Swell Santa

I immediately fell in love with the Moda Swell Christmas Santa kits when they were revealed at market.  I pre-ordered 2 kits and patiently waited for them to be delivered.  (Is it just me or sometimes does the time between market reveals and market arrivals seem forever?!?!) Once the kits arrived I finished what I was working on and started some fun Christmas in July sewing. 

I admit to being warned about the size of that Santa head, but it wasn't until I took it out of the box that I truly appreciated its ginormousness.

 I always prep my jelly roll strips, just a good spraying of starch then an overnight stay on my drying racks.  And yes, the strips do shrink, some more than others, although I have no explanation as to why.  I am jelly rolled challenged and trim my strips down, so a little shrinkage does not bother me.  I am never able to get the required width when sewing untrimmed strips together.  I think the strips are to be lined up and sewn tougher using the outermost pointed edge, which I tend to miss.

So I trimmed my strips to 2 1/4" wide.

This resulted in a finished log cabin block of 12 1/4", the pattern block finished at 14".

Since my blocks were smaller I made my quilt top larger, going with 6 rows of 5 blocks and not the 5 rows of 4 blocks from the pattern.

Before sewing the log cabin blocks together I lined up where I thought I would place the ginormous Santa head.

Then I replaced the pieced log cabin blocks completely covered by the ginormous Santa head with some leftover white fabric.   I just didn't see the point of sewing over such cute pieced blocks.

When it came to appliquéing the ginormous Santa head into place I followed the pattern instructions exactly.  Except I added nonadhesive stabilizer to the back for my machine appliqué stitches.

I took my time and used a large table to pin the ginormous Santa head into place before setting the fusible.  I started pinning from the center and worked my way out.

I was worried about this step in the project but it all worked out perfectly, no wrinkles, just a nice flat Santa head.   If you look closely you can see the remaining pieced blocks showing through Santa.

But once the back was trimmed away he looked perfect.  I trimmed within an 1/2" of the seam.

And here he is, a quilt so nice I made it twice.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 228 and 229

Each quilt finished at 62" x 74 1/2"

The fabric is Swell Christmas by Urban Chiks

Each quilt has approximately 310 pieces. 

All I had to work with was the two kits, I added no yardage.  And even though I trimmed my strips and made more blocks I had all these strips left over.

One quilt will be donated to my local hospital's annual Festival of Trees fund raiser, the other one a nice Christmas gift for a friend or family member.

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Amplified - A Red and White Finish

Another Red and White Quilt for my collection, my 12th.  I use red in a lot of my quilts, but "only" 12 have just red and white/cream fabric.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 230

The pattern is Amplified by Ron Doan

It finished at 50" x 60"

It has approximately 138 pieces

The red fabric is 9900-16 Christmas Red and the white fabric is 9900-98 White Bleached, both Moda Bella Solids. 

The pattern uses black binding but I'm thinking of sticking with the red.

I found the pattern in this book by Missouri Star Quilt Co.

It's Mod Block Volume #4.  I love these little Missiouri Star books, they run around $6 each and provide more than just quilt patterns.  Check them out if they are new to you, they offer a wide assortment of styles and themes and information worth more than their $6 price.

It took one afternoon to piece the blocks and another afternoon to sew them together.   Not much effort for a quilt with a lot of pizzazz.  I think it's a nice addition to my red and white quilt collection.

I enjoyed working with the red and white fabric so much I may piece another one.

This quilt has been on my to do list for ages, maybe this is the summer I get it done.

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