Christmas in July Tutorials: Day 4

It's Day 4 of our Christmas in July hop! With school supplies and pumpkins and other harvest decor out in stores, Christmas doesn't seem so far off! We're happy to help you get started on the holidays!
Today, Wendy Sheppard from Ivory Spring is sharing her holiday pillow and ornament grouping using the Holiday Magic collection.

Here's Wendy!

Hello Again, Everyone!  This is Wendy from Ivory Spring.  It's always good to be back.  I trust that all of you are well.  I am honored to be part of Benartex's Christmas in July blog hop!  And my project is a very quick and easy home dec project, hen-and-chicks-style!

I have loved the patch print fabrics that have been coming out lately.  But I realize sometimes they can be a bit challenging as to how to best feature them in my projects.  I oftentimes use them as quilt backing fabrics, but today, I am bringing the Holiday Magic patch print fabrics to the front of the stage!

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Supplies:
An assortment of Christmas fabrics from Benartex's Holiday Magic collection to include patch print fabric.
Craft stuffing
Basic sewing notions
Optional: Ribbon pieces if you want to make them into hanging ornaments like I did.

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First up is my "mother hen" ornament pillow.
1.  I cut around the word "CHRISTMAS" from the black patch print fabric with a 1/4" seam allowance.  I was too lazy to measure just how long the rectangle is - so I just cut the accompanying pieces a little longer than the patch print rectangle.  [Okay, I did measure the patch print rectangle out of curiosity, and found the way I had cut it measures about 19-1/4" long.]  The holly print is at 1-1/2" wide, and the gift print is at 2-1/2".  The trick is to piece all the rectangles together, and then trim them straight after that.
[Flexibility tip:  You can certainly adjust the widths of the accompanying pieces to suit the final size of your pillow.]

2.  Here you see the front of my pillow top all pieced, trimmed and pressed.

3.  I lay it on my pillow back fabric, and cut a piece of fabric that is the same size as the pieced pillow front. [If you are making this into a hanging ornament, you will be positioning your ribbon piece at this point]

4.  Then, I sewed the front and back pieces, right sides together, leaving an opening.  The corners are trimmed, and the pillowcase is turned inside out -- all ready for me to stuff with stuffing.  I like to press my pillowcase somewhat into shape before I stuff.

5.  Hand stitch the opening shut, and the pillow is done!

Next, we will make the "chicks."

1.  Here you see I have cut individual letters from the cream patchprint fabric that spell out C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S.  I measured 1/4" around the outer frame around the letters and cut square that are about 2-5/8".  Again, I am using the piece and trim later method.  So I cut all my accompanying  pieces  at (1-1/2" x 5-1/2").

2.  I sewed the accompanying pieces, in no particular preference to the swatches for a scrappy look, to the letter C square, and trimmed as necessary. [Yikes, I need a new cutting mat!]

3.  Here you see the front of the pillow ornaments, ready to be assembled.

4.  As before, I would cut the pillow back fabric to size based on the pillow front.  Place the front and pieces right sides together, sew and leave an opening.  This time I attached a ribbon piece.

5.  Then I clipped the corners, turn the pillow inside out, press and stuff!  Voila, a hanging pillow ornament.

Making these project has been really fun - I intend to finish up all the Christmas letter ornaments in time for Christmas!  These ornaments will be perfect to teach my 5 year old to spell Christmas!
I hope you liked my little hen-and-chicks Christmas project using the patch print fabrics from Holiday Magic, and will use these fabrics in your Christmas projects this year!

Thanks so much Wendy!
Would you like to win a fat quarter bundle of Holiday Magic? It's easy! Simply sign up to follow the Benartex blog (use the email or Bloglovin' buttons in the right hand side bar and leave a comment letting us know that you do). In the comment, let us know--do you make your own ornaments? For a second chance to win, follow our Sew Interesting page on Facebook and leave a comment here letting us know you do. The giveaway is open through Monday, July 28 at 11:59 EST and the winner's name will be randomly selected and announced next week on the blog. Be sure to head over to Wendy's blog as well to check out her other work!

Check out the rest of our Christmas in July tutorials:
Day 1: Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts and Season's Greetings

Day 2: Benartex Blog Design Team with Holiday Balis

Day 3: Lisa from Stubbornly Crafty with Christmas Pure & Simple

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