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Christmas in July, Then and Now

Hi Quilting Friends,

Welcome to the “Christmas in July, Then and Now” blog hop, hosted by our quilting friend Carol at “Just Let Me Quilt”! We’re excited to share our Christmas projects with you, and to visit the rest of the participating bloggers.

We’ve decided to revisit each of our previous Christmas designs today, and tell you a bit about the inspiration for the pattern series! Here are our “Quilts of Christmas Past”!

2016- Santa’s Little Helpers

Santa's Helpers Christmas 2017 by Ms P Designs USA

This design features Santa (elephant) who appears to have over-indulged in the cookies again! Of course, Santa needs a little help to prepare for the “Big Night”, so the elves (raccoon, giraffe, bear, and horse) are assisting!

Susan was inspired to start with our popular elephant applique, and then dress him up as Santa Claus. The elf helpers were also based upon several of our popular animal applique designs.

2017- The Nutcracker Ballet

Christmas Nutcracker Animals made by Susan (2017) from Ms P Designs USA

Each year in December, the Houston Ballet presents “The Nutcracker“. We love to attend the performance, listen to the delightful music, and watch the dancers in their sparkling costumes. Can’t you almost hear the strains of Tchaikovsky’s brilliant score?

Animal ballerinas took center stage in Ms P’s production of “The Nutcracker Ballet”! It was fun to embellish their colorful costumes with sparkling crystals. Hanging ornaments complement the dancers on this fun quilt!

  • Sugarplum Zebra Dancer by Ms P Designs USA
  • Christmas Ornaments 4 by Ms P Designs USA
  • Christmas Ornaments 1 by Ms P Designs USA

2018- Victorian Mouse Christmas

Merry Mousy Christmas Tree Skirt 2018 by Ms P Designs USA

Enjoy a visit to Victorian times with a merry Mouse family! Everyone is excited, and preparations for the Christmas celebration are underway. Christmas carolling, shopping, and bringing in the Christmas tree are all part of the festivities, and the mice are having a wonderful time together.

Our Victorian Christmas designs were inspired by little handmade felt mice that Susan sold at craft fairs, back in the ’90’s, as well as the Victorian homes from the 1890’s. Sharon decided to make a Christmas tree skirt for this year’s project, because she wasn’t excited about making another wall hanging or quilt.

  • Kid Mice with Christmas Tree by Ms P Designs USA
  • Papa and Girl Caroling Mice by Ms P Designs USA
  • Mama and Boy Caroling Mice by Ms P Designs USA
  • Teen Shopping Mice by Ms P Designs USA
  • Welcome to My House TR B Ms P Designs USA
  • Welcome to My House TR A Ms P Designs USA

2019- “Pieces of Christmas”

Pieces of Christmas by Ms P Designs USA

This quilt is called “Pieces of Christmas”, a traditional pieced design that is fun to make with pretty Christmas prints.

We decided to create a few pieced quilt designs to add some variety to our pattern selection, since most of our previous designs focused upon applique, and this is one of the resulting quilts. We’ve learned a lot about quick precision piecing techniques over the years, so the pattern directions include those modern techniques.

  • Endless Chain Variation 2 by Ms P Designs USA
  • Endless Chain Variation 1 by Ms P Designs USA
  • Hidden Star Variation by Ms P Designs USA
  • Christmas Star Variation by Ms P Designs USA
  • Circling Geese by Ms P Designs USA

2019- “Ugly Sweater Contest”

Ugly Christmas Sweaters by Ms P Designs USA

The “Ugly Sweater Contest” has become a popular theme at Christmas parties for the last few years. Everyone wears their ugliest holiday sweater, and there’s often a competition for valuable prizes. What fun!

We decided to share our idea of how these “party animals” might participate in an ugly sweater contest, in conjunction with our first “12 Days of Christmas” blog event! We each created several small projects that featured the “Ugly Sweater” animals, and we had a lot of fun hosting the event. (Spoiler Alert- Look for another “12 Days of Christmas” event, coming Dec 1-12)

  • Ugly Sweater Bear by Ms P Designs USA
  • Ugly Sweater Beaver by Ms P Designs USA
  • Ugly Sweater Fox by Ms P Designs USA
  • Ugly Sweater Owl by Ms P Designs USA
  • Ugly Sweater Raccoon by Ms P Designs USA

2019- Christmas Stockings

Susan ventured away from our usual quilt designs and created these adorable felt applique Christmas stocking patterns. They are fun to make, with lots of sparkly sequins and touches of embroidery. She has several additional stocking patterns in her design queue; sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss their releases!

2020 – “Christmas Cheer”

Christmas Cheer Quilt by Ms P Designs USA

Santa and the gang are cheerfully preparing for Christmas Eve! This year’s Christmas design features eight tiny reindeer, happy elves, plus Santa (and the Mrs!). Rudolf is ready to guide the sleigh!

This design was inspired by traditional Christmas songs and stories, and combines our love for Christmas fabric, traditional pieced designs, and whimsical applique.

  • Santa with Presents by Ms P Designs USA
  • Mrs. Santa Claus by Ms P Designs USA
  • Nice List Elf by Ms P Designs USA
  • Joy of Giving Elf by Ms P Designs USA
  • Jingle Bell Elf by Ms P Designs USA
  • Handstand Elf by Ms P Designs USA
  • Gift Lifting Elf by Ms P Designs USA
  • Candy the Elf by Ms P Designs USA
  • Santa's Reindeer by Ms P Designs USA
  • Rudolf by Ms P Designs USA
  • Christmas Cheer Wild Goose Chase by Ms P Designs USA

An Early Christmas Gift, Just for YOU!

Sharon's 4-patch Christmas quilt with Rowdy; Ms P Designs USA

Make your own scrappy Christmas quilt with our easy pattern, as shown in the picture above. Even Rowdy is excited about this pretty, scrappy quilt. Click the button below to purchase the pattern.

Thank you for visiting today! We hope that you’ve enjoyed seeing our Christmas projects, then and now! Did you see something that made you smile? Leave a comment! We love to hear from you.

Happy quilting!

Ms P


Today’s Blog Links!

See the complete blog hop list at Just Let Me Quilt!


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34 thoughts on “Christmas in July, Then and Now

  1. This is just a beautiful collection of Christmas quilts that you have shared. Thanks also for sharing the pattern with us.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. This was such fun to scroll through Christmas “then and now.” Wow, you’ve definitely created some amazing quilts over the years! The carolers are my favorite, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love all the rest…like the overindulging elephant. LOL…love him! You both are incredible in all you do! Thank you for sharing all this beautiful Christmas inspiration. xo

    Liked by 1 person

  3. What fun it is to scroll through the Christmas quilts of past and present! And thank you for the free pattern. I think Christmas Cheer is my favorite!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Thanks for taking time to share inspiration with us. Each quilt is as cute as it can be. Thanks for the free pattern. Merry Christmas in July to you!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. I loved your Christmas parade!! LOL I especially love the ugly sweater animals. They are my fave, along with the Christmas stockinsgs! Thanks for sharing.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Wow! So many wonderful projects. Excellent. I’m not so good at Christmas sewing except for stockings. Thanks for the Christmas quilt pattern – you’re very generous.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I just love the Pieces of Christmas quilt. The Ugly Sweater Quilt made me smile. Thanks for the Christmas quilt pattern.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. what wonderful projects. I especially love those mice. Thank you for the pattern. I will have to give this a try. I have plenty of Christmas scraps. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Thanks so much for the free download. Every one of your Christmas projects is cuter than the last one! I always like seeing what you are working on next. =)

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Oh My! Your parade of quilts certainly made me smile with all the fun whimsical creatures! Oh those ugly sweaters! 😄. Thanks for the smiles and sharing a fun new pattern. It’s on the Must Do List from this hop!

    Liked by 1 person

  11. I enjoy all your designs–your applique makes me happy–can’t help smiling. Thanks for sharing the scrappy Christmas quilt pattern with us!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. I wish I knew how you two get so much done. I need that secret… I fail with time. Maybe I’ve just gotten slower over the years. Anyway as always amazing projects, and it’s good to know you’ll be doing 12 days again this year. I’ll be doing it to. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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