Hi, all!
Well, it's another beautiful day in the Starbucks neighborhood...
It doesn't look much like Christmas in here, but I'm definitely feeling the holiday spirit as I experience great thankfulness for having a place where I can go and be welcomed in my hour of internet need! And that little lady behind the counter may be my new best friend - my crazy drink order (venti decaf Americano, iced, with sugar free vanilla and cream - keto friendly, of course) is very close to becoming something I can order by saying "the usual"! So never doubt that Christmas spirit is around all year long - even if there aren't red cups to commemorate it!
Welcome back to the 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop and Quilt-Along, as we hit the halfway mark - Day 6! As usual, we have some fabulous gift-ie goodness coming from another quilt blogger - Moira at The Quilted Snail will be bringing it to us, wrapped up with a bow!
Sunday, July 14th
Monday, July 15th
Tuesday, July 16th
Wednesday, July 17th
Thursday, July 18th
Friday, July 19th
Saturday, July 20th
Sunday, July 21st
Monday, July 22nd
Tuesday, July 23rd
Wednesday, July 24th
Thursday, July 25th
And remember, too, there's a giveaway! FIGO Fabrics has donated a fat quarter bundle of their new Christmas line, Wintertide...
...and one lucky reader will get to take it home! All you have to do is fill in the form below with your full name and email address (don't worry, I won't use it for anything beyond notifying you if you win!). Entries will close on Tuesday, July 30th, and I'll announce the winner here on Wednesday, July 31st - New Year's Eve in July!
Be sure to click "Submit"!!
You get an entry for visiting the stops on the hop, too, so drop by each new day's blog posts, enjoy the post and leave a comment (comments make us happy!), then fill out the entry form on their blog too. If their blog hop post doesn't have an entry form feel free to come back here and leave an entry after checking out their "gift" for you!
So get hopping, folks - then come back here to see today's step for the quilt-along...
*∆*∆*∆*∆*∆*∆*
Today you should be making your fifth block, and you will start to see the kaleidoscope design taking form. It's pretty, isn't it? Keep up the good work, you're doing great. If you still need to refer to the block construction instructions, you can find that post here.
I've been working on turning my finished kaleidoscope quilt top into a medallion quilt, and here's what I've been doing...
All the Christmas tree blocks got trunks added to them...
And then I arranged them around the center motif to get an idea of spacing. Here's where my least favorite part of quilting -
&#%quilt math%#&
-
came into play. The top and bottom rows were pretty easy, because I knew I wanted the three center trees centered over the three blocks. So I determined how much fabric I needed between the three to center them, and used the same size for the fabric between the center section and the two outer trees.
I also knew I wanted a border of some sort between the center medallion and the tree borders - and that's where my mind absolutely fried. I did finally figure out that the borders around the medallion needed to be 3" wide (finished), and added those. Then I measured and 'thought' I had figured out the right size for the pieces between the side trees - but no....
I ended up needing a "humility" piece on both ends of each strip of trees! Oh well, it won't show when the quilt is quilted and washed, and if it does, it will be a great reminder that no one is perfect, right?
So here's the current state of my quilt top. I am thinking I will add another white border (maybe a narrow one this time) around the trees, and then do some sort of checkerboard border all the way around. It's getting pretty large now - about 54" square - so it won't take much more for it to get to a comfortable size.
Time to get back to the drawing board, and back to the sewing machine! I hope you're getting some great ideas about how to finish off your own quilt top as we go along.
See you tomorrow!
Hugs!
Sarah
The trees are great, and another border, that will give a good size for the finish.
ReplyDeleteGreat progress, Sarah!!
ReplyDeleteI have pieced borders that look like that, too. Sometimes it's because the strips are just that much too short. Sometimes it's because I miscue what a pattern tells me to cut. So you could just go with the story that the strips weren't long enough and who's gonna know?! But I love the borders you're adding...I think more than the center!
ReplyDeleteI hear you about the border blocks and getting the to fit!
ReplyDeleteThis looks so pretty!
The link to Cloth and Paper Studio is a loop de loop and has hidden a post for the Christmas in July! FYI
ReplyDeleteThis is lovely, I love the soft colors the most.
ReplyDeleteI love how this is turning out!! Beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteVery nice quilt!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find the link for Cloth and Paper Studio even when looking around their site.
The link for Cloth and Paper Studio brought me back here ;-(
ReplyDeleteTried searching, too. No luck.
love how this quilt top is coming out!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Cloth & Paper's link just goes to their home page. Blog hasn't been posted to since 2017. Your quilt top is amazing!
ReplyDeleteAh yes, ye olde humility block, thst's why my presents were all over the place. I didn't want to do the math so I just winged it! Not as easy to get away with when you are trying to give others direction though. 😏
ReplyDeleteYour quilt is lovely! The tree border made me gasp at its prettiness. And yes, like others have noted, Cloth and Paper Studio still has no Christmas in July post. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! Ah-ha!! I've been wondering where the trees were going to go, and not it all becomes clear. This is turning out so cute - aren't you just thrilled with it?!! I am. And I'm sorry that you have to go to Starbucks for your internet. There are worse places you could go, I guess. (Don't tell anyone but I don't like their coffee, although I adore coffee and drink it every day.) ~smile~ Roseanne
ReplyDeleteI like the tree border on your quilt.
ReplyDeleteyour trees border is wonderful, can hardly wait to see the checker board.🎄⛄🎄
ReplyDelete