Christmas In July, Block A Thon FLIP BOOK!

Remember our awesome Christmas in July, Block A Thon that we just wrapped up a short bit ago? Well, for those of you that have been waiting for our flip book, here it is! Click to enlarge the book and see page for page how to create each block of the amazing quilt! Sew along at your convenience and check in the Flickr group with lots of inspiration to keep you chugging along. Want to know which fabrics are used? Just check out the Pinterest page that was created specifically for this group. Enjoy!

It's the end of August! Time for Jennifer Paganelli giveway!

Now that you have read about Jennifer Paganelli and her design process and you've enjoyed the FreeSpirit Super Fly and Crazy Love Lap Quilt, now it's time to comment to win.  Jennifer's inspiration is a rare combination of vintage flea market finds combined with the influences of a childhood living in the Virgin Islands. As a matter of fact, take a look behind closed doors and hear about Jennifer's inspiration in the Beyond the Fabric by Downy video.

How does your childhood influence your sewing and quilting today? Did you have the opportunity to live in a tropical or foreign region and do you still carry that experience with you? Was your family a crafting family and how has it influenced your creative lifestyle?

Comment between now and August 31 and six random commentators will win six, 1 yard cuts of Jennifer's newest FreeSpirit collection, Happy Land, along with her newest book, Happy Home!

FreeSpirit Happy Land by Jennifer Paganelli

WINNER, WINNER! Block-a-Thon Winner Announced!!!

Hey Everyone,

What makes a Friday even more enjoyable?? Well that's easy, finding out you have won an amazing Fat Quarter stack! Below are our LUCKY winners of the Christmas in July, Block-a-Thon! Have you seen all the amazing blocks that people have made? Well head over to our Flickr group and see all the action that is continuing in the group. People are starting to put their quilts together which is very exciting to see!

Here are the lucky blog winners and what they like to make around the Holidays:

audrey said...

Hmmm...favorite holiday sewing project...
I would have to say stockings for the holidays! They're relatively quick to whip up, but can be personalized so easily! Love it! :)

Sandy D said...

I like to make Christmas Quilts to decorate with and the one I especially like is Scenic View by Lisa Moore of Quilts with a Twist from 2008. It is gorgeous and my 4 daughters would all love to get their hands on it.

cherylj said...

I love to make Christmas stockings for everyone at Christmas. I can make each one different and they are a quick finish.

AND we also picked a lucky winner from the Flickr group, so go check out what she has been making!
Sharon, flickr name is vroomansquilts
  Congratulations Winners!!!

Christmas in July, Block-a-Thon QUILT REVEAL! and a GIVEAWAY!

It's finally time to reveal the Christmas in July, Block-a-Thon quilt! After creating each of the 19 blocks, we have put them together to make one fabulous quilt. If you did not participate in our Block-a-Thon, no worries! You have plenty of time to catch up! We will have a flip book put together where you can go back and create each of the blocks. So stay tuned for next week when we have this all ready for you. In the meantime, check out our Flickr group to get lots of inspiration! Thanks to all of the bloggers for helping create this awesome quilt and thank you to Kristy for putting together the final project! Now enjoy the gorgeous quilt photos and learn how to put it all together! CLICK HERE for directions.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED Are you ready for an AMAZING GIVEAWAY?? We have 3 quilt kits to give to 3 lucky winners. The fat quarter stack has all the fabrics needed to create our Christmas in July quilt. We have also included a yard of both solids used throughout the quilt. This is a 77 dollar value! So comment below on your favorite holiday sewing project and we will choose 3 random commenter's on Friday, the 17th and reveal the winners! We will also be selecting one lucky participant in our Flickr group to win this as well!

Christmas in July Block 19-It's Sew Emma

It's here, the LAST block to our Christmas in July, Block-A-Thon. WAHOOO!!! So last, but not least, Jocelyn from It's Sew Emma has brought us the final block. So click on the link below and enjoy making the last block. Because after that, we get to piece it all together!

CLICK HERE

And watch on Monday, we have a great giveaway that is going to happen. Check out the stack of goodies!



Lap of Luxury Quilt Featuring Jennifer Paganelli Fabric

Are you looking for a simple and easy lap quilt to put together? Well Melissa has done just that for us! If you are a beginner, this is a great pattern to start out with and it won't overwhelm. This quilt combines both Super Fly and Crazy Love from Jennifer Paganelli collections. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD HERE

Christmas in July Block 18-Canoe Ridge Creations

Oh my, only two blocks left!! Be prepared for MAJOR giveaways on Monday with the FINAL quilt reveal!!

Sweet Tooth Block Instructions

Cutting:

[1] 2 1/2" green square
[4] 2 1/2" white squares
[2] 4 1/"2 x 2 1/2" white rectangles
[2] 2" red squares

Steps:

1. Using a pencil, draw a line from corner to opposite corner on the wrong side one 2" red square. Repeat to other 2" red square.

2. With right sides together, place one 2" red square on top of one 2 1/2" white square (see picture). Stitch on the drawn line. Repeat to with other 2" red square to make two units.

3. Trim seam to 1/4" and press open.



4. Lay your block out -- use the picture as a guide.

5. Using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew your block together.

6. Press seams open.

--

Megan Bohr

Canoe Ridge Creations

http://www.canoeridgecreations.com/

August is Sis Boom month with Jennifer Paganelli

Editor's Note: Our series continues featuring our designers, their latest collections for FreeSpirit fabrics. Week one is a post from the designer, week two is a tutorial and week three is a great giveaway for you to enjoy. Meet the bubbly Jennifer Paganelli.



FreeSpirit Crazy Love by Jennifer Paganelli for Sis Boom



I love, love designing fabric! It's so thrilling to see a design come to life on fabric and then find its way into your homes, your projects and your hearts. It is a real passion and I try to bring something different to each introduction. I love when you recognize it as a Sis Boom fabric. It tells me that there is synergy with every collection I produce. As most of you know, I love a resort vibe and want everyone to see my fabrics and think tropical vacation. Your response to the color is why I do what I do. You tell me color makes you happy! a much larger scale with more geometric flare than ever. Adding a very robust 70's geometric to the mix gets us thinking dashiki's and bedspreads and all over hippiness. 

 

FreeSpirit Crazy Love, introduced earlier this year (25 100% cotton skus), features intense jewel-like colors that dance around on a dark rich saturated palatte.  Taken from love of vintage patinas, these fabrics are certain to charm their way into your hearts and sewing.

FreeSpirit Superfly

FreeSpirit SuperFly (12 100% cotton skus) will give you so many amazing looks. You never tire of the zebra animal print so I brought them back to you in And now, we are premiering FreeSpirit Happy Land (23 100% cotton skus and 4 laminate skus, available in October) which is a strong melody of colors to make your spirit come alive. Think tableclothes and timeless quilts. It's all about celebrating color, sewing and quilting!

To give you inspiration, for all these colors, here is a simple project certain to add a little touch of spunk and cuteness to a little boy's outfit.  The Bosco Bow tie, which happens to be rated among our top downloaded pattern, is an awesome, easy and fun project.The Bosco Tie hasalso been known to dress up little girls' hairstyles when in use as a head band, AND has even been seen around the necks of our furry friends.  Genius, right?! The pattern is super user friendly and it makes for a great afternoon project. Make a few bow ties and play with the different scales of fabric! You can go from Super Fly, to Crazy Love. You can't go wrong, either way. To check out photos of our Bosco Bow ties in action, visit our Look book. You'll see we're not afraid to pair these little cuties with a pattern dress shirt of little girl's dress. Happy creating!

quilt

 

Happy Land quilt design and sewn by Marsha Moore. Photos Tim Geaney.

FreeSpirit Happy Land by Jennifer Paganelli



Christmas in July Block 17-Tacha at Fat Quarterly

All Wrapped Up by Tacha at Fat Quarterly

Finished size: 8“ square

Cutting Instructions

From the green solid cut:
1 strip 4 ½” x 8 ½”
1 strip 2” x 8 ½”
2 strips 1” x 8 ½”

From EACH of the green dot, blue flower and red leaf prints cut:
2 strips 1” x 8 ½”

Make the Block
Sew one of the green dot 1” x 8 ½” strips along the long edge of the green 4 ½” x 8 ½” strip. Cut this strip into 4 pieces as follows:

1 strip 4 ½” x 5”
2 strips 1” x 5”
1 strip 2” x 5”

Sew the green 1” x 8 ½” strips to both long sides of one of the red leaf 1” x 8 ½” strip. Cut this strip into 4 pieces as follows:

1 strip 2” x 4 ½”
2 strips 1” x 2”
1 square 2”

Sew the green 2” x 8 ½” strip to along the long edge of one of the blue flower 1” x 8 ½” strips. Cut this strip into 4 pieces as follows:

1 strip 2 ½” x 4 ½”
2 strips 1” x 2 ½”
1 strip 2” x 2 ½”

Take the 3 pieces 4 ½” wide from each of the strips and sew them together as shown.

Take the 3 pieces 2” wide and sew them together as shown.

Take the 1” wide strips and sew them together to make 2 strips as shown.

Sew the block together as shown.

Christmas in July Block 16-Free Patchwork Quilt Info

Tiffiny from Free Patchwork Quilt Info has brought us today's tutorial for our Christmas in July, Block-A-Thon. So click the link below and enjoy!

CLICK HERE

A Cute Apron Tutorial!

Everyone needs a cute apron in the kitchen to whip up some delicious treats! So enjoy this tutorial for a half apron and happy baking! And thanks to Melissa for bringing us this great tutorial!

DOWNLOAD HERE

Christmas in July Block 15-Quilting Gallery

Bull’s Eye


Designed by: Michele Foster

Block finishes at 6” (6.5” unfinished)

The Bull’s Eye block has been designed by Michele Foster of the Quilting Gallery. Prepared for the Christmas in July Block-a-Thon hosted by FreeSpirit Fabrics.

Visit: http://quiltinggallery.com/ 

Cutting:

Note: Strips are cut by the width of a fat quarter, i.e approximately 20”

Background fabric (white):
(1) 1” strip
(1) 2” strip - you may need two strips depending on how skewed you do the trims.

Center square:
(1) 2” square

Accent fabric (turquoise/white):
(1) 1.5” strip
Instructions:
With your 2” square, skew it a little. Trim less than 1/8” of fabric off of two sides at an angle to the edge of the exiting square.

With the 1” strip of white, add borders to two sides of your 2” square. Be sure to over-extend the edges. Press the seams toward the white. Trim the edges flush with your 2” square.

Repeat for the other two sides.

Repeat the above steps adding your 1.5” accent fabric to both sides, and trim flush. Press the seams toward the accent fabric.

Add the other two sides, and trim flush.

Skew two sides of your block a little. Trim less than 1/8” of fabric off of two sides at an angle to the edge of the exiting square unit.

Add the 2” white strip to two sides and trim flush. Press seams toward the white border.

Repeat with the other side.

Lay your 6.5” square ruler on top of your block.

Once you’ve found a pleasing angle, trim two sides, rotate the block, align your ruler to your cut edges and trim the other two sides. Your unfinished block should measure 6.5”