Christmas in July Tutorials: Day 1

Welcome to Day 1 of our Christmas in July blog hop! Get out of the sun, crank up the air conditioning, turn on the Christmas carols and get in the mood for some holiday inspiration! Today Debby Kratovil of Debby Kratovil Quilts is sharing not just one, but three different ideas for the classic gold-accented Season's Greetings collection. Enjoy!

Season's Greetings Collection by Benartex

Here's Debby:

Yes, I know it's summer, but Christmas is just around the corner, right? Well, the holiday fabrics have arrived in the quilt shops and a fabulous collection is Season's Greetings. It includes wonderful panels with beautiful motifs and words that make them look like expensive holiday cards. That got my creative juices flowing. I LOVE panel prints.

I started out by revisiting ideas from a fabric postcards class I used to teach several years ago. Basically, I cut out a few panels (I was able to get 7-1/2" squares) and then squares of card stock and batting:

Notice I allowed for 1/4" seams around the panel

 Lovely gold etching!

All 3 parts cut 7-1/2" x 7-1/2"

I used a gold colored rayon thread to quilt the panel and the batting.

Panel and batting quilted

Then I stitched the panel/batting layer to the card stock. (Probably should have used my sewing machine's walking foot, but I was lazy, I guess.) Now it's time to trim using a wavy edged rotary cutting blade:

Shave just the slightest bit from the raw edges

Here are two of the greeting cards I made . . .

Greeting Card #1

Greeting Card #2

And here is what it looks like from the back. I am putting these aside for Christmas and will write a personal note to someone (once I find an envelope to fit it!)

Back of Greeting Card

I didn't stop there, though! My mind was going in all directions and actually started several separate projects. I have a weak spot for any fabrics that have gold etching. These are just so rich and color drenched.

Two panels I selected for another project

I decided to revisit a pattern I created several years ago that can either be a large placemat or a candle mat to protect your table. I cut out two more panels that have black backgrounds and gold printed designs - a tree and bells. You can find the cutting measurements below.

Add 3 triangles from one fabric and two triangles from a second

The key is to select fabrics with good contrast, especially the fabric that will touch the black panel. I chose the large scale red and white roses fabric for this. These are cut from 8-1/4" squares (see the diagram above). The green floral triangles are cut from a 4-3/8" square. Notice that the rose fabric squares are cut TWICE on the diagonals and the green squares are cut ONCE on a diagonal.

And how does it look all together? First, the sections . . .

Three sections of Candle Mat

And with this awesome striped binding . . .

14" high; 29" point to point

I did one last thing which I'll give you a sneak peek of. This is a Lone Star block from my book Supersize 'Em Quilts and will be an independent pattern soon. But I thought you'd like to see it as I was starting to quilt it at the local quilt shop who also is a Handi Quilter dealer.

19-1/2" Block, all rotary cut

And then this is what the center looks like after I quilted it with simple loops:

Lone Star center

See the panels in the four corners? I trimmed them a little, down to 6-1/2" square and they make an awesome statement at the end of those triple stripped borders. I took that center strip from the fabric that is a border print. This collection has so many possibilities, as you can see!

Thanks, Debby!

Would you like to win a fat quarter bundle of the Season's Greetings line? 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--have you made fabric postcards before? 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 Saturday, July 26 at 11:59 EST and the winner's name will be randomly selected and announced next week on the blog. And be sure to head over to Debby's blog to see more of her creative ideas!

Be sure to visit our other holiday-themed tutorials this week!

Day 2: Benartex Blog Design Team with Holiday Balis

Day 3: Lisa from Stubbornly Crafty with Christmas Pure & Simple
Day 4: Wendy from Ivory Spring with Holiday Magic

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