Welcome to my day on the Christmas in July (Then and Now) Blog Hop, and thanks for visiting! Thank you to Carol at Just Let Me Quilt for hosting this blog hop and giving us all lots of fun holiday inspiration to check out this week.
*If you're visiting from I Like Thursday at Not Afraid of Color, I hope you'll like my post for the blog hop, and maybe find some other bloggers to visit, too! *
See the bottom of this post for a list of quilters participating every day this week.
When I saw the theme "Christmas Then and Now," I knew I had the perfect quilt to share! The problem was, it wasn't finished - in fact it was a 10 (or more) - year old UFO that I've been struggling to finish for a very long time. So joining this blog hop was just the push I needed to finish it!
My Christmas Friendship Then and Now quilt is a joint effort by my quilt group with blocks and quilt top made "then" probably around 2010, and the finish happening "now" just in time for this blog hop! It started with an inspiration block made by me -
The next month, my quilting friends brought back 12 inch blocks they had made for me to our meeting. This quilt is full of fun designs like...
Reindeer
Family coming home for Christmas
Christmas Stockings
Angels
a gingerbread man
and lots more!
I took all the blocks home, added black sashing, and a fun border full of swirly Christmas lights. And then it sat... This was a project started when I was still teaching, so every summer break I would pull it out, look at it for awhile, and then fold it back up and put it away.
But NOW... my Christmas Friendship Quilt is finally finished!
The backing and binding are this fun peppermint print. I finished the quilt like an old-fashioned comforter - thick batting, ties instead of machine quilting, and machine stitched binding.
Santa is waving hello!
Christmas Friendship Then and Now measures about 70 x 85, which you will know if you're a regular reader is very large for me!
I am so happy to have this finally finished!
Merry Christmas in July!
Here's the schedule for the week - be sure to go back and visit any participating blogs you missed from Monday and Tuesday, too.
51 comments:
That definitely deserved to be moved from a UFO to the finish line. Love the backing fabric.
Your "Christmas Friendship Quilt" is so charming and looks great on the bed!
What a dawdler you are! (I have room to talk 😁) Lots of memories captured in that quilt. Sweet.
This is so adorable -- love it - thanks for sharing
Beautiful quilt! It's a treasure with memories of your quilting friends each time you look at it. Thanks for sharing!
Love this!
Oh my goodness, we are so happy your finished it and shared it with us all. Beautiful and bound to bring comfort and joy in the holiday season!
I love it and aren't you glad you stuck with it and finished it. That is large for you :) looks really good
Love that you were able to finish this UFO, how fun it will be for you to show your quilting group someday! Probably a wise decision to tie it and not wrestle with it under your sewing machine.
That was the Perfect Push! Love the story behind the quilt. Do you remember what friend made which block? Are you still in contact with any of them? The reason for the 20 questions is I've got a group of blocks languishing somewhere from a sew-along too. I'm not sure I ever knew who sewed what block and I've lost contact with all of them. I really should dig them up and then sew them up like you Merry Christmas! 🎄
This is just the sweetest gathering of blocks...love it! What a treasure this is to have finished it and have all the memories that go with it. Thank you so much for sharing this and hopping with us!
this is a very fun and memorable quilt. great job finishing it. this will be fun at christmas time. thanks for sharing and inspiring to finish some of those pieces just sitting around.
What an awesome quilt! I love the way you decided to finish it! It’s perfect! I hope you do know who did which block!
Great finish!
Congratulations on your finish. And seeing the fun reindeer made me smile. Thanks for showing us.
What a great quilt with lovely memories. Glad you finally had a chance to finish it up! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Diann! I'm so glad you finished your Christmas Friendship quilt and it is a large size. At least for what you've been working on a sharing lately. It was such a nice idea to add the sashing to each block, I think. It really unifies them yet sets them off in a fabulous manner. They each get to twinkle and shine. ~smile~ Roseanne
What a good feeling to have this pretty quilt finished! So many pretty blocks, and I love the backing fabric. You'll enjoy pulling this out each year for the Christmas season!
Adorable quilt! So glad you finished it and shared it with us. It will be such a nice addition to your Christmas holiday. Love the story behind the quilt.
What a great sampler quilt, and I'm sure that you'll have treasured memories of the friends who made the blocks for you. Congrats on the finish!
How nice to have patches from a number of friends finally ready to grace your bed!
Absolutely gorgeous! Love the reindeer especially! Thanks for sharing!
That's so pretty and a work of heart!
Congrats on the finish and what a great finish it is! I can imagine all the smiles as you look at each block and remember who made it.
What an amazing quilt! Your attention to detail is wonderful! I think the reindeer are my favorite! I just love this quilt! It's a real heirloom!
What a great finish! I love the friendship aspect of it too - that just makes it even more special each time you pull it out to display.
It is a large finish, but it is great to get in finished. A beautiful quilt, I love Santa waving.
I'm so glad you finished it! It is a lovely quilt, a friendship quilt, and it was the right time. Beautiful quilt for you forever now. =)
Wow that turned out awesome. How cool to finish up the project too.
It turned out very cute! I love the peppermint fabric. And it may be big, but it looks like just the right size for cuddling together on cold winter evenings!
What a treasure!
Congrats on a fantastic Christmas Friendship finish. I love that hops inspire us to finish those UFO's. Love all the fun blocks.
Wahoo!! Good for you! It's just the cutest!
Probably not the Christmas quilt you would make now, but it's filled with special memories, so you will enjoy pulling it out every year.
Pat
Such a sweet friendship quilt. Congratulations on the finish!
Such a perfect quilt for this hop. It turned out fabulously. Great finish. Congrats!
This is great! I love that you were motivated to complete this great friendship quilt. Thanks for sharing.
Your Christmas Friendship Quilt is so pretty! And what nice memories you will have as you look at it. So glad you finished it and shared with us.
It feels so good to finally finish projects and your Friendship quilt is a great finish. So pretty.
Awe they are all so cute.
What a great quilt - and don't you love blog hops that inspire and motivate us to make something new? This will be a treasure for years to come.
Woopee for finishing up UFOs. What a wonderful quilt and especially with all those wonderful memory blocks. It's perfect.
I'm having a hard time that you let that be a UFO for so long. Gosh, it's beautiful. You did a lovely job with it and it's now got a well-deserved rest on a bed.
What a fun Christmas quilt. I'm sure you'll enjoy having that out when Christmas time comes around. I'm glad you got it finished.
Oh Diann it's wonderful! I love those blocks, and the black sashing and peppermint backing are so perfect. The ties and puffy filling will make it cozy. And it's so big (mouth open!) I know you're so satisfied to have that finished. It was just waiting for the right blog hop. Nice job.
Such a fun finish! It's a beautiful quilt. Congrats on finishing off an oldie, but definitely goody!
Now that's a fun Christmas quilt, with all of those different blocks to look at!
Congratulations on finishing a quilt that needed it's time.
So full of sweet memories! I'm glad you got this neat quilt finished so you can enjoy it every year now :)
What a beautiful memory filled quilt finish. Thank you for sharing
I just love the colors in your not-so-little quilt top with all its shades of green and blue! I think I might have the book somewhere, it looks familiar. The Coco mini charms really come alive with your sashing and cornerstones and that pop of navy!
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