Twelve Days of Christmas in July - The Quilt-Along, Day 1!

Hi, all!

It's finally arrived - the first day of the Twelve Days of Christmas in July blog hop!!  Each day, I'll be posting to direct you to that day's bloggers in the hop, and to give you that day's instructions for the quilt-along.  First of all, let me tell you about the two bloggers who will be sharing with you today...

Many of you may already be familiar with Sharon Vrooman of Vrooman's Quilts.  I've been following her blog since I first started blogging, and only recently found out that we both started blogging around the same time!  She is a scrap quilter extraordinaire, AND she has the coolest address ever - she lives on Quilt Lane!  She's got a great Christmas project to share with you today - be sure to check it out!

Carole Carter blogs at From My Carolina Home, and her blog is always a feast of eye candy.  She posts great tutorials, and the photographs of her home and the country around it always make me homesick. The mountains of North Carolina are so beautiful!  Carole has a fun and easy gift item to share - one that you'll want to make for lots of people on your gift list!

And as if you need another great reason to check these posts out - both ladies are having a giveaway!

*&*&*&*&*&*&*

And now it's time for the first day of our quilt-along!  If you can spend an hour or so each day for the next twelve days working on this quilt, I can pretty much guarantee you will have a finished Christmas quilt top at the end of the quilt-along. That's an offer that's hard to refuse!  Just imagine - no more thinking, "I sure wish I had a Christmas quilt!" once the holidays roll around!

EQ7 Diagram

This is a simple quilt - one block, repeated four times.  We'll work through simple steps each day, and along the way, I'll give you some easy tips that will make the process go much faster.

Let's get started!

If this is your first time hearing about the quilt-along, here are the fabric requirements previously posted for the 76" square quilt:

If you haven't done so already, press your fabrics, lining up the selvages neatly and trimming the ends as needed to make them even and straight.

This is also a good time to put a fresh blade in your rotary cutter!  It will make your cutting go much faster if you aren't dealing with a dull blade.

*&* CUTTING OUT THE QUILT *&*

Location of block centers, center- and cornerstones

Take the fabric for the block centers, center- and cornerstones.  From that fabric, cut:

     4     6 1/8" squares for block centers

     5     4.5" squares for center- and cornerstones

Location of inner star

Now take the fabric you have chosen for the inner star.  From this fabric, cut:

     16     5" squares

Location of outer star

Now take the fabric you have chosen for the outer star.  From this fabric, cut:

     48     5" squares

     16     4.5" squares

TIP:  I highly recommend you take the 4.5" squares and put them into a ziplock bag labeled "4.5" squares" to avoid using the wrong size by mistake in a later step.  Don't ask me how I know this....

Now you're ready to cut the background fabric.  Fold your fabric in half as directed above, squaring the cut ends to the left side of your mat.

Take the remaining 4.5" x WOF strips and press them open.

TIP:  Remember that tip I gave you earlier about the 4.5" squares?  Take your sixteen background 4.5" squares and put them in that bag.  You don't want to use them by mistake tomorrow!

And now you're finished cutting out your quilt!  Take a picture, post it on Instagram, (use #12daysofxmasinjulyQAL) and let the world know you ARE going to have a Christmas quilt this year!

And just a reminder - if you leave a comment, please leave your email address too!  Unfortunately, there are many more No-Reply bloggers than in the past and you may be one without knowing about it!  We all want to respond to your lovely comments and questions!

Hugs and see you tomorrow!

Sarah

Here's the schedule of all the wonderful bloggers who are participating:

July 14th:     Sharon Vrooman @ Vrooman’s Quilts

                    Carole Carter @ From My Caroline Home

July 15th:    Yanicka Hachez @ Finding Myself As An Artist

                   Chris Dodsley @ made by ChrissieD

July 16th:     Marsha Hodgkins @ Quilter in Motion

                    Leanne Parsons  @ Devoted Quilter

July 17th:     Tonia Conner @ All Thingz Sewn

                    Selina @ Selina Quilts

July 18th:     Lara Buccella @ Buzzin Bumble

                    Soma Acharya @ Whims and Fancies

July 19th:     Joanne Harris@ Quilts by Joanne

                    Suzy Webster @ Adventurous Applique and Quilting

July 20th:     Vicki in MN @ Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting

                    Jennifer Fulton @ The Inquiring Quilter

July 21st:     Michele Kuhns @ Crayon Box Quilt Studio

                    Jan Ochterbeck @ The Colorful Fabriholic

July 22nd:     Alla Blanca @ Rainbows. Bunnies. Cupcakes.

                     Zenia Rene @ A Quilted Passion

July 23rd:     Joanne Hubbard @ Everyone Deserves a Quilt

                    Paige Alexander @ Quilted Blooms

July 24th:     Carolyn Jones @ …by CJ

                    Tisha Nagel @ Quilty Therapy

July 25th:     Susan Arnold @ Quilt Fabrication

                    Beth Sellers @ Cooking Up Quilts

                    Linda Pearl @ One Quilting Circle