Deck the Halls Blog Hop: Day 3

The Christmas countdown has begun! This week we'll be sharing five holiday-themed tutorials to add to that festive feeling. 

Today Debby Kratovil is here playing with the Mistletoe collection. Wait until you see what she does with this adorable panel! You'll never buy Christmas cards again. Enjoy her tutorial (don't miss the link to make a cute child's vest as a bonus!) and then head over to her blog to enter to win a holiday fabric bundle. 

Here's Debby!

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

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 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 teachers 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!

Find the pattern here: Kids' Vest

For a chance to win a bundle of one of our holiday collections, head over to Debby's blog.  

Make sure to catch all of the tutorials on our Deck The Halls Blog Hop!

Monday 12/5: Chris from made by ChrissieD

Tuesday 12/6: Paula Nadelstern

Wednesday 12/7:  Debby from Debby Kratovil Quilts

Thursday 12/8: Alison from Little Bunny Quilts

Friday 12/9: Benartex blog design team

p.s. Looking for more holiday inspiration? Click here to check out the tutorials featured in our Christmas in July blog hop.