It's a Christmas Quilt-a-long at Quilting Gallery!

Michele over at QuiltingGallery is hosting her first ever "Quilt-a-long" and it is going to be a fabulous event!! Click the logo above and check out the info. There will special deals and designer profiles and so much more. There will be a total of 36 blocks by 36 designers that you can make!!!  And I am honored to be one of them.

My day is October 18th and I have a Joyful block planned for that day. 

And yes, there's a hint in that word Joyful. :-) 

The Quilt-a-long started on September 13th. I'm a bit late with my notice of the event because I got busy stitching and here's the result.......

Block one was designed by Pat*Sloan and I made it this past Tuesday.........

I am using fabrics that Jacquelynne from The*Noble*Wife sent me. They are from her fabric line Joy*Love*Peace*Noel and they are going to be perfect. I can already tell!!!  The polka dots in the line were just what I wanted for Pat Sloan's block. This was an easy block if one follows the directions. I got so excited to make it that I did not read the instructions carefully. That's right. I made the half-square triangles just like Pat instructs in her pattern but I didn't trim them to 3.5 inches square. And guess what? When you don't trim them, the block does not go together right. I knew I had done something wrong but thought it was my quarter inch seams and that if I just had a new sewing machine, I would have sewn the block right. Wrong! I ripped seams, restitched, trimmed, etc. etc. and finally got the 12-1/2" block I was supposed to get. And then when I was putting away the pattern........I noticed the part about "trim to 3.5 inches". Oh, boy, put me in the corner right now! LOL! I love the little basket which is similar to the one in her pattern Baby*Baskets which I'm going to make during her Quilt-a-long later this month. Thinking plaids for that project..............but back to Christmas blocks...........
and so, yesterday, I made the second block which was designed by Jennifer at All*Things*Belle ..............

I just love the snowflake prints and they were perfect for Jennifer's block design. I fussy-cut the little squares in the four-patch sections and again....perfect for this project! I had a bit of trouble with the paper-piecing but sent an e-mail to Jennifer and got some help. I switched the position of the mittens for my block but otherwise it is made just like her block. 

And, try as I might, I always seem to have a wonky seam here and there. I have it in both blocks. I really do think that if I had a new machine that I could make these blocks so much better. :-)  Soon..........

I have my fabrics ready and am anxious to start the next block. Next up is Melissa, so I'm going to stroll over to her blog at Lilac*Lane and see what she has designed for today........I'm sure I'll be cutting fabrics as you read this. :-)
Back soon.......Christmas blocks go on the back burner for the weekend.......Halloween stuff coming up! Have a great day!

Sandi