It’s hard to believe it, but it’s time for Round 4 of the All the Christmas Quilt along (QAL)! And, I just love these dancing little blocks. With just 3 seams per block, they come together in a flash. Not only that, but these blocks are so much more than “just” peppermints — and I love them as peppermints!
Endless Design Possibilities
If you make them like peppermints, pay close attention to the pattern layout suggestion for the cover quilt. It makes the blocks look like they’re swirling across the quilt like a scene out of the Nutcracker.
However, if you just want to make some scrappy festive blocks like I am for the QAL, featuring a smattering of your favorite Christmas fabrics, then you’ll be all set to sit back, relax, and get lost in the stitching.
Or, if you’re the fussy cutting type, kites make the best kaleidoscope designs! Choose a portion of your fabric to repeat, and watch it make magic once you stitch the blocks together. (Don’t forget that there is an acrylic template set for this very purpose!)
Take Note of Your Preferred Block/Quilt Orientation
These blocks look lovely no matter how you hold them, but they do have two distinct orientations. You can orient them “on point” as I have done in the cover quilt, or you can orient them with the flat side on the top and bottom. The construction of the quilt doesn’t change at all regardless of which you prefer, the difference lies in the final orientation of the quilt, and whether you prefer the quilt to have a top edge.
Take note of the two orientations above. The one on the left is the original, with the peppermint swirl blocks oriented on point. The one on the right is the exact same layout rotated one quarter turn so that the peppermint swirl blocks are oriented with the flat sides parallel with the top edge of the quilt.
Neither make any difference apart from your personal preference.
Just joining the QAL?
As we round the corner on November with Thanksgiving upon us, I hope that you’re starting to feel your Christmas sewjo. We’re in no hurry because this quilt is for you to enjoy. This is officially a “catch up week” for the week of our American Thanksgiving, but it’s also the perfect time to pull your fabric, baste some pieces, and enjoy some stitching over the holiday weekend.
If you’re a bit behind like me, you can find all of the previous posts about the QAL at the link below.
Have you grabbed what you need to make your All the Christmas quilt?
Everything you need to make the All the Christmas quilt is in the shop! The pattern is an instantly downloadable PDF that gets delivered to your inbox, complete with a magazine style layout, inspirational color ways, and a coloring page so you can make your own quilty dreams run wild.
The complete English paper pieces (EPP) kit contains 1000+ papers to make your quilt, for those of you who don’t want to waste any time cutting and jump straight to stitching! (Don’t worry, the pattern contains printable templates if that’s your jam.)
And, the acrylic template set offers you 14 different fussy cutting templates, many of which are very common in EPP so you’ll be able to use them again and again in your EPP journey.
Grab everything you need in my legacy Payhip shop or in my Etsy storefront depending on where you prefer to shop. Click either link below to grab yours!
Just Keep Stitching
That’s it for now! I’ll be back soon with updates for the next round, but in the meantime don’t forget to share your progress on Instagram using the #allthechristmasQAL and tag me @stitchingthejourney so I can see. Happy stitching!
