Christmas Caroling Row A Long - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Hello Everyone!

I hope that you are having a great time doing the Christmas Caroling Row Along Blog Hop! 
Thank you Marian Pena of Seams to be Sew for hosting the hop and for all the work that you have done!  Thank you also to Northcott Fabrics for the lovely fabric that you have donated to us to use in our rows.

I chose the Christmas Carol "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" for my row.  I really loved the chorus - "O Tidings of Comfort and Joy".  In doing research for the Christmas Carol, I found this fifth verse from 1775 which I really liked.

Now to the Lord sing praises,

All you within this place

Like we true loving brethren,

Each other to embrace,

For the merry time of Christmas

Is coming on a-pace.

I pictured Victorian carolers gathering in town singing and spreading love to all who heard them.

I usually use Electric Quilt to do my designing.  This is the first time that I created appliques using this program.  It was both challenging and fun for me.  I hope that you like it.  I did this row using fusible applique, but you could also do it with hand applique or whatever is your favorite method.  I wanted to add some architectural detail to the houses, so I used some of the decorative stitches on my sewing machine.  I added a feather stitch to my holly leaves and hand embroidered a wreath on one of the front doors.  You can have a lot of fun just deciding exactly how you would like to finish this row.  Keep it simple or go wild!

I decided that I would like to finish this row as a wall hanging and put a border on it that kind of looked like a frame, but still keeping a little Victorian feel to it.  This is what I came up with.

Click here for my pattern

This is a real easy border to do.  It just uses squares and rectangles.  I have included this finished border instructions in my pattern. 

This is the fabric that I got from Northcott.  The red, green and white were from the Toscana line. 9020-26, 9020-781 &
9020-10.  The wood grain looking fabric was from Hurry Up Santa 21712-11.
My background was also a Northcott, but it was from last year.  They have one with the same print, but a different blue from the Magic of Christmas 21701-44 which would work well.


There are also giveaways during our Christmas Caroling Row Along!

Inspired LED Sewing Machine Light (2 Lights 2 Winners)

Shipping Is Anywhere / Shipping Cost must be paid by winner. ---- (Need Converter for 220 Volts)
Value $30.00 each / Total $60.00
Description Link: http://www.seamstobesew.com/?p=13539
Links To Actual Products Found On Description Page At Marian's Blog
Starts September 12, 2017 / Ends September 19, 2017
Sponsor URL: http://www.inspiredled.com/
http://www.inspiredled.com/sewing-machine-led-lighting-kit

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You will find additional giveaways that were generously donated by Northcott Fabrics and Calibre Art on Marian's Blog.

Here are the bloggers that are sharing the day with me:

Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Sew Incredibly Crazy
Masterpiece Quilting
Sugarlane Designs

You can find the rules and guidelines for the giveaways here on Marian's blog

Happy Sewing and Happy Hopping

Jean

Greetings!

Wishing you and your Family peace, joy and love during this holiday season!

Jean

Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum

I finally got a chance to visit the Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum in Lancaster, PA in May.  I had gone, of course, to see the Amish Quilt Collection.  But to my surprise, they also had an exhibit of Christmas scenes depicting living rooms from the 1800's through 1970's.  They replicated a typical living room as it would have been decorated from that time period.  It was very interesting.  You could tell the era as you looked at the room, before even reading the sign.  I really enjoyed it.

Of course, this was just a sampling of what they had displayed.

Afterwards, it was on to the quilts!  The Amish Quilt Collection is from the 19th-20th century and was formerly know as "the Esprit Collection".  Doug Tompkins, a founder of the Esprit Corporation, began collecting the finest Amish quilts he could find during the 1970's.  The Heritage Center acquired the collection in 2002.  It is a wonderful collection and I am happy to share some of my favorites with you.

If you ever get a chance to get to the Lancaster area, be sure to stop by the museum.  It was such a wonderful place to see!  For more information you can check out their website.

Happy Sewing,
Jean