Summer Comfort and Joy

I thought it would never get here, but summer has finally arrived!  Remember last July when I was lamenting the fact that teachers had to go back to school for inservice in the last week of July and that kids started right at the beginning of August?  Well, here's the payoff.  Our last day of school was yesterday, while I know that some places are in school for a few more weeks.  There is nothing like the feeling of walking out of the school for the last time of the school year!

It was fun to wind down last night by finishing up my Christmas quilt.  You know, I thought that it felt a little weird to use Christmas fabrics in May, but I have to say that it felt even more strange trying to take photos of a Christmas quilt when it's blazing hot outside.  The quilt just felt out of place.  So do me a favor and imagine that the quilt has a snowy backdrop instead of blooming roses.

My new favorite pieced backing method is to buy half yard cuts of fabrics, and save a quarter yard of each print for the backing.  I've been loving the bold stripes, and I really love that there is virtually no waste.  I also love that I don't have to search out a single fabric that compliments the front.  This quilt is 60x64" finished, and for a quilt of this size, I usually use about 14 different fabrics.  That works out perfectly for piecing the backing this way as well.

I've named this one Comfort and Joy.  Of course, it's a nod to the carol God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, which is one of my favorites, but also representative of what a quilt can bring to its recipient.

And frankly, I'm feeling plenty of Comfort and Joy myself now that school is out!   I love it when things work out like that!