Gifts From the Studio - Patchwork Santa

Last year for the quilt show, Lene made these adorable patchwork Santas for the Star Wares table.  Of course, that led to a plea for a class, so earlier this month we all got together to learn how to make an adorable Santa.

The pattern, from the Quilt in a Day Series, was written by LuAnn Stout.  I love the directions for making Santa out of crazy patch.  For my first attempt I decided to use up one of my Moda Adoring charm packs.  I cut 5" strips of a white on white check and quick pieced them with the charm pieces.  If you leave out the two most neutral cuts, you end up with an 80 square quilt top that measures 36" x 45", the exact amount you need of a cutter quilt for this pattern.  Perfect!

Other options include using an old "cutter quilt."  Some folks were appalled by the idea of cutting up a quilt, but the ones to use are those that are damaged beyond repair in a few places or whose back is so threadbare that it can't be saved.  In those cases, you are giving the quilt a second chance at life instead of hiding it in a closet or even throwing it out. 

Lene's collection of cutter quilts

Suzanne got lucky in the clearance aisle at Kohl's!  She found this beauty for a steal, and expects to get several Santas out of the queen/full size quilt.

Lene says it makes a great assembly line project if you want to make a bunch - she made TEN one year!  It did go together fairly simply and easily, with the only tricky step being when you gather the beard and stitch it to the face.  It took me three tries.  To be fair, I'd only had one cup of coffee.

Face/beard sandwich

In fact, they went together so quickly, that we brought them to our guild meeting just over 48 hours later!

 What gifts are you making this year?  Link up and share!




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