Cozy Christmas Archives • Stitches Quilting

Posted on October 17, 2016October 17, 2016 by Deanna — 1 Comment

Cozy Christmas Candy Cane Block

The Cozy Christmas Candy Cane Block is an appliqué of only two pieces! This is a simple block but looks incredible!
If you haven’t started, it’s never too late, you can download the Cozy Christmas Sew Along Free Quilt Pattern just click here or on the image below. We have 3 – Cozy Christmas Fat Quarter Bundles in inventory at Stitches Quilting that are on sale for an unbelievable price….

For this block, you only need to use the Cozy Christmas Sew Simple Shape B-16. You can see I’ve laid out my darling Gingher Embroidery Scissors! I sure love using these. I have organized all my needed supplies in the Cozy Tins. I also have appreciated stitching everything together with the White Aurifil Thread. I find the Clover Point to Point Turner tool extremely helpful making these appliqué shapes.

It is very important to trace the B-16 Candy Cane template on the Pellon Sew In Interfacing once right side up and the other one upside down. Cut out the shapes and align them with your fabric of choice. I decided to use Tasha Noel’s Pixie Noel with Riley Blake Designs for my quilt combined with Riley Blake Basic Fabrics. With the Candy Canes, I used a stripe that is offset on the diagonal.

Important TIP: After stitching the interfacing to fabric but before turning it inside out, be sure to snipe with a small pair of scissors around the curved edges of the candy canes. This will give you a nice smooth edge to the candy canes. This an example of where I would snip the fabric to get nicely turned edges. Press after turning inside out.

I stitched the candy canes with the Pellon interfacing using just white thread. I also used the white thread to attach the candy canes with the stripes to the 7 inch block of Aqua Snow background fabric after pinning in place with the tiny embroidery pins. Here is my block with the candy canes stitched on. I have printed out the Lori Holt pattern and refer to it for instructions.

Now I am sewing on my White on White Riley Blake Basic print sashing fabric, starting with the left and right at 6.5 inch strips then top and bottom with 8.5 inch strips. Press nicely and then square up the block.

I’m now laying out my accenting blocks to frame these candy canes. I’m using the 18 inch design board to help me keep everything in place. There is one half square triangle that I need to turn, can you find it! My sweet puppy Diego is chilling next to my design board and I think he approves. 🙂 Piece together your block combinations.

I always sew on the left and right sides before sewing on the top and bottom.

The picture above is an informal way to show you how I make my points match up. Where the stitch lines all come together is where you are going to stitch across with your 1/4 inch seam.

Here is the finished block! Just love it! I can’t believe we only have two more blocks to go! I’m starting to sash mine together. I’ll write another blog post about that!

Let me know if you have any questions! I’d be more than willing to do a tutorial on anything!

Best Wishes for lots of Happy Stitches,

Posted on September 26, 2016September 26, 2016 by Deanna

Cozy Christmas Gingerbread Man Block

Cozy Christmas-Gingerbread Man Finished Block

Here is my finished Cozy Christmas Gingerbread Man Block. Remember I am using Tasha Noel’s Pixie Noel Fabric Collection. Everyone else is mainly using Lori Holt Cozy Christmas Fabric Collection with the Free Pattern she designed that you can download here.

The is a pretty simple block and would be fun to make as Christmas gifts for hotpads, table runner and MORE! Let me know you ideas! I used Lori Holt Cute Cuts Cutting Mat, Lori Holt 10 inch and 18 inch design boards, background fabric of Aqua Snow Pixie Noel, Brown solid fabric, White Mini Ric Rac, Cozy Christmas Simple Shapes, Pellon Sew-In Stabilizer and Lori Holt Aurifil Embroidery Floss. To piece the block I used Aurifil White 50 wt. thread.

This video tutorial goes step by step through the entire process of creating your Gingerbread Man and appliqueing him down to the background fabric.

This Gingerbread Man is created and ready to have his background block squared up. This is an important step as the fabric shifts and pulls when you applique him to the block.

The block is now squared up to 6.5 inches square. Let’s attach the sashing strips using the left and right side first and then the top and bottom sashing strips.

With the sashing strips attached, now it is time to pull out your 18 inch design board and start laying out fabrics to balance color and pattern in the outside blocks. Here is what my brainstorming looks like before stitching the blocks.

I’ve stitched all the blocks together and added them to the Cozy Christmas Gingerbread Man and now it is time to square up the block to 12.5 inches.

Here is my finished block displayed on my Grandmother’s rocking chair that she used to nurse each of her children in! I love this Cozy Christmas Gingerbread Man Block and everything vintage. Isn’t it fun to make a Gingerbread Man that isn’t going to be eaten up so quickly. I thought this block was easier to make than the others. What do you think? Do you think you have enough extra fabrics to make extra of him for gifts to give around the holiday season?

Can’t wait to hear from all of you and see your blocks!

Posted on September 5, 2016September 5, 2016 by Deanna

Cozy Christmas Wreath Block Sew Along

What do you think of the Cozy Christmas Wreath Block hanging in front of my ironing boards? It’s just vintage Christmas beauty for the holidays!

You can see I am using my Corningware Pyrex dishes to help me sort out the different sized blocks to use. Have you used your Corningware dishes in your sewing studio?

The Cozy Christmas Wreath Block is fun to make and not difficult at all! Let’s break it down… From the Sew Simple Shapes Cozy Christmas Templates you will need B-20, B-6, B-9 and B-13.

I’ve pulled the template pieces with my background aqua snow from the Pixie Noel Fabric Collection by Tasha Noel. For the wreath I am using one of Riley Blake Design basic gingham green fabrics! The bow pieces are made from the vintage roses and red snow once again from the Pixie Noel Fabric Collection.

Trace the template pieces directly onto the Pellon stabilizer.

Stitch the desired fabric using the Pellon Stabilizer as a guide with right sides of fabric facing together.

Cut a small hole in the stabilizer and then turn your wreath inside out. Follow each of these steps for each piece that you need to create the Cozy Christmas wreath.

Here are the pieces of my Cozy Christmas Wreath Block with my Aurifil Happy Color Thread now ready to be stitched together laid out on the 10 inch Lori Holt Design Board. You can also see an upclose photograph of the NEW Lori Holt Cute Cutting Mats.

You can see that I have laid out all the pieces and pinned them together to get ready for the machine applique. Remember you can always hand applique this block together but I am choosing to machine piece it so that I can get this done quick and then allow the family to use it lots during the short holiday season. Maybe I’ll even spill some hot cocoa on it while I’m using it as a lap quilt and can quickly spot clean it and wash it in the washing machine. 😉

Stitch the pieces of the Wreath Block together. I started with the green Aurifil Happy Colors thread and the green gingham fabric.

Continue through appliqueing either by hand or machine each of the pieces of your block together.

Here I am using the 18 inch Lori Holt Design Board to layout the sashing strips and pieces blocks that frame the Wreath Block. This helps me balance out the colors of the fabric. Remember that I am using the red and white swiss polka dot fabric by Riley Blake as my background in the block. I use recipe book holders in my quilting studio to hold design boards or instructions to quilts. I find them very handy. I also find having lots of the Riley Blake Basic red, navy blue and green gingham around are handy for holiday seasonal sewing to add to project like I added into this block. Now notice that I don’t have the layout quite right on the design board with the outer blocks. This is something to notice hopefully prior to stitching!!!!

Finally here is the final block with buttons taped to the block to get an idea of how it will look embellished with the Cute Little Lori Holt Buttons! Don’t you just LOVE the block displayed on white ric rac infront of my newly painted ironing boards! I have a tutorial that will post tomorrow of how to find old ironing boards and then paint them to decorate your sewing studio with lots of vintage love. I painted by ironing boards red, navy blue, light blue, pink and yellow! I am just in love with them and every time I look at them they make me SMILE!

Please let me know if you have any questions about the block or quilting in general. Stitches Quilting right now has the ABSOLUTE best prices to purchase the supplies needs for Cozy Christmas and other items that you need for the holiday season. All items that are needed in the tutorial are linked so you can purchase the items from clicking the link.

Don’t miss our Labor Day Week long sale at Stitches Quilting too! All prices on inventory are marked on sale and a coupon code is not needed. Free Shipping for orders over $100 in the United States.

BUT…… most importantly don’t forget to enter the Stitches Quilting Cozy Christmas Giveaway that you can enter on the website, Stitches Quilting Instagram and Stitches Quilting Facebook Pages. Here’s a hint since you are ready the blog go to all three places for multiple entries for chances to win big!

Best Wishes for Lots of Happy Stitches,

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Deanna — 6 Comments

Cozy Christmas Sew Along Giveaway

It’s time for a Cozy Christmas Sew Along Giveaway!

Do you just love Lori Holt at Bee In My Bonnet? She has a great following and has developed just incredible products to help with the creative process.

I thought it would be a terrible about of fun to add a giveaway to the Cozy Christmas Sew Along! If you haven’t started it yet but want, or a little behind, may this motivate you to get back into your creative groove!

There are so many great products that Lori Holt has made AND…. soooo let’s have a giveaway with some of these irresistible items!

What included in the giveaway and how does it work?

Cute Little Buttons…. ohhhh they are sooo cute!

1/2 yard each of 1/8 inch Mini Ric Rac that are Lori Holt four different colors of White, Mint, Red and Sugar Pink

Sew In Interfacing to make her applique blocks

Cozy Christmas Sew Simple Shapes Template Pack (If you already have these you can trade it out for her Bloom Templates or Fruit Salad Templates)

Seams So Easy Guide for your sewing machine

Fiskars 6.5 inch square ruler – 12.5 inch ruler not included. (One of Lori’s recommended notions)

Hand Quilting Aurifil Thread – The Embroidery Floss is sold out but if you use two strands of the Hand Quilting Aurifil Thread that is the same thickness of the Embroidery Floss. Then the Aurifil Thread has a double value for you. If you would rather not have the Hand Quilting Aurifil Thread we can send you the Happy Colors 50 weight Bee In My Bonnet Thread!

Stick-its 1 inch dots (Another one of Lori’s recommended notions to keep your ruler from not shifting on your fabric)

NOW!!!! For me a giveaway is never fun if you don’t share it with a friend. So whatever friend you recommend to participate in the giveaway will win some things too! I can’t just give all these great items to one person! We have to share don’t we? So your friend won’t win the grand prize but I will have her select three items that she would like too! Isn’t this just a lot of fun?

How does the giveaway work?

You can enter the giveaway below by commenting and then sharing this post on social media or email to a friend use the hashtag #stitchesquiltinggiveaway so I can find it! Just let me know how you shared it below.
You can enter the giveaway on Stitches Quilting Instagram Account by following Stitches Quilting, liking the giveaway post and commenting on the post recommending it to a friend. You can also repost the giveaway image to your Instagram account for extra entries. Be sure to use the hashtag #stitchesquiltinggiveaway so I can find it!
You can comment on the Stitches Quilting Facebook Giveaway Post.
You can repin the Giveaway to Pinterest once again with the hashtag #stitchesquiltinggiveaway so I can find it!
You can subscribe to Stitches Quilting this week for extra entries too because then you will learn about the winner, future giveaways, sales, etc…

Now you can buy all these more Lori Holt products at Stitches Quilting and learn more about Lori Holt’s products and recommended notions here. I try to make sure that Stitches Quilting has the lowest prices on the internet. There is free shipping in the United States for orders over $100.00. One thing that Stitches Quilting is very popular for are the Happy Color Fat Quarter Bundles that are the perfect bright happy fabrics in gingham, polka dots, plaids, etc… to use in Lori Holt’s projects.

Remember if you still have time to join us for the Lori Holt Christmas Sew Along. The blocks are easy to put together and very fulfilling. I can’t wait to snuggle with my Cozy Christmas Quilt by the fireplace and lighted tree with family around and a warm hot cocoa in my hand. Are you making your quilt for yourself or another? Are you making your quilt from unique fabric? What is your favorite block that you can’t wait to make? Or what is your favorite Lori Holt Notion to use? I’m loving her new double sided Cute Cuts Cutting Mats.

You will notice on my block that I am not using Lori Holt’s Cozy Christmas Fabric with the Cozy Christmas pattern – I’ll actually using Tasha Noel’s Pixie Noel Fabric Collection along with Riley Blake basics. So if you didn’t buy the quilt kit don’t worry because I have seen gorgeous blocks being made using lots of different fabrics. Search Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #Cozy ChristmasSewAlong to find other people making the blocks.

Well have fun with the Giveaway and Inspiring each other to stitch away!

Lots of Love,