All About Christmas fabric has delivered and is in a shop near you. Find a list of retailers in my last blog post here.
This collection is beautiful! It includes the Christmas story from Luke 2 making it VERY Christmas-y and we especially love those details. In addition, the printing quality is wonderful thank you to our fabric partners at Riley Blake Designs.
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So, here we go with another little Sew-A-Long. This time it will be a mini. The two items that we will be sharing over the three weeks are,
Our three large snowman blocks (row 4)
Reverse raw edge appliqué blocks (rows 1 & 5)
This week we will be looking at number 2, reverse raw edge fusible appliqué for the ornament blocks. The snowflake blocks are done the same way only much less detail so we will be focusing on row one.
Do you have your pattern and fabric ready? If not, visit this link to find a shop.
Are you ready to sew?! Let’s go! According to the All About Christmas pattern instructions, it is important ‘To Get Started’ by cutting fabrics for the large snowmen blocks FIRST. This assures that you will have the larger fabric cuts set aside when you need them. Follow the cover art for the fabric choices and make cuts according to the pattern instruction page(s) and directional fabrics. If you are new to the technique of reverse raw edge appliqué I highly suggest reading the pattern in it’s entirety before starting or cutting into your fabrics.
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Since some of our designs for this quilt were stencil-like with white as the main center image (see the snowflake and ornament rows), we selected this reverse appliqué technique. Often with appliqué we will use a second interfacing product to mask the background fabric from showing through our white however, we found this to be a better option for the ornament and snowflake blocks on this quilt. The photos below will offer a visual aid so-to-speak to support this explanation.
Once you’ve cut your fabric squares for blocks in Rows 1 and 5, you can begin tracing the designs onto your fusible web product according to manufacturers directions. We like Pellon Featherweight Fusible 805. Be sure to trace all of the pieces that make up the inside ornament designs before fusing. You will be using those to help your fabric remain as a continual image. Fuse to wrong side of fabric considering whether your fabric square will be using a directional print and align accordingly.
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When you go to cut out the ornament rounds, be careful not to cut through the outside square itself or those tiny pieces. You can see at the bottom of our ornament photo below where we began poking the scissors through to cut around the perimeter only. This way, when the traced ornament is removed, your background stays completely intact. Then cut your smaller (traced beforehand) pieces and set them aside somewhat in order, or you can number them if that helps.
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Once all of your ornament pieces are cut out you are ready to fuse. Sandwich the colored fabric silhouette squares on top of your Riley White squares that will show from underneath. You can place the pattern flipped upside down (since already in reverse) beneath your layered fabrics to use as your placement guide. Or, another method that we like to use, is a tracing paper door, as we call it. The photos below plus this link will explain. Simply put, we trace the block template image(s) onto ordinary tracing paper and pin down on one side of your block to help with accurate placement in the event the paper pattern does not show through your fabric. We also found that using tweezers was the easiest way to then nudge the tiny pieces into place. When you get them where you like, fuse!
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Here are our results. Now for the fun part, stitching them down. I will be using thread to match and a blanket style stitch. I find both are somewhat forgiving. You may choose to use any number of decorative stitching to add these details if you prefer over these tiny appliqué pieces. This is where your sewing skills will shine beyond my limited experience so please, send progress photos! And have fun of course 😉
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I hope you had fun sewing along with me! If you have any questions about this technique, leave a comment below! See you next week for the BIG snowmen blocks.
Since there is a lot of info to cover this last week will be in two parts.
Assuming that everyone has all of their blocks completed and trimmed or will have, it is time to assemble!
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To start assembling the quilt portion, I cut five one and a half inch strips of Riley White fabric for the short sashing pieces. Check your pattern for accurate amounts if you want to cut all at once. I inched my way into this process, no pun intended.
From my five I cut eight and a half inch lengths, enough to attach my first couple of horizontal rows of blocks together. Refer to your pattern cover for block placement.
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Beginning with block one (top left) lay one of your Riley White strips (1.5″ x 8.5″) on the right side of Block 1, right fabric sides together. Split the difference of the extra half inch between top and bottom of your block to be trimmed later.
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Sew together using a quarter inch seam.
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Press the seam toward your block.
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Repeat the steps to connect block one and two together with this same sashing strip. This time lay block two on top of sashing strip lining up at right (see photo), again right fabric sides together, being careful to also line up both blocks top to bottom. You may want to pin in place before sewing.
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Continue working this way until you have all of the top row of blocks connected. Then move on to row two!
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And so on, until you have all of the blocks that connect using the short sashing pieces as shown on the pattern cover art. Seeing it all come together is the most fun for me, agreed?
I will post Part B on Saturday so stay tuned.
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Embellish Options.
This festive project is loaded with possibilities to stitch on some fun extras! We plan to add buttons for our snowmen eyes and gingerbread man but remember to do this after your quilt top has been quilted.
I would like to remind all of you that this is only my second SAL so I welcome your comments, questions and constructive critiques.
Now, let’s have some fun in the snow!!
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Some of you may not have received your patterns yet due to a last minute edit however, you will be able to catch up quickly in this first week. When you get them, be sure to read through the entire instructions section before you begin.
This week we will be making your appliqué pieces and cutting your block background fabrics.
Begin by taping together the six Star Snowman pages. A light box or taping to a convenient window works very well for this. Match up the registration marks located on each page. You may choose to trim the edges of your six page snowman template first to eliminate gaps in the line art. As you can see in the pictures below, we did not.
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Take your assembled Star Snowman and all of the other appliqué template sheets and begin tracing onto your fusible web, paper side up. Start with the largest pieces first such as Star Snowman, his scarf and snow base. We like to tape down the pieces so they do not move during this process.
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Every shape that you see on the templates will be an individual ‘glue’ piece so we numbered them as well by block for easier organization and quick identification when fusing. The appliqué designs are already in mirror image. Once all are traced, rough cut them apart. You will have something that looks like these:
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Next: For all white and light colored appliqué fabrics you will want to add a second layer of fusible interfacing to mask the block background fabric you are fusing to. We did this with the Snowman and his base, snowflakes and bell.
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Rough cut a piece of interfacing a little larger than your fusible pieces. Once again start with the largest items first. As you can see in the next photo group, you will simply ‘sandwich’ your white or light colored fabric on bottom wrong side up on your pressing surface, interfacing piece glue side down and then fusible web piece on top, glue side down. Once in place press according to the manufacturers recommended instructions. Darker fabrics will not require this step. So, for all other appliqué pieces using the pattern cover art as your fabric/color guide, simply fuse cut web pieces, glue side to wrong side of fabrics.
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Here are the products we used. Pellon 805 Wonder-Under as our fusible web, Pellon 911FF Fusible Featherweight interfacing, and fine tip sharpies.
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Once each glue piece is fused to its corresponding fabric you can move on to cutting out each appliqué. The more accurate you trim, the better the result. Use sharp scissors but not your “fabric only” pair as you will be cutting through the fusible web product. Here are the loose pieces organized and laid out that you will have before the final fuse to each block. Do not fuse together until week 2 for a helpful tip.
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Next you will be cutting your block background fabrics, again starting with the Star Snowman. The sizes for each block are listed on your instruction sheets. Refer to the cover art for all of your fabric colors.
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Note: There is one red fabric inconsistency listed from the original RBD storyboard as compared to our pattern. No worries! Either red fabric will work.
An optional but important step for week 2 will be creating “doors” for accurate piece placement. This will require any standard tracing paper you can get at your local art or craft store. This was not included on our original supply list. It comes in a variety of sizes. We used Strathmore Tracing Paper Pad, 300 Series, 9″ x 12″, 50 sheets. This will be plenty for this project.
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We would love to see your progress photos on Facebook, Instagram and/or Pinterest so please let us know where in the comments.
Please tag us and follow on Instagram @jweckerfrisch and #snowalong whenever posting.
Follow us here at JOY STUDIO for each step over five weeks to make this delightful and delicious quilt top.
Patterns and fabric are shipping now so check with your favorite shop for arrival times. MANY shops have ordered this so patterns, kits and fabric should be widely available.
If your local is still closed check the on line shops. Search Snow Sweet fabric and Sweet Snow-A-Long.
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J. Wecker Frisch
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Anyone can make this. We know because WE DID!! Lol And as you know, we are still new at this. I hope you can join us to make this really fun snowy quilt and cool off your summer!!!
fabrics from Riley Blake Designs. Both collections are available in shops now.
I am making her up in the later currently and for the first time ever actually and, I’m liking!!
Fabric background back story below.
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• Back story on the background text fabric is that the text was inspired by a little antique children’s book of prayers, in French! Sew sweet. Although I cannot interpret them, I was pleased to make this a part of the Couturiere Parisienne collection in lieu of my standard snippets of scripture. Parfait!
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I’m sure we all agree that we are still in such a strange time but keep creating is my plan. And praying. It helps, right?!
