Tag Archives: 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop

Tu-Na Quilts: O Come, All Ye Faithful (including quilters and crafters)–Day Five of the 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop

This year’s hop is hosted by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. It’s not too late to join in on all the festivities.

Santa’s workshop is humming from all the activity. Fabric and thread are everywhere. Come on over and check out what’s going on at:

Tuesday, July 18th, 2017

Confessions of a Fabric Addict Sarah gives us our next sewing assignment which is just like the others; sewing one final strip set. She promises something different for tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ve got some sewing to catch up on. How about you?

Santa’s Trip Around the World Quilt Along is going on now. It’s not too late to start. Details on Sarah’s blog, Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Seams To Be Sew Do you need new ornaments for your tree? Marian shows us how to make some simple ones from fabric. For only a short time spent, you can give your tree a new look this year.

Stitchin at Home Cindy is spreading a little JOY at Christmas time this year. This super cute project just might be on your list to make this year.

Domestic Felicity Anita’s stitching up some Christmas cards on her blog today. Or you could use this cute idea for some really fun gift tags.

Remember to leave comments on each of their 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop posts so you can qualify to win some fabric giveaways of Tula Pink’s new holiday line, Holiday Homies, generously donated by Free Spirit Fabrics!!! You have through July 26th to leave comments.

I posted my 12 Days of Christmas in July post yesterday. Click here if you are looking for it. I showed how to make these two projects pictured below: a stocking and a kid’s mini wreath craft. You will also find a complete listing of all participating blogs on the hop with updated links that will take you directly to their 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop posts once they are published. This might be helpful if you have to go back and comment for the giveaway or look at directions again for all the projects you want to make.

7.5″ wide and 9″ long, not including the loop.

Here’s what I’ve got coming up on Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats this week. Join me on:

Wednesday, July 19th, 2017 for Tu-Na Quilts: The First Reveal—What’s Inside the Stocking?
Friday, July 21st, 2017 for Tu-Na Quilts: The Second Stocking Stuffer Reveal—You Mean There’s More?

Sunday, July 23rd, 2017 for Tu-Na Quilts: The Third Stocking Stuffer Reveal—How Much Can It Hold?
Tuesday, July 25th, 2017 for Tu-Na Quilts: The Fourth and Final Stocking Stuffers Reveal—Does The Fun Have to End?

What I Learned Today:

The importance of checking that wordpress is occasionally saving the drafts I write. Yes, I opened this up and only part of the title was there and no way to recover it. So I had to recreate it. I am so thankful this didn’t happen for my 12 Days of Christmas in July post.
I am overwhelmed and overjoyed by all your kind and positive responses to yesterday’s post about my stocking and wreath. Thank you very much. That post was my most viewed post to date as well as the one with the most comments from readers.
I will be very busy responding to those comments the next few days.
Only 10 more days until the 2017 Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop begins. Are you going?

Question: Do your Christmas celebrations require travel plans or do you sit tight, bundled up at home? Since we winter where it’s sunny and warm, we’ll be traveling by plane to spend Christmas in the snow with family. Last year we spent two weeks, including a blizzard on Christmas Day, this year maybe only a week.

Thanks for stopping by and do come again.

Karen, Tu-Na Quilts

Tu-Na Quilts: On the Fourth Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave to Me…

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Yes, he gave me a red rose which he picked from the flower bed.

Welcome to the fourth day of the 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop.

You will find links to all the participating blogs at the very end of my post after the question. Thank you, Sarah, for coordinating this event. You might like to visit her blog, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, each day for her Christmas Quilt Along as well as enter daily to win prizes. Yes, there’s a giveaway going on with 12 daily and one grand prize. To enter, you must comment on each participating blog on their 12 Days of Christmas in July post AND also on Sarah’s blog. You have through July 26th to get all your reading and commenting finished. The list of participating blogs is at the end of my post.

Every year, Christmas sneaks up on me so I thought I’d get an early start this year. I have several ideas to share with you today. First, I’ll show you how I sewed this stocking which can be a fun gift for someone on your list or for a favor at your quilting guild.

The stocking is now filled with some fun but useful surprises which every sewist would like to have. Check back on Wednesday the 19th, Friday the 21st, Sunday the 23rd, and Tuesday the 25th as I reveal a new stocking stuffer and show you how to make them, too. To make sure you don’t miss out on any of that fun or any of the other things happening in my little quilting corner of the world, just follow my blog (check my sidebar to find buttons to follow by email, WordPress, or Bloglovin).

Next, I will also share with you this fun Christmas wreath project that I enlisted the help of some of my grandchildren while we were at the lake over the 4th of July.

Finally, I’m also including some helpful hints when working with children.

Part One: Let’s Make an Easy Mini Quilted Christmas Stocking

What you will need:

one fat quarter of fabric (after cutting out your stocking using the pattern, cut out a 4″ square for the heel, a 2.5″ x 4″ strip for the toe, and a 6″ x 10″ strip for the cuff) These can all be the same fabrics or other fabrics if you want the scrappy look.
fabric strips in a variety of widths 1″- 2″ wide and at least 7 inches long that have straight edges. You will need one 3″ x 5.5″ strip that goes from the heel piece to the right edge. You will need one 2.5″ x 6″ strip for the loop.
one 10″ x 12″ piece of batting
fabric basting spray or fabric glue or pins
trim for the cuff, optional (pom poms, ric rac, etc.)
free stocking pattern that I drew and can be downloaded as a pdf and printed from here stocking pattern

Directions:

Cut out the paper pattern pieces matching the As and the Bs. For pattern accuracy, cut along the inside of the black line. Tape the top of the stocking onto the bottom piece.

Take note of where the black dots are for heel placement.

Placing the right side of the pattern onto the wrong side of the fabric, cut out the stocking. This will be the backing for the top and also becomes the inside of the stocking. Cut out another one for the back of the stocking. You need both to be facing that same direction and cut from the wrong side of the fabric.

You will need to do this two times each this same way.

Placing the right side of the pattern onto the batting fabric, cut out the stocking shape.

Spray baste the batting onto the wrong side of the backing. You could use fabric glue in a couple of places around each edge if you’d rather. Another alternative is to pin baste the pieces together, taking care to remove the pins BEFORE you sew the strips over them.

Place the 4″ heel square of fabric right side up on the batting matching the dots. Either spray, glue, or pin in place.

With right sides together, position a 3″ strip of fabric on the right side of the heel fabric at an angle. This will cover the stocking area from the heel to the right side of the stocking.

Sew 1/4″. Trim if needed, Flip and press lightly but don’t press the batting directly as I found mine would shrink a lot.

I’ve sized the pieces large so you will have some trimming to do.

Start adding strips beneath the heel piece. Sew 1/4″. Trim if needed. Flip and press.

When laying the first strip down, put it at the angle you want it to be making sure you catch all the fabric below it in the seam allowance.

Keep doing this until you get about 1.5-2″ from the edge of toe.

Add the toe piece.

Continue adding rows above the heel all the way to the top. Adjust the angles of the strips if needed. The top strip doesn’t have to align with the fabric on its underside. Just make sure you are catching the lower fabric in the seam allowance. Trim seam, press, flip, and continue all the way to the top.

You can change the angle.

Continue all the way to the top

Turn over stocking and use the backing as a guide to trim the front pieces.

Turn it over and follow the backing as a guide

Now it looks like a stocking

With right sides together, pin back onto quilted front.

Sew 1/2″ all along the sides and bottom but NOT the top edge. Zig zag raw edges or use a serger to join the pieces. Clip the two inner curves.

Clip the two inner curves as noted on the pattern. Clip close to the seam but not too close.

Turn right side out rounding out the heel and toes parts with your hand or blunt object.

There it is all turned right side out. Look how it puffs up just waiting to be filled with goodies!

The Hanging Loop:

Fold the 2.5″ x 6″ piece in half lengthwise and press. Unfold and take each side and fold it to meet the middle crease. Press the outside edges.

Now bring both halves together and press. After pressing, sew close to the edge.

Fold loop in half and stitch across raw ends to secure them in place. This is tricky and they want to stray, just take it slow and it will go.

I find adding this little row of stitching just above those raw edges on the ends really helps keep the loop aligned as I do the next step.

Pin or glue baste the loop in place at the top inside of the stocking next to the left side seam on the back making the raw edges meet. The loop should be pointing down inside the stocking. Secure with a line or two of stitching about 1/4″ from the edge.

Cuff:

Fold the cuff in half with the short edges together and stitch a 1/2″ seam.

Press seam to side and fold in half with wrong sides together to form a circle. Press so cuff seam is in the middle of the back.

Pin cuff inside the stocking matching the top edge. The pressed cuff seams will match with the stocking seams.

Sew a 1/2″ seam and zig zag or serge. Turn cuff right side out.

Add some trim if you like. Pom poms would be nice. I sewed ric rac along the bottom edge. I’ve always liked ric rac. Do you?

Isn’t it cute!

This stocking is 7.5″ wide and 9″ long with a 4.5″ opening.

This stocking is stuffed! Come back on Wednesday, as I begin to reveal the first of many surprises it holds.

Part Two: So the Kids Want to Make Something, too!

Child’s Project: Ring Wreath

Here’s the one I made. Well, I am young at heart. Does that count?

What you will need:

Metal canning jar rings (I used the regular size)

Since these were rusty

my husband spray painted them.

Since my jar rings were rather rusty, my husband spray painted them ahead of time for me. He was being a very helpful Tu-Na helper.
Fabric cut into 3/4″ x 6″ strips (I used 30 for my ring but the kids used less.)
Although I brought my rotary cutter and a small mat along to the lake, I forgot the ruler. It was then impossible for me to cut them into straight strips, so I just eyeballed them and cut them with a scissors.

• One fabric string cut 1/4″ x 16″ for the hanging loop or you could use twine, string, yarn, or jute.

Directions:

Show your little ones how to tie a fabric strip around the ring and pull it tight. Keep adding strips, pushing them tightly against the previously tied one.

Here’s my 8 year old grandson working on his.

After about 1/4 done around the ring, he was ready for a break.

My two year old grandson picked out the reindeer strips and handed them to me to tie.

The little ones also just wrapped the strips around the rings. But that’s ok, they had fun and later their mommies finished the rings for themselves.

Sometimes they were worn as arm bands.

When the ring is filled, push aside a couple of ties so you can tie the 1/4″ x 16″ strip (or string) around the ring for the hanging loop.

Then add a second knot further up creating the loop.

“Ah, mommy, yours is so nice.”

“But I think I like it better as an arm band. Hey, mom, look at my new fit bit.”

Part Three: How You and Your Children Can Enjoy Making Crafts Together:

Make sure your project is appropriate for the age of your child. If it’s too difficult they may become frustrated. If it’s too easy they may lose interest.
Break up the process into small sessions. Young children lose attention quickly. Let them come back to work on the project later.
Don’t expect perfection.
Show how but don’t take over. It may look very different from what you imagined.
If the project is a bit too hard, think of things your child can do to help you.
Be encouraging and offer praise.
Most of all, have fun together.

What I Learned Today:

It doesn’t matter if Christmas comes in December or July, it still catches me by surprise.
Having a summer cold is miserable. I am on week three. Maybe it’s time to visit the doctor.

Question: What gifts do you want to sew this year? I’ve got to sew an apron for sure. My mother-in-law has been asking for one for a couple of years.

Here are the blogs participating in the 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop!

Friday, July 14th, 2017

The 12 Days of Christmas in July Has Arrived—Day One

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