It’s definitely been a while since I hopped on here to say hello.  I had grand plans to be more active here in 2020 and then well…2020 happened.  No need to get into that further as the entire world is dealing with craziness of some kind or another.  Today I just wanted to share a bit of happiness in the form of Christmas in July.  I don’t know about you but nothing makes me happier than Christmas so this quilt is perfect right now!

Several months ago Fat Quarter Shop reached out to a handful of us about making this darling Christmas quilt and then sharing our finished projects online.  Given my love of all things Christmas I jumped right on that train 🙂  I immediately started looking for the perfect fabric when I found the Little Tree line by Lella Boutique.

It was the perfect mix of modern and traditional with an updated color palette.

You can see some of the prints up close in the photo above.  Originally I planned on using Kona White for my background and even went so far as ordering it from Fat Quarter Shop.

Then at the last minute I decided to change it up and use a Carolyn Friedlander print that I had in my stash.  It doesn’t look like the gray is available right now but they do have other colors.

This crosshatch would be fabulous too.

The only downside to making this quilt now is that the photos don’t really coincide with the season.  Instead of beautiful snowy landscapes you get lush green grass.  Just pretend we’re festive over here 😉  I tried to grab some different photos knowing that nothing was really Christmasy right now.

I also have a new quilty BFF that I used to finish this fun quilt.  I recently purchased a brand new Grace Q’nique 21pro longarm machine and I’m loving learning and practicing with her.  I’m not perfect yet and I definitely have a long way to go but in the interest of practicing I decided to give her a shot on this quilt.  I found this fun tree pantograph pattern and despite the imperfections coming from being so new at this I still think it turned out really cute.

I also decided to do something fun on the back of the quilt.  I used all the leftover pieces after trimming the half-square triangles for the tree as well as some leftover and added charm squares.  I added a fun red border and centered it on the back of my quilt.

Centering the pieced back was a bit trickier on the longarm but after some careful planning I made it work.  Again not perfect but my family will use and love this quilt nonetheless.

On either side of the pieced back I used some flannel I had in my stash in a really light gray color.  For the binding I used the mint stripe from the Little Tree line.

I added my label with a handwritten date and called it good. 

To get more information and to see some fabulous quilts from other quilters be sure to head to the Fat Quarter Shop’s blog the The Jolly Jabber  It’s always so much fun to see all the other projects!  You can find the free pattern here Charming Christmas quilt pattern

I hope you’re all staying safe and using the extra time at home to get a jump start on your Christmas sewing.

Happy quilting friends!