Christmas in July Blog Hop

Welcome to the 10^thday of Christmas in July blog hop.  Special thanks go to Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for setting up this blog hop. Instead of sharing 10 lords of leaping I’m sharing a small quilt you can add to your holiday decorations.  And, I have a little give away too. Keep reading.

I’ve been planning on doing a wool wall hanging for years.  I’ve gathered wool and wool felt, patterns, books. When Sarah wanted folks for her blog hop I knew this was the time for me to go wool! Let me introduce you to Noel Santa.

13 x 13" Noel Santa

Here’s a little bit of the process I used for designing Noel Santa. 

Many thanks to my quilting buddy Beth for suggesting a round Santa rather than my weird oval.  I’m not sure when he became just a face but it works!

Mine's on the left, Beth's on the right. 

My final drawing..... maybe. I found that all those "ruffles" on the hat trim didn't work well  when it came to stitching them down.  I've changed that on the pattern. 

There are two wools that people use for applique in their quilting. One is Felted Wool – woven wool is shrunk to form a tight fabric.  The other is Wool Felt – a fabric where the fibers are “laid down” on a wire.  Think of how paper is made or battings.  I used Wool Felt for my project.  Some of my felt was very old and some I bought as felt sheets from Benzie Designs at their Etsy shop. Their felt is between 25 and 35% wool mixed with rayon.  Look for wool and wool felt at regional quilt shows and your local quilt shops. Although you can use craft felt sold at JoAnnes wool felt has a little softer feel and more loft.  Check to see if JoAnnes sells wool felt – I’ve never looked specifically but I think I saw some bolts of it at one time. 

I received directions for handling the wool felt from a previous purchase.  Basically it suggested rinsing the felt in hot water and then drying it in the dryer at a hot temperature.  I don’t squeeze the felt; just gently roll it in a towel, pat out as much water as I can and throw the towel and the felt into the dryer. The felt “fluffs” up a bit in the drier. Remember to separate the dark colors from the light! I have had little color bleed with the newer felt I've bought but older felt might run like crazy  Although this method does a good job of containing the color, don't plan on washing your finished project. 

SUPPLIES NEEDED: 

My original Noel Santa pattern is available on Google Drive as a PDF. 
These directions are also available on Google Drive as a PDF.

FELT: My felt is mostly in sheets and except for the backing white and the green for the letters I used very little of the felt. I  bought 9” x 12” felt rectangles.  There is no reason why you can’t use quilting cotton for this project. You can use the same applique technique I used on the wool. I used the following colors:

Red wool felt

Cherry wool felt

White wool felt (background) 

Flesh wool felt

Green wool felt (letters)

WOVEN COTTON FABRIC 

Sashing fabric 5” x 12” appx

Border fabric 7” x 14” appx 

Binding 5” by WOF (I used the same fabric as my sashing fabric.)

Backing Fabric 15” x 15” woven cotton

Other Supplies

Bonsal Splendid Web #345 or your preferred fusible*(see below)

Embroidery floss to match your felt pieces. (I chose to use a light gray instead of white for the beard and mustache so they would show up better against the white background fabric.) 

Thin cotton batting 15” x 15”  (I used a leftover piece of Nature’s Touch 60/40 poly/cotton by Pellon.) 

Cutting directions: 

Background Felt or Fabric  - 4 pieces 5.5” x 5.5” 

You might prefer to measure your pieces before you cut the following sashing and borders. If yours are different cut to fit your pieces.  This might be more necessary for the up-and-down sashing piece and the borders.  

Sashing – 2 pieces 1” by 5.5”

Sashing – 1 piece 1” by 11” 

Border – 2 pieces 1.5” x 11” 

Border – 2 pieces 1.5” x 13” 

Backing fabric and batting -- use the size listed above. 

Binding  1.5” x 65” 

Process:

Trace the pattern pieces on the adhesive.  Trim so only a little excess fusible surrounds the design and then iron on to the wool using the adhesive instructions.  Cut out the pattern on the line. Attach the letters to the background pieces as shown in the picture. I used 3 strands of DMC floss and buttonhole stitched around the letters. (Here’s a good video on how to do of the buttonhole stitch. I always mess up where to start my stitching and this helped me remember!) 

The fusible hasn't been trimmed yet in this picture.

Santa pieces ready to be cut out and applied to the background.

To make the Santa “O” I ironed down the beard piece. Then I ironed down the face making sure it was right next to the top of the beard piece. I then buttonhole stitched the beard.  

Next, iron down the lips and stitch down.  Go back and stitch down the face.  Remember you don’t have to stitch edges that are covered by other pieces such as the beard/face area that is covered by the mustache. Continue to iron the pieces and stitch in the following order: hat, mustache, hat trim and nose. I then marked eyes using a Frixon pen because I could easily remove it with my iron.  Use the colors of your choice to add Santa’s eyes. I’ve decided if I make him again I might do a more casual eye – maybe a small dark dot either with a button, bead, embroidered or using a Pigma Pen to draw the eye. I embroidered the eyelid with a dark brown, the iris with a medium green and don't forget to put a bit of white in the iris for Santa's twinkle.  I took three small stitches with the white. Last, give Santa's cheeks a little brush of blush. I used my blusher and a Q-Tip. 

Once all four pieces are finished its time to make our little quilt.  Sew the sashing with a quarter inch seam between the N and E and the O and L. Iron the seams toward the sashing. Sew the longer piece on the right side of the N/E unit. Then sew it to the left side of the O/L unit.  Again, iron toward the sashing.

Sew the borders on the 2 sides and then the top and bottom. Iron the seams toward the borders. 

It’s time to sandwich your little quilt.  Tape your backing fabric to a rotary mat to hold it taut while you pin baste your quilt sandwich.  Smooth your thin batting over the backing.  Smooth your quilt top over the batting and backing. Carefully pin in each of the four sections and add a couple of pins in each border.  I only placed one pin in each of the 4 quadrants. 

When I trim quilts, I leave about an 1/8^th” beyond the edge of the quilt. This makes sure my binding will be "full," rather than a binding with no batting in it. 

Quilt your little quilt using the thread of your choice. I used a heavier hand quilting thread even though I quilted by machine. I chose to stitch in the ditch on both sides of the sashing and on the border close to the seam.  It doesn’t take much quilting to keep this quilt together! 

My quilting in the ditch shows up like this on the back.  This is enough to hold the piece together.

Stitch the two pieces of binding together with a diagonal seam. I use a single fold binding to eliminate bulk from small hangings. Iron the binding in half lengthwise. Turn one of the sides into the middle and iron. 

I sewed the binding to the right side of the quilt with the extra folded part facing toward the center of the quilt.  When you turn the binding to the back to hand stitch it down you’ll have a crisp fold to sew into.  

To use this quilt on a wire table stand make two tabs as follows:  Cut two pieces of fabric 2.5” x 6.5.” Turn under ¼” along the long sides of both tabs. Top stitch those folded sections.  Pin a tab right sides together and sew a ¼” seam along the cut edge. Turn right-side out. When both are done pin them to the back of your little quilt leaving about 1.5” from each side.  Try the quilt on the rack to make sure your little quilt hangs straight. It’s best to get the top section of each tab correct so your quilt doesn’t “list.”  When you are satisfied, hand stitch the top and bottom sections of each tab to the backing. Remember not to stitch through the quilt!

I added a little label that was framed with the same sashing fabric and sewn inside the binding to finish off my quilt. (I've covered up my label a bit.)  

The last thing I added was a 1/4” pompom for Santa’s hat. I used Aileene’s Original Craft glue. You could also use a button or a piece of white felt instead of the pompom.  I would sew a white felt circle down after I sewed the hat in place.  But I’d sew a button down after I finished the quilt but before adding the tabs. 

*I found that my background wool was much thicker than my newer felt and I had a hard time getting the fusible to hold the pieces well. The pieces are small enough that the buttonhole stitch holds them in place.  On my next small wool project I will try Roxanne’s Basting Glue as that should hold small pieces until they are sewn in place. I've also changed the pattern for the hat trim.  Having lots of wiggles and curves on the little hat trim piece didn't look great with the buttonhole stitch.  I smoothed out the curves.  

I hope you enjoy making your own wool Noel Santa.  If you make one please send me a picture or share your blog link with me. I’d love to see what you make.

Don’t forget to visit the other 10^thDay of Christmas bloggers: 

Brenda @ Songbird Designs

Amy @ Sea of Estrogen

Here’s the whole list of bloggers participating in the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop. 

Monday, July 23rd

Brenda @ Songbird Designs

Amy @ Sea of Estrogen

Bonnie @ In Stitches With Bonnie

Tuesday, July 24th

Kathy @ Kathy's Kwilts and More

Summer @ Summer Lee Quilts

Wednesday, July 25th

Susan @ Quilt Fabrication
Brandy @ Pampered Pettit
Jean @ All Points of the Compass

Saturday, July 14th

Joy @ Days Filled With Joy

Selina @ Selina Quilts

Sunday, July 15th

Joanne @ Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Jan @ The Colorful Fabriholic

Monday, July 16th

Carole @ From My Carolina Home

Jamie @ L'Fair Quilts

Karen @ Tu-Na Quilts, Travels & Eats

Tuesday, July 17th

Sharon @ Vrooman's Quilts

Mary @ Made by Marney

Wednesday, July 18th

Cindy @ Stitchin' At Home

Karrin @ Karrin's Crazy World

Thursday, July 19th

Christina @ Christina's Handicrafts

Sherry @ Books, Hooks, Sticks, etc.

Danice @ Homespun Hannah

Friday, July 20th

Kristi @ Confessions of A Fabric Addict

Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts

Saturday, July 21st

Marian @ Seams To Be Sew

Meloney @ Mel's Quilting Blog

Sunday, July 22nd

Anja @ Anja Quilts

Moira @ Quilted Snail

I’ll be linking with my regular Monday Linky Parties: Oh Scrap, Monday Making, Moving It Forward Monday and Main Crush Monday. If they aren’t active when I post this I’ll add the link when they become active.  Enjoy. 

Oh yes, there is a giveaway!  I made a fold up fabric box and a matching 9" zippered pouch.  If you are a no reply make sure you leave an email address. (I've already had several no reply bloggers who have not left an address.) Duplicate entries will be eliminated.  I'll be drawing the winner's name in the evening on Wednesday, July 25.  I'm willing to send this internationally so if you live outside of USA add your comments too. I use the box for threads especially when I'm sewing away from home.  And my pouch is taken with me holding whatever small supplies I need.  (No, the tools and pencil aren't part of the prize!) 

This drawing is now closed.  Congratulations to Karen who quilts at Tu-Na Quilts. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie