but I know I'm going to have to give it a try this Christmas!  I mean, popcorn, marshmallows, peanut and plain M&Ms - how can you miss?


At our house, we have a tradition of making orange rolls for Christmas breakfast.  I love this idea of a way to lay them out so they are festive for the table!


And if you have kids or grandkids around during the holidays, aren't these pancakes just the cutest?  I especially love Santa's little crossed eyes....


And this isn't a Pinterest pin - I've never seen the recipe written down - but here it is - the simplest hot punch EVER!  And so delicious...  You'll need a large jug of apple juice.  You can use the cheap stuff - it won't matter!  And you'll need a package of red hots, sometimes called cinnamon imperials.  The ones I find are in a plastic package about 6" square, and are hard to find except during the holidays, so I have a tendency to stock up when I find them!  Pour the apple juice in a large crock pot, then pour in the entire package of red hots.  Turn the pot on high, stir occasionally until the red hots are melted, and enjoy!!!  I usually start it a few hours before I'm going to serve it to give the candy a chance to melt well.

Hungry now?  


PS You can find the links for all the above pins on my board 12DCIJ Pins

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That's it for today!  Remember to visit all the stops on the hop and leave a comment to be entered in the giveaways!!

See you tomorrow!!!

Hugs!

Sarah

Here are the blogs participating in the 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop!

Friday, July 14th


Saturday, July 15th


Sunday, July 16th


Monday, July 17th


Tuesday, July 18th


Wednesday, July 19th


Thursday, July 20th


Friday, July 21st


Saturday, July 22nd



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Thursday, July 20, 2017

12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop - Day 7!



 
Hi, all!

 Do you ever get a favorite Christmas song stuck in your head?  I sure have lately, working on so much Christmas stuff and looking at such wonderful projects.  And I bet you don't have the same favorite song - mine is "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"!  I've been working on a special version of the song - in ASL!  You can see a video of it here.  And now that I've put that song in your mind....

 Here are the bloggers for Day 7 of the Hop!
Thursday, July 20th

 Cheryl of Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting (our little overachiever) is back with more projects, and she's joined by Jennifer of The Inquiring Quilter and Selina of Selina Quilts, who both have some really cool things to share!  Be sure to leave a comment here, then go and visit all their blogs and leave a comment - all those comments are your entries in today's giveaway!  You can see the details about the giveaway here, but there's a lot of Tula Pink's Holiday Homies up for grabs!!
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And now it's time for the next step in the Santa's Trip Around the World quilt tutorial!  It sounds like several of you are following along with the tutorial and making your own quilts - I can't wait to see them!!  You can post progress pics on Instagram with the tags #santasTATW and #12DCIJ if you want, and there will be a link-up on the 25th.


So here goes!   Grab one of those sets of strip/tubes and pull out one strip/tube.  Decide which print you want around the centerstone  (that 2.5" square you have tucked away) of your quilt, then open the seam BELOW that print.  You will now have a strip 2.5" wide and 16 prints long.  Put a Clover clip or pin in the print you chose for your quilt center ring.


Pull a second strip/tube, and find the print you chose for the first strip's beginning.  Go to the fabric ABOVE that print and split the seam between that fabric and the first block.  


Now take your strips to the ironing board and press the seams UP on one strip and DOWN on the other.  This will help you "nest" your seams and get nicely matched seams.

NOTE:  This quilt is busy enough that if your seams don't match absolutely perfectly, it's not likely to show.  Don't stress too much about it!


Pin the second strip to the LEFT side of the first strip, matching seams and pinning.  Stitch seam.  Press the seam as you choose.  I pressed mine open to cut down on bulk.


Repeat, opening a seam on a strip/tube, pressing the seams on the strip in the appropriate direction, sewing the strip to the growing panel, then pressing the seam. You will see the diagonal lines being created on your panel as you go.  Check frequently to be sure your strips are in the correct order (it's really easy to sew the strip to the wrong side of the panel, particularly if you didn't mark your starting center block in the beginning.  If you goof, it's easy to fix - just remove the out-of-order strip, suit back into a tube and open it at the correct spot.  When finished, you will have a panel that is a 15 x 16 grid.

Hang the panel up where you can see it so you can check your work as you assemble the next three panels.  

And that's all for today!  You'll be doing the same thing for the next three days as we complete the four panels.  I'll be posting more fun ideas to help get us through those days.  You're getting so close to the end - it all comes together really quickly after the panels are finished.  Hang in there!

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That's all I've got for today - be sure to go check out the hop blogs, and remember to leave a comment on each!  Think about snow and maybe the summer heat won't feel so bad...

Hugs!

Sarah

Here are the blogs participating in the 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop!

Friday, July 14th


Saturday, July 15th


Sunday, July 16th


Monday, July 17th


Tuesday, July 18th


Wednesday, July 19th


Thursday, July 20th


Friday, July 21st


Saturday, July 22nd

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Wednesday, July 19, 2017

12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop - Day 6!

Hi, all!

 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, right?  Or at least feel like it, a little bit - if you don't step outside!  I am having so much fun checking out all the great posts by the hop bloggers - there's so much creativity there to tap into!  A little bit of something for everyone... and if you haven't seen something that appeals to you yet, just stick around - we are only halfway through!
Here are the links to today's bloggers on the hop...

Wednesday, July 19th



I have no doubt that you are going to love what Jan of The Colorful Fabriholic and Kate of Smiles from Kate are going to share with us today - and you'll want to make one of each for your own home!  So hop on over to their blogs for a great dose of inspiration - and remember to leave a comment on each (leave one here, too!) to be entered in today's giveaway.  Giveaway, you say?  You can read more about it here, but I know you don't want to pass up a chance at some whimsical Holiday Homies fabric by Tula Pink, provided by our fabulous sponsor, Free Spirit Fabrics!


And now, FINALLY, it's time to move on to the next step in making the Santa's Trip Around the World quilt!  If you're on schedule, you should have four strip sets completed...


...and are ready for the next step.  So let's get started!

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First things first - stack your four strip sets on top of each other, so that you can see about 2" of each set above the one stacked on top of it.  Check now to be sure that all of your strip sets are identical. It's much easier to fix any mistakes now, believe me.  Hopefully they're all perfect, and you can move on to the next step!


Now take one of your panels and fold it so that the first and last long strips are together, right sides facing.


Shift the pieces as needed, side to side, to get a nice flat fold.  It's entirely possible that your edges won't be even, but it's more important that your strips be flat, just like a piece of folded yardage, so you can get good straight cross-cuts.


Sew the long edges together so that you have a tube of fabric.  Repeat with the remaining three panels.


Now take one tube and lay it on your cutting mat with the last seam you sewed against the bottom of your mat.  Trim the left end so that it's even, removing any selvage edges at the same time.


Continue cross-cutting the tube, cutting your strip/tubes 2.5" wide.  Cut 15 strip/tubes from each panel.  


Keep each set of 15 strip/tubes together in their own set, as you will construct the quilt in quarters.



Repeat for all four of your tubes.  

Now reach behind your left shoulder and pat yourself on the back!  You're done for the day and all ready for tomorrow!

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Remember to go and visit today's stops on the Hop, and leave a comment on each (here too!) to be entered into today's giveaway.  I'll see you tomorrow!

Hugs!

Sarah

Here are the blogs participating in the 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop!

Friday, July 14th


Saturday, July 15th


Sunday, July 16th


Monday, July 17th


Tuesday, July 18th


Wednesday, July 19th


Thursday, July 20th


Friday, July 21st


Saturday, July 22nd



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