Stitchin At Home: Christmas in July

I now have a pillow for my Christmas decorating, I know shocking right. It took this blog hop to accomplish something I've been meaning to do for the past few years...ugh yes I said years. But it is done and best of all you can add some 'Joy' to your holidays too as the pattern is free. Thanks to Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict for hosting the '12 Days of Christmas in July' blog hop and giving me the push to finally make a Christmas pillow or maybe it's a wall hanging.

'Joy' wall hanging

pillow cover nice and crinkly after a wash

The hop runs from July 14th to the 25th. Make sure to visit all the blogs participating the schedule is at the end of this post. Make sure to leave a comment as Sarah is counting them for an extra special giveaway, you can read more about it on her blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

The pattern is for the pillow front or a wall hanging if you prefer. Either way have fun and add a little 'Joy' to your Christmas decorating. As you can see in the above photo I used three different greys for the background.

pillow front

Makes an 18'' x 18'' finished pillow front or wall hanging.

Fabric Requirements

Chevrons:

1/4 yard of each a light, light medium and medium grey.

Snowman:

A variety of larger scrap pieces work well.

The snowman can be made from a 10'' square, the letters from (2) 8'' squares.

Cutting for the chevrons/ flying geese:

Traditional Method:

A(light) cut (3) - 5 1/8'' x 5 1/8'' cut diagonally once

B( lt medium) cut (3) - 5 1/8'' x 5 1/8'' cut diagonally once

C(medium) cut (3) - 5 1/8'' x 5 1/8'' cut diagonally once

A(light) cut (6) - 3 7/8'' x 3 7/8'' cut diagonally once

B( lt. medium) cut (6) - 3 7/8'' x 3 7/8'' cut diagonally once

C(medium) cut (6) - 3 7/8'' x 3 7/8'' cut diagonally once

The Snowman Applique pieces are cut using the templates supplied. If you are doing turned edge applique remember to add a 1/4'' to the template pieces before cutting them out. The pieces are reversed and can be downloaded in the PDF on Craftsy.

Background:

Use a 1/4'' seam allowance.

Traditional Method

Step 1:

Sew one small triangle (B) to one diagonal edge of the large triangle (A); press toward the small triangle. See diagram 1.

diagram 1

Sew the second small triangle (B) to the other diagonal edge of the large triangle (A) to make a flying-goose unit; press toward the small triangle. See diagram 1.

This makes one 3 1/2'' x 6 1/2'' goose. Make (6) BA units.

Step 2:

Repeat using small triangle (C) and large triangle (B). Make (6) CB units.

Repeat using small triangle (A) and large triangle (C). Make (6) AC units.

Step 3:

Join 3 BA units, see diagram 2. Make 2.

diagram 2

Repeat using 3 CB units. Make 2.

Repeat using 3 AC units. Make 2.

Step 4:

Join as per diagram 3.

diagram 3

This completes the background.

Applique Snowman:

Use your favourite method for applique. Instructions follow for fused machine stitched applique.

Fusible Applique Method:

Step 1:

I like Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 because it leaves less weight in the finished product and it's a double sided fusible. Trace your pattern on the side of the paper where the fusible adheres to the paper more strongly (usually one side of the paper releases more easily than the other - trace on the side that does not release easily).

On the larger pieces, less fusible is needed making the finished center more pliable.

To do this, take your original tracing, and cut from the inside, approx 1/4" inside the traced line. Rough cut beyond the traced line on the outside of the fusible. See diagram 4 as an example of the letter 'J'.