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Saturday, November 14, 2015

Have A Holly Jolly Christmas!

Welcome one and all to my day of Buttermilk Basin's Christmas Joy Blog Hop!  
I'm so glad you came for a little visit!!

As the days are shorter, and the temperatures are getting colder, you can feel the Holidays in the air!  Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and after we take time to count our blessings, Christmas preparations will be in full force!

We've all created projects for your stitching pleasure to ring in the cheer!  Here's my gift to you this holiday season.

Holly Jolly
With a sprig of holly & berries, my Holly Jolly Santa is a pretty quick stitch.  It would be very easy to make a bunch for hand-made gifts this season!  And...there's just nothing better than that.  

Construction is pretty straight forward with the exception of the stitching I added in his beard and hat brim.  (Back to that in a moment.)  You might notice that I use a whip stitch instead of blanket stitch.  For reasons I really don't understand myself, I don't enjoy blanket stitching, and I truly have a love of the needle and just about all stitches, but just don't care for it.  So....I gave myself permission a while ago to do a whip stitch instead, and am very pleased with the results.  

Last year, I learned a really cool technique from my pal, Kathy Cardiff (of Cottage at Cardiff Farms) that I love for adding top stitches to pieces like this.  Allow me to repeat what Kathy taught us all last year on the blog hop.


After all my whip stitches were done, I traced the stem and berries, and Santa's beard wisps, onto Glad Press 'N Seal with a fine point Sharpie marker.  Allow to thoroughly dry.  Press onto the wool where you want to stitch, and stitch right through the plastic wrap!   


All the stitches are right where I wanted them to be!  Then, carefully tear away the plastic wrap.  Perfect!  Easy!!  Love this technique!  Thanks, Kathy for sharing this with us all. 

Click here for a downloadable, printable pattern.

True confession time....I've have not had the time I really wanted to properly finish my Holly Jolly, and so I Photo Shopped a frame around him for now.  Next week, I'll be able to finish him the way I really want to, and I'll share photos once he's all done.  You can make him into a pillow, pinkeep or frame him...whatever you'd like!  What will you do with your Holly Jolly??



The recipe I chose to share is Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms.  This new family favorite was discovered by my daughter, Nicki, and is absolutely delish!!  It's easy,and wonderful, and gone in a hot second, and we are always asked to share the recipe.  I hope you enjoy it sometime during your many holiday get-togethers!  
I also promised to pick a winner for a Fat Eighth bundle from my fabric collections (Marcus Fabrics) from all of the comments I received about my FREE Pocket Patchwork Sew-along called Tucker.  

Ruth is the winner, and she commented....

I love Tucker and can see how leaving the batting out would work well for some displays. I have a box full of 1 1/2" pieces just ready for a project like this. 

Congratulations, Ruth!  Please email me at Pam@HeartspunQuilts.com, and I'll have your bundle on its way to you mucho pronto.

If you'd like to know more about my FREE Pocket Patchwork Sew-Along, Tucker, click here.
Thanks so much for visiting me today, and I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving, and blessed holiday season.  

Find some time for the stitching that feeds your soul........

19 comments:

  1. What a cute Santa pattern. The recipe also sounds tasty. Thank you for both. Congrats to Ruth on winning the fat eighth bundle. Soon the holidays will be here ;)

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  2. I couldn't wait to get up this morning to see what your, "CHRISTMAS JOY" project would be !!! YOUR SANTA IS DELICIOUS, I can't wait to go make him!!!

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  4. Thank you so very much for this cute santa .

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  5. I think this is my favorite,, oh, I loved the feather tree and the red truck ,and the note box, phsssst! I loved them all. Thanks for the Santa, he is so cute. Amazing designers.. So generous.. Mushrooms sound yummy too. Have a great holiday..

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  6. This is an adorable Santa pattern. Thank you for sharing it.

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  7. Thanks for the very cute Santa pattern and yummy recipe. (I don't like the blanket stitch myself so will give your method a try).

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  8. Very cute Santa--I think he makes a great pinkeep! Thanks, Pam!!

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  9. Thank you very much for the jolly Santa pattern, Pam. Merry Christmas!

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  10. Love this santa, and thanks you for the tip on the wrap. crystalbluern at tds dot net

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  11. I love this Santa!! Thank you for the tips too... I see more and more felt projects using whip stitch - you're not alone in not liking blanket stitch!

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  12. Thank you for the Santa and the recipe!

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  13. Thank you for the wonderful Santa pattern, and, I also love to whip stitch my sewing and do not favor the blanket stitch. Not sure why but it's good to know there is more than 1 way to get somethng accomplished.

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  14. Thank you for this great Santa Pam! The mushrooms sound delicious. I will for sure give those a try too.

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  15. Thanks, Pam for this sweet Santa. I will have to make a few for Christmas gifts. So cute.

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  16. Your Santa is darling -- and the tip with the press and seal is great, thank you! I just went back and read through all the Tucker posts. What a darling quilt and an amazing idea! Thank you for sharing so generously of your talent! :)

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  17. He is TOOOO Cute! Thank you so much for sharing him.
    Carol O

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  18. This fantastic technique is amazing. I never though it could be so easy to add needed stitches in a right way. Besides this Santa is very cute)

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