Christmas in July

Have you ever thought from where Christmas in July originates?

To be honest, I have always thought it came from the Southern Hemisphere. Recently, I did a search and according to this link, it originates from France! Did you know? I didn't!

The month of July is usually the time I start making Christmas items for gifts etc. 

Last year, I prepped some dogs and cats themed mug rugs, using scraps from my stash. (I forgot to add them to my UFO list). I have finished quite some big quilts (so far) this year, it feels good working on something small, like quilting the mug rugs (even if that can be a bit tedious).

I have three Christmas UFOs I hope to finish / make progress.

The first two, I hope to finish before Christmas so that I can display them on the wall.

  Kris Kringle Kit - Teresa Kogut (UFO #19)

Christmas Card holder (UFO #4)

The pattern is in French - UGH! I'll get it done, eventually! 

Scrappy Christmas Stars (UFO #3)

Or should I say ongoing project? I have done 3 blocks only. I shall see if more can be done this month.

It's raining this a.m., showers with gusts up to 56 miles/h (90 km/h) is predicted today. I hope there will be some dry spells so I can do some grocery shopping later. 

 

Coffee with Dad - RSC Finish

...as the title says; Coffee with Dad is finished! 

UFO #26 on my UFO/WIP list 2026

Actually I finished it in May, but didn't take photos at that time.   

An easy and fun quilt to make! 

Drums, daffodils, black cat and colorful gecko

Yellow cat

Geckoes and sunflowers

The pink cat, and favorite coffee batik

Yes, I love cats! It was fun to rediscover some of the fussy cut fabrics for the cups.

Pieced backing

It was difficult to get the colors right. I took the photos in the shade on the porch. The bottom looks a bit washed out compared to the top that have more the right colors. 

I've had this teapots / teacups fabric for years. The idea was to make some table quilts (table runners, placemats, tea cozy etc) which never happened. I had saved it because it was 'too pretty to cut'! lol Well, I just had to trim it a bit to fit the backing.

...and yes, I did incorporate the broken handle cup to the back! 😃

The binding is an 'old' black and white animal print I found in my stash.

First blocks made: January 2025 (RSC)

Flimsy: March 2026

Finished: May 8, 2026

Size: 60 x 83 inches / 153 x 210 cm

All fabrics from my stash

Pattern: Quiltmaker May/June 2022

Other UFO Finishes 2026, take a look here

Swirling Stars - An RSC Finish

Swirling Stars (UFO #11) has moved from my UFOs/WIPs list to Finished UFOs. 

My goal was to finish it by end of February. That didn't happen due to delayed thread order.

The thread was finally delivered on March 25!

It took me some time to decide how to quilt this one. Simple FMQ (Free-Motion-Quilting) is the easiest and fastest, but it doesn't always 'fit' a quilt.

For this one, I went for custom quilting each block. I didn't have a plan fully in my head when I started, it was like 'quilt it as you go and see what happens' on the first big block. I liked how the first block turned out, but knew it would take some hours quilting all the blocks. 

All straight seams, 3/4" in between each seam. 

The small HSTs are outlined.

I don't remember when I purchased this 108" wide backing. I find it perfect for this colorful quilt. 

The binding is red and white gingham.

Finished size: Approximately 67 x 89 inches / 170 x 226 cm

First block made: January 2023

Flimsy: January 27, 2026 

Started quilting: Beginning February 2026

Finished: March 27, 2026

Hours of machine quilting + burying thread tails: 115 hours

Thread used: 

King Tut: 902, 911, 942, 955, 956, 959, 997, 990, 1001, 1018, 1029, 1034.

MasterPiece: 152 (bobbin thread)

Free PDF pattern from FQS