Christmas in July: Wintry Wall Banner

Welcome to Benartex's Christmas in July Blog Hop here at Sew in Love with Fabric! We shared holiday-themed tutorials all last week and have two this week, so be sure to check out all the tutorials and see how to win some fabric to get your own holiday sewing started!

Today Wendy from Ivory Spring is here with an adorable wintry owl wall banner using Greta Lynn's Shades of Winter collection from Kanvas. Check out Wendy's tutorial and then scroll to the bottom to find out how you can win a fat quarter bundle of Shades of Winter.

Hello Everyone, this is Wendy from Ivory Spring. It is lovely to be part of Benartex's Christmas in July blog hop. It is ALWAYS lovely to be in any of Benartex's blog hops.

My hop project for the 2015 Christmas in July blog hop is a banner quilt using Kanvas' Shades of Winter fabric line.

Here's the wall banner:

When I look at fabrics with designing in mind, I first must decide which takes the center stage of the design -- the fabrics, the blocks, or both.  I took a quick survey at the Shades of Winter fabrics and instantly decided that I should let the fabrics do the talking in my final design.  The prints on these fabrics are simply amazing!!

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First we have the focal print - which I call "All owls want to be in the selfie shot" print.  Doesn't the print look like all the owls just crowded themselves in for a group selfie shot?

And then, we have the snowfall print.  That is the most brilliant "polka dot" print I have ever seen -- the dots graduate in sizes!

So, to make the banner, we will need:

5/8 yard of focal print

cut lengthwise, 1 (5 1/2" x 20 1/2") rectangle

5/8 yard of tree print

cut lengthwise, 2 (2 1/2" x 20 1/2") rectangles

1/8 yard of owl on branch print

fussy cut 4 (3 1/2" x 3 1/2") squares, showcasing one owl in each square

1/8 yard of gray snowfall print

cut widthwise, 2 (1 1/2" x 42").  Subcut 1 (1 1/2" x 20 1/2"), 4 (1 1/2" x 3 1/2") and 4 (1 1/2" x 5 1/2") rectangles

1/8 yard  of orange snowfall print

cut widthwise, 1 (1 1/2" x 42").  Subcut 4 (1 1/2" x 3 1/2") and 4 (1 1/2" x 5 1/2") rectangles.

Assembling frame blocks

Sew 2 (1 1/2" x 3 1/2") snowfall rectangles to the opposite sides of 1 (3 1/2" x 3 1/2") fussy cut owl square.  Sew 2 (1 1/2" x 5 1/2") snowfall rectangles to the remaining opposite sides of owl square to complete 1 frame block.  Repeat to make 2 orange framed and 2 gray framed blocks.

Assembling banner top

Sew the frame blocks into a column, alternating the colors.

Sew strips and pieced column to complete banner top in the following order from left to right: 1 (2 1/2" x 20 1/2") tree strip, pieced column, 1 (2 1/2" x 20 1/2") tree strip, 1 (1 1/2" x 20 1/2") gray snowfall strip, 1 (5 1/2" x 20 1/2") focal strip.

And here you have it - a banner, once quilted and bound, that is ready to hang on that little nook in your house!

Further options

You can easily expand the design by making more blocks, as shown below.  I don't think you would EVER go wrong with buying more fabrics than you need! The possibilities.... 

I hope you liked my hop project -- meanwhile, do check out what others have contributed to this wonderful hop. 

If you are into owls, have you seen my "Owl Be Your Friend" quilt in McCall's Quick Quilts, using Benartex's Forest Friend-zy fabrics? Click here to find out!

With that, "owl" see you in Benartex's future hops, and oh, Happy Christmas in July!

For a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of the Shades of Winter collection, make sure you're signed up to follow our blog. Leave a message below letting us know that you do so, as well as which colorway you like best in the Shades of Winter fabrics. Giveaway is open through Saturday, August 1st at 11:59 pm EST.

And be sure you've visited each day of our blog hop to see all the different Christmas in July tutorials featuring our holiday fabrics!

Here's our schedule:

Monday: Santa Sack by Chris from Made by Chrissie D using Happy Holidays Snowmen

Tuesday: Tree Skirt by Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts using Homespun Holiday

Wednesday: Throw Pillow by Kelly from My Quilt Infatuation using Ornamental Splendor

Thursday: Wonky Star Placemats by Kristen from KD Quilts using Santa's Here

Friday: Christmas Card Organizer by Melissa from My Fabric Relish using Frosty Forest

Monday: Table Runner and Napkins by Nikki from The Girl Who Quilts using Frosty Forest

Tuesday: Wendy from Ivory Spring using Shades of Winter

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