Make It Merry Wreath Completion

In my previous post on 10/20/26 I cited my remaining tasks. They included: 1) fill in FMQ, 2) decide a name, 3) make labels, 4) bind the quilt, and 5) take photos. This post covers my addressing those completion tasks.

Fill-in FMQ 

A secondary pattern formed beyond the white area in the center of the wreath. It looked like four "arrows" were pointing inward. Their emptiness called out to me. Also just beyond the arrows were four diamonds that also seemed a bit naked. With green thread, I put 1¾" diameter circles in the four arrows and 1" diameter circles in the  four diamonds. Then I stopped inspecting and declared the FMQ finished!

These are the  tools I used for those circles. The one on the left helped me visualize what size circles I wanted. Quilting templates have a built- in ¼" allowance for the foot which can sometimes skew judgment of the desired circle size. I used this "green relic" in my engineering training days for drawing on a drafting board (not with a computer) and wondered if they still make these things. Yep. I found The Hole Thing by Creative grids on Shabby Fabrics. Now I won't be so paranoid about misplacing my "green relic" from the 1970s. For actually quilting the desired circles, I used the BIG HQ Swiss Cheese Template on the right. It has the unique 1¾" size that other circle templates do not. It is no longer made by Handiquilter. A workaround is to use a different circle size with echo feet. I have shown the echo feet I own. They come in a ⅜-inch interval, a ½-inch interval, and a ¾-inch interval. The ones Handiquilter offers now look different.

With white thread, I completed holly leaves in the half-quilted blocks in the four corners of the wreath. I also noticed that there was a spot between the tails of the red bow that could use a circle, so I added one.

Decide a Name 

Since there are eight previous blog posts referring to this project as Make It Merry, changing the name on it now would be confusing. The assigned kit name, Make It Merry, although quite valid during the construction of the quilt, seemed to be too vague for use as a long term name.  I spent waaaaay too much time trying brainstorming other options. Here were some proposals: 

Briefly considered, but soon rejected, trying to incorporate ring or round in the name

• RING OF JOY
• MERRY RING
• MERRY GO ROUND
• ROUND ROUND GET AROUND (from the Beach Boys song I Get Around )
• FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS (five golden rings reference)

Given serious consideration based on kit name or getting wreath in name

• MADE IT MERRY (past tense since completed)
• MERRY WREATH
• XMAS WREATH
• MERRY XMAS WREATH

The finalists, both based on Christmas carols

• DECK THE WALLS (reference to Deck the Halls)
• O CHRISTMAS WREATH (reference to O Christmas Tree)

I went with O CHRISTMAS WREATH because, "What if the quilt were spread on a couch instead of being hung on a wall?"

Make the Labels

I made my labels with my Pfaff Triptonic 2040 by embroidering them on pale pink grosgrain. I hand-sewed them on the two lower corners of the quilt before applying the binding.

Bind the Quilt

I'd cut and prepped the 2½" red/white candy stripe binding before I completed my FMQ. I folded it in half and pressed along the long, long length... a step I find tedious. Afterward, I read a tip that stated that binding went on more smoothly if not creased in half. I thought that would only be true for bias binding; but for my last quilt, I had tried the not-pressed technique for cross grain binding and it had worked very well. The outer layer can reach a bit farther around than the inner layer, not constrained by a pre-determined crease. Even though the tip was too late for this quilt (and most other quilts I have made in the past), the creased binding cooperated quite well. I sewed it on the back by hand, after wrapping around from the front. I show a closeup of the binding around a corner.

Finished Quilt

Here are photos of the front and back of the completed O Christmas Wreath. It measures 47" by 47". With more professional lighting at an angle, the quilting probably would have shown up better; however, I have provided an abundance of details of the FMQ in previous posts

This is a closeup of the backing fabric. I love the holly leaves and the splash of pink in the berries. I also like that there are two greens, olive and teal. I did use either white or teal for the bobbin thread so as not to risk bobbles on the top if the tension strays. Upper left has teal and lower right has white and it is barely noticeable on the back.

Finally, I present my attempt at an "artfully draped" photo.

O CHRISTMAS WREATH was an engaging, fun project that I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end. I eagerly anticipated its arrival in the mail each month, and am pleased to report I did not get behind in its construction. These are the links to the eight previous blog posts about me merrily making my Make It Merry kit. 

• 06/14/25 Make It Merry Month ONE star with nine-patch centers (8)
• 06/21/25 Make It Merry Month TWO  3x3 grid stars and 4x4 grid stars (4+4)
• 08/16/25 Make It Merry Month THREE crosses (6+2)
• 09/01/25 Make It Merry Month FOUR on point four patch in center (6), loops on bow (2)
• 10/24/25 Make It Merry Month FIVE  pluses for center (4), red central diamonds (4)
• 10/27/25 Make It Merry Month SIX ribbon tails (2)
• 10/08/26 Assembly and FMQ quilting in green and red areas
• 10/20/26 More FMQ quilting in white areas 
• 10/27/26 Completion of O CHRISTMAS WREATH(this post) naming, labeling, binding