Do You Want to Sew Snowman?

All the steps to making this quilt may be found in this link:

Snowman in the Cabin Window Quilt Along

My Quilt was started Here in 2016

It is time to hang this quilt for our snowy season.

I am thinking of making a new version of this quilt in the New Year.

Would you be interested in sewing along with a 

new Quiltalong for this quilt in January, 2021?

Do You Want To Sew A Snowman Quilt?

Snowman In the Cabin Quilt Tutorial

This free quilt tutorial and sew along 

can be found year round 

in the green toolbar at the top on my blog.

I am working today on the finishing touches for my blog post

for the upcoming

Black & White Blog Hop

coming soon at

Creatin' in the Sticks

This favorite black and white quilt 

is warming my walls in my cold New England home.

Sew do you want to sew a snowman? 

Playing in New Snow with my Snowman Quilt!

It snowed again here yesterday and last night.

I ventured out when the sun attempted to break through the winter gray

to  play in the snow  with my

Snowmen in the Cabin Window Quilt

and to see if I could get a better photo of my quilt.

This photo may be better but it does not really show the crisp whiteness on black.

I love this quilt! 

I had a question from a reader about the quilting on this quilt.

So here is what I did: 

First I  trimmed the quilt square and sandwiched it.

I smooth the top and backing fabric to the batting from the center to the all the edges.

I press it lightly being careful to not touch iron to the batting.

I do not use pins.

I never pin, even for large quilts.

 I stitched in the ditch along the long seams where the blocks meet

then around the inner border,

then around the outer edge 1/8" of an inch from the edge of the top.

Then I went back to fill in the rest of the quilting ...

I quilted with my walking foot around the logs in the blocks from the outer strips inward.

It would have been hard to quilt the center square with the buttons on without this heavy duty  foot that I could lift over the buttons.

In retrospect, it might have been easier to sew the buttons on after the quilting was completed,

but I enjoyed seeing the happy snowmen faces while I worked and stitching buttons on though the batting may have been difficult for my hands.

I added the "snowflakes" with my walking foot.

I stitched forward and back through a center point in three lines to make six points.

Here is the quilting on the blocks.

For the border,  I added some snowflakes to the wheel design in the print.

Then with my walking foot I added long wavy lines around the snowflakes to suggest swirling snow.

So this was quilted entirely by my walking foot.

The backing fabric is a bold black and white zig zag  from  Caleb Gray

The binding is the same solid black as the night sky in the snowmen block centers.

This quilt measures 41" square finished.

The perfect size for a WOF backing.

Did I tell you how much I love this quilt?

For all the step by steps of how I make this quilt.

Click HERE for my Free Quiltalong Tutorial

If you sew, please share you quilt with me!

Linking up today with all the beautiful quiltiness

@

Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story

:) 

It is Snowing!

It is snowing!

The view from my back window.

Earlier, the birds were on the feeders that are here filled with snow now.

This is a very wet heavy snow and you can see a long branch from our tallest white pine 

down on the ground in this photo.  

Fortunately, it did not do any damage.

It missed the metal frame from which our garden swing hangs in the summer.

We take the swing in for the winter

but the frame is too big and is secured in the ground.

Hopefully,  no more branches will fall.

This is not a big storm for where I live but the schools and many businesses are closed.

The indomitable snow man went out to clear the steps, shake the snow off the feeders.

You can see the birds on the roof behind him on their way back to the feeders.

Here you can see them peeping out of the bushes waiting for me 

and my camera to let them eat in peace.

This is the only kind of "snow man" that will be in my yard today.

The birds came in flocks as soon we went inside.

I am adding snow to my snowman quilting.

My snowmen are happy. 

It is a good day to stay in and quilt.

Hope to have this quilt done today.

May you stay safe and warm, quilty and happy wherever you are.

:) 

Quilting my Snowman in the Cabin Window Quilt

I am quilting.

It is raining and gloomy and dark in my house today.

These are the only snowmen I am making here right now.

I am okay with that.  We had more than enough snow last year for this year, too.

I am really enjoying making this quilt.

If you would like to brighten your winter days and make one, too ...

Click Here for my Free "Snowman in the Cabin Window" Quilt Tutorial

A word about sewing on button embellishments before quilting:

You may need to have a heavy duty walking foot like this one on my Janome 

that you can lift and go over the buttons to get those close stitches.

I love my sewing machine.

These happy little snowmen faces make me smile as I quilt.

Linking up today with all the pretty projects

@

Sew Fresh Quilts

:-) 

Snowman in the Cabin Blocks Done!

My 9 Snowman in the Cabin Blocks Done!

I have enough blocks now for the wall hanging that I have planned.

These smiling faces were waiting for me when I got up today.

Last night I did the hand sewing of the button eyes and details.

Sewing the embellishments on before finishing the piecing does mean extra care while sewing and pressing, 

but I enjoyed seeing that cute snowmen faces while I worked.

I lined up my blocks and sewed one round at a time.

I trim and square my blocks after each round.

I find this keeps my blocks looking square and to size.

Here are my last nine blocks:



Block 4



Block 5



Block 6



Block 7



Block 8



Block 9

I had a lot of fun making these blocks!

I am going to study the placement and layout on my design wall for a day or two
to see if I want to add sashing and to decide on my outer border fabric.

Hope to be quilting it by the weekend.

A Good Morning of Sewing!

The last six Snowman Applique Centers are Done !

These are for my

Snowman in the Cabin Window Quilt

that I started HERE

To streamline the process, I like to use an "assembly line" method

so I made the last 6 center blocks one step at a time.

First I cut the 6" circles for the heads and appliqued them down.

My applique technique is improving!

I set my machine to a small stitch and it looks neat.

I change colored threads as I went along to minimize the thread changes.

I did the carrot noses last.

Ready to sew on the button eyes and mouths!

Then on to assembly lining the log cabins.

This morning, I also made ...

Today's 365 Challenge Block

3.5" unfinished

I am pretty happy with how this one came out

and it took me less than a half hour from cutting to pressing.

I can do this!

It has been a productive day of sewing so far.

I hope to have the snowman blocks completed tonight and ready to piece into the top.

Have a happy, quilty day!

:)

Snowman in the Cabin Window ~ Block 3

Here is Block # 3 

These are 10.5" unfinished blocks.

For this snowman I drew a hat template.

Since the center snowman square finishes at 4" in the block, it is important
to keep these dimensions in mind when cutting the applique pieces.

I cut a strip of the end of one of my 6" white applique circles
to cover the bottom third of my 4.5" black center square.

 Then I cut and laid out my strips on my machine table.

I sewed in rounds starting at the top and moving clockwise around the black square.

A word about 1/4 inch seams:

It is very important to check your seam size to be sure your blocks will measure to size.

I have to make a small needle adjustment to the left on my Janome 

to get an accurate 1/4 inch seam.

If your block measures too small or too large, check your seam widths. 

I check each block with my quilter's square to be sure it measures 10.5" 

If you missed any of the blocks in this series:

Here is Block #1

Here is Block #2

For Block 4, I will be using a different cutting method for log cabin blocks.

Block # 4 coming soon!

Is anyone sewing along with me?

I would love to see your  snowman blocks!

:)