Snowmen and Santas, Part II

In this earlier post, I started working on a fun little mini quilt using 3-inch paper pieced blocks designed by Carol Doak.

I assembled the project and put the finishing touches on it this week.

First, I used 2 of the snowmen blocks and 2 of the Santa blocks and alternated them to make a little square.

Alternating Snowmen and Santa Blocks

Next, I decided to add a larger white print border to the blocks so that it resembled a window frame. The project needed a little more pizzazz, so I hand-embroidered french knots and dashes around the blocks and then added the words “Merry” and “Christmas.” A small darker blue outer border completed the look:

Snowman and Santa Mini Quilt

I used my regular Bernina to do some light quilting – mostly a few free-hand snowflakes around the inner white border. I used brown embroidery floss to make french knots for eyes on both the snowmen and the Santas. I used mini red buttons on each snowman and a larger white snowflake button in the middle.

To finish it off, I used the same dark blue print for the binding and stitched it down.

The mini quilt is about 11 inches by 11 inches finished and fits perfectly into a little table top stand:

Completed Snowmen and Santa Mini Quilt

I’m pretty happy with the end result, but I think I’ll add little embroidered noses to the Santa blocks to separate the face from the beard a bit more.

Here’s a closeup of the finished project:

Snowmen and Santas Close-Up

I hope you enjoyed following this quick and easy holiday project!

Happy paper piecing!
~Jennifer

Saturday Snowmen and Santas, Part I

This past Saturday, I spent an enjoyable afternoon paper piecing little snowmen and Santa blocks. I have a idea for a mini quilt for some of the blocks; for others, I may use them in a holiday swap. The blocks will be 3 inches finished once they are sewn together.

Here’s a little grouping of snowmen:

Snowmen Blocks

I really love the contrast between the dark blue sky print and the snowman. Plus, both fabrics appear to have snowflakes falling so I think it looks pretty cute together.

Here’s a closeup:

Snowman Closeup

I used small pieces of orange wool felt for the noses and appliqued them to the snowmen. The eyes and other details will be added after quilting is completed.

This block is designed by Carol Doak and is currently available in the Free Patterns section of her website!!

I made 6 snowmen, but I was only able to finish 2 Santa blocks. I will work on more a little later. These blocks also turned out pretty darned cute!

Santa Blocks

The Santa block is from Carol’s book, Easy Paper-Pieced Keepsake Quilts. I believe she also just designed another Santa block for those of us on her Yahoo Group so go check it out!

My plan is to work on my Snowman and Santa mini wall hanging idea this week so hopefully I’ll have more pictures to share with you soon.

Happy quilting!
~Jennifer