Category: Quilting and Sewing

A year or two ago I saw the MmmCrafts Twelve Days of Christmas felt ornament series for the first time and was smitten.  The colors!  And detail!  I’m drawn lately to work with felt in my sewing, and these patterns are a great way to do it.  The first in the series are the Partridge and Pear felt ornaments.


I purchased the felt pack for all twelve ornaments from Benzie Designs on Etsy .  The patterns themselves I purchased from MmmCrafts in her Etsy shop.
I was nervous about the embroidery, but the patterns have you use a great product that sticks to the felt so you can embroider right on it, then soaks off in water.  So cool!


I actually started my yellow set back in February, but had a mishap with my felt.  The patterns call for a product from Sulky called Sticky Fabri-Solvy.  I ordered some from Amazon when I couldn’t find any locally.  Then I stitched away and soaked my felt to remove the adhesive paper… and it didn’t dissolve. Instead it was sticky with white clumps and smelled strongly of glue.

This was frustrating, but led to the best customer service experience I’ve had in a long time. I found a phone number and called Sulky headquarters.  Imagine my surprise when someone answered the phone!  She explained that the manufacturer had switched glue products without consulting them.  They have repackaged the product with the correct glue as this Stick’n Stitch you see pictured below.  If you order the Fabri-Solvy directly from Sulky, it is also the correct glue.  But there is still some of the bad stuff out there, and she said they often have problems from sellers on Amazon.  It was very informative.  She asked for my address and mailed me a new package of Stick’n Stitch! I was so impressed.


SO, if you ever need Sulky Fabri-Solvy, just pick up a package of Stick’n Stitch.  It’s the same product but sure to work properly.


A couple of weeks ago I opened my box of felt and began again.  I remade the yellow set of ornaments and decided to make the pink version as well.


I now have these four adorable partridge and pear felt ornaments.  My goal is to finish the entire set before Christmas so I’m adding “2019” to the back of each ornament.  I hope it helps me reach my goal!

Every year I picture a calm, relaxed holiday season with gifts wrapped early, festive decor up weeks in advance, beautiful meals for my family, and plenty of time for holiday themed sewing.  Then life intervenes and I’m scrambling yet again.  This year I’m ahead of schedule on at least one thing: my new lone star Christmas tree skirt , which is also the newest pattern in my Etsy shop .

There is a sew along for this pattern, which includes five weekly videos that offer tips and walk you through the steps of making your own tree skirt.  Visit the Lone Star Tree Skirt Sew Along page for more information.


The tree skirt measures 48″ across, uses seven different fabrics in the star, finishes as an octagon, and is a lot of fun to make.  It follows the same basic principles taught in my lone star block tutorial and is a relatively quick project because it’s just one quilt block.


The pattern includes a coloring sheet to plan your fabric placement.  It also includes instructions for making the block into a tree skirt.  I enjoyed mixing up some of my Christmas fabrics in mine.  It features prints from Alison Glass, Alexander Henry, Victoria Findlay Wolfe and Amy Butler.


I quilted mine with an orange peel pattern in the small diamonds and straight lines in the background.


A lone star Christmas tree skirt will be a beautiful addition to your holiday decor, as well as a great gift.


The pattern is available now in my Etsy shop .

Download yours today , and get started on your holiday decor and gifts!