Guess what? It's finally time to start counting down the twelve days of Christmas in July! For the next twelve days here on the blog, it'll be all about Christmas as I show you how to make this year's Christmas quilt! And we have a great line-up of bloggers ready to share some fun ideas with us, all designed to get us in the mood to start our Christmas crafting early. Let's make it a handcrafted Christmas this year!
Today Joy of Days Filled With Joy is going to start us off with a bang - she is truly devoted to Christmas in July, taking the whole month to inspire folks! So be sure to spend some time looking around her blog for more great ideas.
And here's the schedule for the rest of the hop...
WOF means width-of-fabric, or from the fold to the selvage.
You should probably put a fresh blade in your rotary cutter now. It will make it easier to do speedy cross-cutting later.
Press your fabric well, aligning the selvages and obtaining a clean fold line. Your pieces will be much more precise!
You will want to have a way to mark your pieces and sort them handy. I used post it notes to mark and zip loc bags to sort my pieces, and a small-ish plastic storage box to hold them so they didn’t get lost.
We will be cutting the dark green fabric and the red fabric today.
Take your dark green fabric and cut:
Eight 4” x WOF strips
Make four stacks of two strips and arrange on your cutting mat as shown. (Cut off the selvages now.) Crosscut to make 76 4” squares. NOTE: You will actually be cutting 16 squares at a time when you cross-cut the stacks, so don't over-cut. (Don't ask me how I know...)) Separate these into two stacks, one of 24, one of 52.
In sets of 4, stack the squares on top of each other, aligning them carefully, and cut diagonally one time. Your 48 triangles will be labeled as Block 1: E. Label the 104 triangles as Block 2: C.
Now cut:
Two 7” x WOF strips
Stack the strips on top of each other as before and crosscut twenty-four 3.5” x 7” strips. Label these strips as Block 1: G.
Now move on to your red fabric and cut:
Four 4.5" x WOF strips
Stack in sets of two and arrange as previously shown on your cutting mat. Crosscut into 32 4.5” squares. (Be careful to only cut 32 as you will be using the remainder of these strips in a future step.) Separate into two stacks - one stack of 26 squares, and one stack of six squares.
You will be cutting these squares on the diagonal twice, to create four small triangles from each squares. Mark the set of 104 triangles as Block 2: B. Mark the set of 24 triangles as Block 1: B. Set aside the remainders of the 4.5” strips for later cutting.
Now cut:
One 4" x WOF strip
Crosscut this strip into 10 4” squares. Take 2 of the 4.5” wide pieces left from the previous cutting and press them open. Stack on top of each other and trim to 4” wide. From these pieces, cut 2 more 4” squares for a total of 12. Set any remaining fabric aside. Cut these 12 squares once on the diagonal Mark the 24 triangles as Block 1: C.
Now cut:
Three 3.5" x WOF strips
Stack two of the strips and crosscut 24 3.5” squares. Now take the remaining strip and cut 2 more 3.5” squares. (Set aside the remainder of this strip for future use.) Label these squares as Block 2: A.
Take the remainder of the 3.5” strip and trim it to 3”. Crosscut into 10 3” squares. Press remainder of the strip open and cut another 3” square, for a total of 11. Take one of the remaining 4.5” strips and trim to 3”. Cut two more 3” squares for a total of 13 red 3” squares. Cut these squares twice on the diagonal. Label these 52 triangles as Block 2: E.
Now cut:
One 2" x WOF strip
Crosscut it into 20 2” squares. Take the remaining 4.5” strip end and cut a 2” strip lengthwise. Crosscut that strip into four more 2” squares for a total of 24. Label these blocks as Block 1: A.
Now cut:
Two 10" x WOF strips
Stack together on your cutting mat and crosscut into 24 3.5”x10” rectangles. Label these pieces Block 1: F.
You’re done for the day!
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Come back tomorrow for the rest of the cutting instructions, and to check out the next stop on the hop!!!
Hugs!
Sarah
I have never made a "Christmas" quilt before---but you hooked me on this one. I love it
ReplyDeleteAwesome quilt design!!
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how 2 blocks can make such a cool quilt that looks like sooooo much more work. Great design. Thanks
ReplyDeleteChristmas in July is always so much for. Thank you for the Peppermint Twist quilt pattern. Yours is gorgeous, as always.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous quilt design. Thanks for the details :)
ReplyDeleteWoo Hoo. I am so excited. Looking forward for tomorrow's post and thank you so much for sharing this sweet design.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a pretty quilt! Thanks so much for this hop and all you do!
ReplyDelete