"Buttons and patches and the cold wind blowing,
The days pass quickly when I am sewing"
~Author Unknown

Friday, July 16, 2010

Christmas in July!

Well, it was that time of year again. Christmas in July! Each summer, I celebrate Christmas with the ladies in my quilt group. Now Christmas is July is not a well known thing here in Holland like in America. I have fun bringing these little moments to my Dutch friends.

So I set the table and placed my small Christmas tree with my primitive ornaments on the table. Each year, half of the ladies make a buffet dinner for the group at Christmas in July while the other half will treat us to the dinner for the Christmas party in December. Once again all the food was fabulous!

I had a big surprise this year when Zwarte Piet stopped by to join the party. Funny that this Piet looked like family of our own dear Saskia! *wink* He passed out gifts and stayed for dinner and then said he had to go back to Spain...

This year we have Secret Sisters and brought a little gift for our Secret Sister with only her name on it. The excitement is rising as we guess who our sister is. We will not know until our Christmas party when she gives her sister a handmade gift and reveals herself.

We played games after dinner to win door prizes. Our ages ranging from the 40s through the 80s is no longer relevant when we have a party like this. We are all children once again!

Enjoy the slideshow. It is long but fun to watch I hope.


This year's theme project for Christmas in July was the SinterKlaas quilt I made last December. You can read more about it here.


I wish you all a wonderful weekend and hope you are being creative. Maybe a hot summer's day in July is the perfect day to make someone a Christmas gift?

22 comments:

Jenny said...

Your Christmas in July party looked like such fun Heidi. All your little touches were beautiful. Everyone looked like they were having such fun! I love your tree and the quilt that you made. You are so talented!!!!! What a gift you have for bringing joy to others. Christmas in July must be catching because my Little Red House christmas ornament from Little House Designs just arrived on Tuesday. Hope you have a great weekend. Hugs!

Barb said...

Oh you looked like you all had a wonderful time, and I love your tree. It all looked very well thought out Heidi but then with you involved how could it be anything but Christmas.Nice to put some faces to names but was there one missing?

Nanny Ree said...

The weather here makes it feel more like Christmas rather than July Heidi lol ~ looks like you all had fun Enjoy your weekend Marie x

Carolien said...

Hi Heidi,

How nice to watch the slideshow of the Christmas in July evening! I hope to be there in August. And many thanks for the sweets you gave us (they are long gone by now ;)
First day without a cold today, hurray!
My 'computerwork' is sparse (again) due to problems. My computer is in the repair shop now, even expert André couldn't fix it. To be continued. There will be a loooooot of catching up to do.
Anyway, have a nice weekend!

Hugs & groetjes van ons allemaal,
Carolien

hazel c UK said...

Your Christmas in July party looked so much fun Heidi, Piet really worked hard greeting everyone, I recognise a couple of names but where was Saskia. Your table was beautifully decorated.

Hugs,
Hazel (UK)

p.s. its more like December than July here at the moment.

Margaret said...

What a wonderful gift you give your friends by celebrating Christmas in July with them.

A great slideshow. Everything looked so 'gezellig'.

Have a wonderful weekend.

hugs, Margaret

Sandra Henderson said...

What a wonderful thing to do! I've not heard of this... WOW! I love it!
Oh how nice to have this time with all of your friends. thank you for the photos, I'm going back to look some more. :)

Christine said...

That looked like such fun! Your tree is lovely

Lainey said...

It looks like everyone had great fun at your Christmas in July party Heidi what a wonderful event you organised.

Maggie said...

Your Christmas party looked great fun Heidi and i enjoyed yor slide show :-)

Saskia said...

Zwarte piet, wiede, wiede wiet.
Ik hoor 'em wel, maar zie'm niet...
Great to see, that family from spain arrived just in time. He/she's way more photo geniek... than I am.
Now all our sisters have to work hard, in time to finish a gift for December.

Susan in SC said...

What fun you all must have had! You all have such a lovely time together.

tich said...

What a fun time you had! I used to do a workshop - Christmas in July, and my husband cooked a full Christmas dinner. It was great fun!

Nancy said...

Oh, I wish I would have been there. Saskia is such a nut. What fun that she did that. You can see everyone was surprised and pleased. Your quilt is great too.
Love you, Mom

Marsha said...

How delightful to read about Christmas in July when it is beastly hot here. what fun. I'll be mailing your package in the next day or two as we are home from vacation.

I love the Quaker sampler and the new one from your Mother. I can't wait to see pictures of your new home when that happens

Pondside said...

What a great idea! It looked like a lot of fun - what jolly Black Peter!

Linda said...

What a wonderful gathering, Christmas in July is so fun. Heidi everything looks so pretty and all your friends were having the best time, I really enjoyed the slide show.

Love your JA gift from your sweet mom...just beautiful with the perfect sentiment. I know this piece will bring you much pleasure each time you look at it...hugs, Linda

Tracy said...

Sooo much FUN, Heidi! Felt like we were there with you! Somehow I can't think of Christmas until about October though... LOL! Happy Days :o) ((HUGS))

angelasweby said...

What a lovely slideshow Heidi. It really made me feel quite Christmassy. Your table and tree are beautiful as always and the smiles on everyone's face tells us all we need to know :>)
Hugs Angela

DonnaTN said...

It looks like you had a great Christmas in July! Thanks for sharing your slide show.

Deborah said...

Loved the slide show. Your quilt is beautiful.

Siobhán said...

What fun! It looks like you all had a blast, Heidi. Your extra little touches make everything so homey & special.