Can you believe that July is almost over? This summer is going by in a flash! As of today, we have five months and two days to Christmas, so we might want to get to some projects now to finish with time to relax and enjoy the holiday season. With that in mind, I have planned a couple of fun ideas for your sewing pleasure! I’ll show you a quick wall hanging, then a round up of some past projects you can use as gifts. Then, we’ll have a fun blog hop for more projects!

First, let’s begin with a wall hanging that is fast and easy using part of a door panel. I really didn’t need a door panel, so I cut it apart and it became a set of three table runners or wall hangings. Today’s tutorial will show you how to make the square one into a wall hanging or table topper.

I auditioned fabrics to put with the truck panel. This was the best red, and I love the adorable mitten print. The colors in it were a perfect match, bringing in some black to pick up the black check ribbon in the panel.

I trimmed the section to be square, then measured it. Then, I trimmed it to an even number plus a half inch, which will make the math for the borders easy. It came out at 24-1/2-inches square.

I need twelve squares per side for the inner border. I only wanted to use these three prints, so I cut long strips at 2-1/2-inches wide, then sewed them together. Cross cutting at 2-1/2-inches gives me some sets of three to speed up the border piecing.

Because the total number wasn’t divisible by 3, the squares wouldn’t work out to alternate them all the way around the top. So, I put a fourth dark green print in the corners. Then I added a black background dotted print as an outer border. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that the border across the top was oriented differently until after I had finished it and was looking at these pictures. Ah well.

I had plenty of the cute mitten print to do the backing on the topper.

I loaded it on the longarm with Warm and Natural batting.

It was quilted with a sage green Glide thread on top, and Bottom Line in the bobbin. The pantograph is the only holiday one I have, called Deck the Halls by Urban Elementz. It has bells and holly, but I put in loops instead of the curlicues it has, just for ease of quilting. I don’t do that well with backtracking on pantographs.

Quilting went smoothly, and the thread color disappears nicely over the motifs.

It adds a bit of texture and pattern to the background white.

I bound it in the same mitten print and this will make it reversible too. It is a quick and easy project for giving as a gift or enjoying in your home.

Here are a few more ideas on other posts. If you’d like to try your hand at my original design Dimensional Christmas Ornaments, my tutorial was posted on the MadamSew blog this month, too. These dimensional ornaments can be made any size you like, and will help find a use for those buttons you’ve been saving too. While you are there, check out MadamSew’s great new finds, special offers and clearance deals.

Now, for some gift ideas. All these are linked to the tutorials right here on my blog. Do you have a quilter on your gift list?  This Sewing Kit is easy to make, has no hand sewing, and can be used for jewelry too!  The link has a full tutorial.

Sew a quick, four block table topper from my post last year. Tree Bell Table Topper.

Make a Christmas Nine Patch Star runner. Or do it in other colors for every day use.

And one more design for you, my original runner design from a Christmas Quilt Along in 2015. I reworked it into a single post with a pdf download for Christmas In July last year.

Giving Gifts From The Kitchen comes from the heart. This post has my Double Dutch Chocolate Brownie mix recipe with a downloadable pdf of the recipe, along with a few more, and printable gift tags. It also has a recipe for grilling herb and spice mix for the guys.

A wool penny rug is quick to finish, and this Christmas one is my original design. See the post for the free pdf pattern – Christmas Wool Applique.

From my Autumn Jubilee event, this Tablet Cover is versatile and great for anyone who has a tablet. Made up in black and grey would be wonderful for guys, just use your favorite 8-inch block, or follow the directions for this one.

Small Christmas stitchery projects can be made into ornaments with just a bit of sewing time. If you don’t have handwork to frame like this, use your embroidery machine to stitch out some Christmas motifs. See my post on Christmas Stitchery with Ideas for Finishing for more ways to make ornaments from your handwork or machine embroidery.

If you can do letters with your machine, words make wonderful ornaments too, like these Christmas Ornaments. Plus there are more ideas for crafty ornaments on that post, using cookie cutters and more.

One last idea, my Christmas Hexagonal Table Topper free pattern is on this post – Christmas Hexagonal Table Topper.

Ready to hop for more fun? I am joining Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for her Christmas in July blog hop. Sarah is hosting along with doing a quilt along for a pretty Christmas quilt. See her blog for all the quilt along posts. All the posts above mine are active now, and the last two will publish over this coming weekend.

Wednesday, July 14th
Joy of Days Filled With Joy – mug rug

Thursday, July 15th
Moira of The Quilted Snail – bowl cozy

Friday, July 16th
Jamie of L’Fair Quilts – placemats

Saturday, July 17th
Bonnie of In Stitches With Bonnie – ornaments and cookies

Sunday, July 18th
Joanne of Everyone Deserves a Quilt – table runner

Monday, July 19th
Kate of Katie Mae Quilts – table runner
Shasta of High Road Quilter – no project, pics of her gift quilts

Tuesday, July 20th
Vicki of Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting – snowman wall hanging

Wednesday, July 21st
Leanne of The Devoted Quilter – EPP Star

Thursday, July 22nd
Kathy of Kathy’s Kwilts and More – Easy Christmas Table Runner
Sandra of Musings of a Menopausal Melon – Modern Christmas Star

Friday, July 23rd
Carole of From My Carolina Home – You are here!

Saturday, July 24th
Joanne of Everyone Deserves a Quilt (Part 2) – Quilt

Sunday, July 25th
Karrin of Karrin’s Crazy World – Table Runner and Ornament

One last bit of Christmas fun!! My own Christmas Pattern Parade hop from last year is still up and active for you to see lots of quilt ideas – traditional, modern and small projects.

Are you ready to start some Christmas or Holiday sewing? Do you make your holiday gifts?