Here's my version of the advent calendar that I saw at Oh, Fransson!. (You can see my November version here.) Elizabeth is such a precise quilter. Make sure you scroll through her blog--she makes beautiful quilts!
My old advent calendar was missing some pieces, and was probably 7 years old or so. Time for a new one. When I saw Elizabeth's I knew it would work great for my family. I mean, POCKETS that actually hold something?! Brilliant! Also, love the fact that the numbers are jumbled up.
I think I'll be putting in a treat, a scripture verse to read, and the name of a Christmas book for our nightly reading. Hopefully the kiddos will be as excited as I am about it.
The fabric I used is called Frosted Memories from Moda.
This piece was from my stash. I used it for the backing and binding. I'm embarrassed to stay that I've had it for.ev.er! I decided it was high time it got used.
I think the sheet music lines make a nice subtle bit of interest on the binding.
Here are the slight changes I made:
1. I cheated and used 2 charm packs (which are 5 inch pre-cuts) instead of cutting out all those 4.5 inch squares. The charms worked great, but I had to dig into my stash for a few remaining fabrics to finish it off. If you don't have a big stash, I would suggest buying 3 charm packs to get the 96 total squares.
2. I didn't stagger my pockets (my brain can't do staggering) so I used 1.5 inch sashings on all sides.
3. I added a 2 inch border to the whole outside to give it a little more presence.
Emily, what a great calender. I am sure the children will love it. Mine would!
ReplyDeleteHah - this is great. I just bought Moda's Figgy Pudding charm pack to do the same thing. But I wasn't looking forward to the offset sashing. Did you cut your squares down to 4.5" or just use them as 5"? And your sashing - was it 1.5" cut or sewn? It turned out really well and the proportions look great. I found your blog from your etsy site - I am contemplating some train fabric for my grandpa's duvet. He has dementia and one of his strongest memories is working on the steam engines :). Keep up the helpful blog.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
sherry
Wow, that is such a neat idea! Love the fabrics you used :)
ReplyDeleteI did not cut the charms down--left them 5 inches. The 1.5 inches for the sashing was BEFORE sewing. Good lUck!
ReplyDeleteThis looks great! I like it better than the original actually. :D I would go your route as well, charms are the perfect answer to this project!
ReplyDeletenice job!! and props for using stash on the back... sometimes you just have to use it up somewhere...
ReplyDeleteEm, cute idea! I love the numbers all mixed up. This particular charm pack is fabulous. Not to Christmas-ie, but still very festive. Tiffany
ReplyDeleteI am just going to start mine right now! Hopefully I will get it done by Dec 1. I like your charm pack idea- too bad I didn't think of that before buying fabric!
ReplyDelete