Quick Gifts for Christmas: Day 1

This is a repost from 3 years ago using the Mistletoe collection by Benartex. While you probably don't have these fabrics, I'm pretty confident you have a variety of other Christmas prints that will definitely work for the little cards.

I love fabric panels. They capture so much within a large expanse of material, but when I received the Mistletoe collection I realized I couldn't do anything other than make another quilt. Or could I? I really didn't want to make one more quilt to add to the zillions I have here. Hmmmmm. I put my thinking cap on and the wheels were spinning. First, let me show you the group of fabrics I was given - don't you just love that stripe?!

Mistletoe Fabrics by Benartex

OK. Where's the panel? Now you can see my quandary.

The 24" x 42" panel that said "ONLY A QUILT" to me

So, I cut it up. Oh, yes I did. I honestly did! Gasp! I saw those lovely motifs - 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom - as something to play with. I carefully added enough fabric to the motif edges so I didn't cut them off. Mr. and Mrs. Snowman can get their berry wreath garland sliced. See, they're still smiling! I guess that's because they're under that mistletoe, getting ready for a big smooch!

I sliced the top and bottom from the large panel

You may be asking: what is she going to do with those panels? Oh, probably make a book or use them in a smaller quilt. Ha ha. Never guess what's in my brain. You will be disappointed every time!

Small panels, finishing strips, card stock

Let me interrupt here and say that ANY sweet print will do. Go ahead and dig around in your stash. I'll wait.

Oh, we're so happy! We're going to make a little girl happy!

 What's with the card stock?

Add a little batting and we are ready to go!

My almost 3 SIX (now) year old granddaughter loves to draw and color. She will enjoy having some Christmas scenes on one side and a blank slate on the other. Maybe she can use these for her own holiday cards for her pre-school  kindergarten teacher or Sunday School teacher.

But, first I must add some double sided tape to keep the layers from shifting. Yes, I will be sewing these layers on using my sewing machine!

Double sided tape keeps the batting from shifting

Sew the layers, trim using a decorative cutter blade (or some pinking shears - you know you have a pair and probably never use them anymore if you're a quilter).

Stitched and trimmed

Now, let's see the seven I did make.

7 happy scenes on postcard sizes (about 5" x 7" cardstock)

Then I got an idea for one of the fat quarters. I pulled out my trusty kids' vest pattern and discovered I could capture two motifs for the vest front. I was able to fit my vest pattern onto this fat quarter to cut out the two front units. See how happy the postcards are to know they will take more buddies with them to my granddaughter's house!

One fat quarter with large motifs

 Vest pattern placed so I could get the dog/cat panel on one side. I was able to get the kissing bears on the other side.

Placement of vest front

Since I was working with fat quarters, I had to use a second one for the back; one for the inside back lining and another for the front inside linings. Works when your person is a little person!

Let's see the vest:

Front vest; green inside back lining and cream inside front lining

 And the back of the vest is a 4th fabric.

Back of vest

I still have that wonderful stripe and the center of the original panel. I'm sure something will occur to me. This was the easiest vest EVER to make. I found it online and used it for a previous post using the Firefighters Rock and Boys in Blue Collections by Benartex.

You can see the steps for making the vest here: Firefighters Rock. Make sure you look at the steps because it results in having NO raw edges showing and is a very creative approach to how the seams are worked. I love this technique!

And the pattern here: Kids' Vest