January Snowmen and Snowflakes

The January Pieceful Patchwork banner kit from Shabby Fabrics featured two jaunty snowmen who sport top hats with coal eyes and a carrot nose along with two snowflakes that are simpler to assembly than their intricate demeanor would imply. For some inexplicable reason, I have a soft spot for fabrics with words, so I am pleased with the snowmen background. When I cut out the fabric from this kit, I paid little attention to fabric print details. When I pieced the snowmen, I did make sure the writing faced the same direction, but I did not fussy cut anything in particular. 

I used my Melamine Trays, Alphabitties and Clover Wonder Clips to organize the cut pieces for the snowmen and snowflakes.

Adding the carrot and coal facial features was very easy. They were pre-cut by a laser and had a pre-fused backing. They punched out easily from the sheet they were on. After using a light box to help establish the positioning, I ironed on the features seamlessly. Per the advice on the instructional video, I waited to add appliqué stitching on the carrot nose and on the coal eyes and mouth until after the surrounding background pieces had been added. Waiting avoided the chance that the appliqué could distort the face piece. I was careful to use a narrow satin stitch width and a not too-too small stitch length and both faces remained smooth and did not pucker.

After assembling the snowflakes I did note that the nordic stripe print happened to fall centered in some spokes and not centered in others. Had I noticed this earlier I would have fussy cut that print. The kits from Shabby Fabrics are generous in their fabrics, allowing for occasional mistakes, so there was sufficient fabric to have fussy cut. I just did not notice until the snowflakes were assembled. Here the two snowflakes are side by side. The one on the left has centered stars on the horizontal spokes and on the lower vertical spoke, but the upper vertical spoke has non-centered stars. The reverse is true of the snowflake on the right, centered on only one spoke and non-centered on the other three spokes. It occurred to me I could switch the two top halves and have each snowflake be self-consistent.

I unstitched the two top halves and interchanged them; here are the two revised snowflakes. Each is axisymmetric unto itself but they are different from each other. Anyway, isn't it theorized that no two snowflakes are exactly alike?

Here is the January banner assembled and sandwiched with sashing and borders. Next up is the FMQ. I had inspiration for the snowflakes but I am still contemplating FMQ on the snowmen.

Velvet Christmas Stocking

Yes, it is after Christmas but sometimes when I set aside seasonal items to pursue at a more appropriate time of year, I forget about them or can't remember where I've put them. This kit was for a Christmas stocking with coordinating ornaments created by French designer odille bailloeul.

I love the brilliant colors and the very gypsy-like vibe of the work of this designer. I first learned about odile bailloeoul at the Road2CA show I attended in January of 2018. She has an online boutique of her own but I have bought her designs also from Renaissance Ribbons. One of the ribbons she designed shows a gypsy caravan wagon and I wonder if this is the an homage to a colorful, vivacious, flamboyant gypsy background. The moniker "gypsy" can be construed in a negative sense, such as in the song made famous by Cher; but I take only the best feelings of joyfulness and gay abandon from the gypsy-associated symbol. Gypsy to me means happy, fun-loving, and free-spirited. 

 

This kit is made from a heavy 100% polyester velvet, luxurious to the touch and striking for the eyes. It whipped up quickly. I admit, I also feel a bit smug that the directions were in French and I still could follow them. The self-cuff at the top came from a clever way to double and fold over the edge. The shocking lime fringe was added afterward. The ball detail at the pointy toe makes me giggle.

2026 Quilting Goals

Since it is the end of January, it is high time I set out my intentions for 2026. In 2025, I repeated three goals from previous years. The trio of guidelines can be summarized:

• Work from my stash (kit and scrap management)
• Intersperse small projects among big ones (fun, growth, satisfaction)
• Interface with other quilters (social)

But in 2026, still in keeping with the above framework of three, I plan to cite the following specific projects. This list may sound very ambitious, but hopefully, by being more specific, I will get these items off my mind, subsequently feeling accountable and accomplished. I think the third item will be the most challenging for me. It will be my one big item interspersed among my smaller ones.

ONE
Participate in a decluttering challenge.

TWO
Make up at least three out of seven Pieceful Patchwork kits
January, April, July, September, October, November, December

THREE
Join eleven Sewcialites Megablocks into quilt. Five years is too long for this project to be hanging around, haunting me. Now that I finally bought a pink fabric for the sashing, I can move this UFO forward. Of course there is always the possibility I can look at this collection of blocks from a cute fat quarter bundle and wonder, "Whatever was I thinking...?"

The first six MegaBlocks (post dated 6/1/21) were made from Sewcialites Quilt Along blocks
6/21/21 https://dianeloves2quilt.blogspot.com/2021/06/sewcializing-megablocks.html
Spirited, Cheer, Virtue, Gratitude, Steadfast, and Delight

The next five MegaBlocks (this post dated 7/29/21) were made from Sewcialites Quilt Along blocks
7/29/21 https://dianeloves2quilt.blogspot.com/2021/07/sewcializing-more-megablocks.html
Faithful, Harmony, Peace, Sincere, and Serenity.

FOUR
Crochet Woobles for Grandson

FIVE
Complete at least one community quilt for Cut-Ups.

Six Placemats

My daughter sent me yardage of a Hoffman Spectrum Digital print titled Wanderlust Rome (ProductID: ZF-PAN-Q4441-339) and asked that I make placemats from it. The fabric is printed "sideways", in that the selvages are at the top and bottom of the following image. The horizontal repeat I measured as 17¼" is shown.  I cut the yardage horizontally (along the grain) into three 14" high bands each the ~2 yard length of fabric.

Each band I cut into 17¼" wide rectangles, but I offset them so each placemat would have a centered building, either the Capitol (from the top band) or the Coliseum (from the middle band). To center the Capitol on each of the placemats, I had to shift the band sideways, out of alignment from originally printed, and seam two partial Capitols to make one centered one; but the print was busy enough the seam was well camouflaged. I let the flowers of the bottom band fall where they may. I used the self-binding method where a backing fabric I supplied wrapped to the front and resulted in a narrow ½" border. Sandwiched between the front and backing was a layer of bamboo batting. Here are three of the six placemats prior to quilting.

The quilting pattern I used is right out of Angela Walter's free motion quilting book Shape by Shape. It shows up much better on the back. The petaled squares add a nice texture to the front without obscuring or distracting from the color-washed print.

With the leftovers from the horizontal band and leftover backing fabric there was enough to cut out six 14" squares. They will make matching napkins with serged edges. Since I do not have a serger, my daughter will do that part.