It's one of my favorite weeks of the year. The Christmas-hoopla and checklists are done. Schedules are more relaxed, there's still plenty of (probably too much) holiday food leftover to munch on, and my family likes football so I have time to sneak away to my sewing room while they're entertained. 🙂 Not as much sewing as I'd hoped but I have been going crazy cutting up my stash of Christmas fabric. Here's how that came about.
I loved this Pixie Noel panel from Riley Blake this year and started cutting out the stars into individual blocks to throw into some patchwork quilts. Got to love a great "cheater print". And this one is so good!
I love the look of stars scattered through patchwork quilts. And so I decided to make a simple patchwork quilt using the cut up printed star blocks. It looked so great up on my design wall that I decided right then to get some more of star panel print to have on hand.
I've seen this Pixie Noel star cheater print along with other Christmas fabrics on good sales this weekend including Sojo Fabric, Simply Love Fabrics, and other shops on ETSY. If you want some, I'd recommend grabbing some now as it might be pretty hard to find by next year.
AND THEN... I figured while I was at it, why not just cut up my ridiculous stash of Christmas fabric in to patchwork squares and have these cut and ready to mass produce simple and cute Christmas quilts this year.
I have been accumulating Christmas fabric for a few years now and just not being as productive as I'd hoped by the time I got around to doing something with all of it. It's all just been sitting in this tub. (Laundry tub from Ikea.)
And since I've also been in the mood to purge, now was the perfect moment to take action. So I'm cutting all of the big chunks into patchwork squares.
I ended up cutting the star print from the panel into 5 ¾" x 5 ¾" blocks. So I'm also cutting a stack of 5 ¾" x 5 ¾" squares to make simple patchwork quilts with the stars mixed in.
The second stack I'm cutting is 5" x 5" squares. This way they're perfect and ready to go for any Charm Pack-friendly quilt pattern. For example, this Christmas Patchwork Plaid quilt from Maker Valley has been on my "to-make" list for a few years now. I'm going to get all of the squares for a couple of these quilts pulled and ready to sew when I need a quick project.
So that's what's happening in my sewing room right now. Not much sewing, but lots and LOTS of cutting. I'm excited to be able to have projects ready to sew and go - and to put all of this Christmas stash to work, finally!
One other project update: I guess I did a tiny bit of sewing. I sewed borders on my Liberty Woodland Christmas quilt and pieced a back using a really nice woven/flannel plaid from JoAnn's Plaiditude collection. I'm ready to take it to Sew Shabby Quilting to do her thing. If you're looking for any of the Liberty Woodland Christmas, it's also marked down this weekend in a bunch of Etsy shops. (Sorry for being such an enabler...)
Last thing - you may have noticed a website update! That's also been happening behind the scenes around here. As with all things technology, it may take a few days to work out the bugs, but if you're having issues with any bad links, etc. don't hesitate to let us know! We want this updated site to be easy to navigate and find all of the things you're looking for. After 14 years of blogging, there's definitely A LOT to go through! 😅
Thanks so much for all of your support over these past 14+ years! It's been such a blessing to connect with so many other quilt-loving folks. ❤ I'm excited to see what 2023 brings!
Mary B
I love the cheater fabric. I'll have to get some. At least I'll know that all my star points will end up perfect. LOL!! Congrats! on 14 years. I love reading your blog.
Amy
Thank you, Mary. ❤ And Hah! I had the same thought! Perfect (no work!) stars! Everyone who's walked in my sewing room totally thought they were pieced. (Yes.)
Penny
I so enjoyed reading your bog today, Amy. Thank you for sharing all you do. I have been cutting scraps after each project into 21/2" sq, 21/2"x41/2", 21/"2x81/2" and 41/2" sq. I think that is the lumber yard cutting I learned at a class. I've made a couple cute table runners juggling the pieces to make different blocks. I do cut some 5x5, too, to put with leftover charm squares and sometimes 21/2" strips. I guess the technique you use depends on how you like to use them. The 5"x5" car be very versatile too. I love the quick baby quilt idea as we have a bunch of great nieces having babies right now. Happy New Year!
Amy
That sounds like an excellent system!
Karen VR
I had to buy the who Pixie Noel Bundle and one of Tasha Noel’s pattern’s to go with it. I am just smitten with the whole line!
dondim
Thank you yet again! I just ordered my cheater panel. I have a hard time thinking of anyone who could not love anything Tasha Noel makes.
Claire Grantham
I only found you in 2022 and your tips have been invaluable as I branch out into fancier quilting. Happy new year and congrats on 14 years! That's hard work. I've been blogging for 12 and it takes dedication xx
Amy
Thank you, Claire! I'm so glad the site has been helpful. And congrats to you too! Blogging is a lot of work! 😅