I love Christmas! I love the traditions and joy of the whole season. And in 2020, I love that people are embracing Christmas just a bit sooner than usual. One tradition that we do in our family is to countdown to the Big Day with books! On Thanksgiving, I individually wrap 25 (well, honestly it's over 50 now...) Christmas-themed books. Then each night before bed, the boys pick a couple to unwrap, and we read them for bedtime stories. We usually have an activity-based activity Advent calendar too. I really love the anticipation that the Advent calendar builds!
So imagine my delight when Jen of Faith & Fabric announced she had designed an Advent quilt! I immediately knew this needed to be in my future! I jumped at the chance to make a block as part of her blog hop to celebrate the launch!
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The Jesse Tree Quilt has 25 quilt blocks, making it perfect to use as an Advent calendar/countdown to Christmas! When you purchase the pattern, you also get 25 devotions to go with the blocks! This makes the quilt something to cherish for years to come as you revisit the devotions to prepare for Christmas each year!
If you have a couple hours of sewing time each day between now and Christmas, you could make one block each day as this year's countdown!
I committed to just one block for now. I started with the Bethlehem Star - day 23. I searched through my stash for some fabrics, and after much hemming and hawing, I finally picked this combo. The selvage on the blue fabric says "Silent Night by Sentimental Studios for Moda." It's been in my stash for several years! The solid white and solid buttercup yellow are both Kona.
I had the perfect 50wt Aurifil thread to match too! #2105 Champagne, #2021 Natural White, and #2725 Light Wedgewood. I used the Champagne to do all the piecing of the block.
I also got to use my new ruler to do the trimming! (I just got it last week!) (Available here, but it's similar in size to this one.) The size was perfect for trimming smaller pieces!
The pieces went together quickly, though it did become a bit tricky when joining them together. I would not recommend the pattern for beginners, but if you have paper piecing experience, then you can do it!
I'm so pleased with how the star block turned out! I was even able to keep the background fabric all going the same direction!
It has a few bulky seams, but nothing my Juki couldn't handle.
Be sure to follow Faith & Fabric on Facebook or Instagram to see the blocks she's made! She's been sharing the blocks made by other people too, so you can see how they all turn out! And get your copy of the Jesse Tree Quilt pattern so you can make your own!
Here are some other bloggers that have made blocks for their own Jesse Tree quilt too!
Do you have any fun traditions to help you countdown to Christmas?
I love the idea of the books. Now I wonder if I can convince someone to do that for me, but actually wrap fabric. LOL
ReplyDeleteOh, I like the idea of having a new book every day and wrap it with fabric!! Two loves at once.
ReplyDeleteHi there! Nice stuff, do keep me posted when you post again something like this! photographe publicitaire
ReplyDeleteNow you're going to add a wedge cut. This will look like a small slice of orange. This will be either on the top or the bottom of the first horizontal cut you made. You can put a stick on the other side of the cut to make sure it is a straight wedge. Tree Removal
ReplyDelete