Rudolph quilt block & tutorial

Merry Christmas! I have a fun little Christmas project I've been working on, and I thought I'd share with you. I found a sweet (free!) reindeer knitting pattern on Pinterest, and modified it just a bit to make a cute little Rudolph quilt block.

Originally, I wanted to make this cute reindeer for the main part of a stocking, but with 1/2" finished pieces, it was still 8" x 8 1/2" finished, and I thought that was a little bit big for a stocking. Who wants to fill a stocking that big? :) So, instead, I think I'll make a cute little wall hanging à la Lori Holt, but I'm finishing up enough projects right now, I'm sure I'll have to do it another time. Possibly next year? We'll see...

FABRIC REQUIREMENTS: I just used scraps for my little reindeer, but I'm sure you could a couple or three reindeer out of 1/8 yd. (or fat eighth) of background fabric and 1/8 yd. (or one fat eighth) of red fabric. I prefer the body of the reindeer to be all one color, but you could make him in a different color (green or brown or anything), or make his horns brown and his feet black, or even make him really scrappy – I think he'll be cute however you make him!

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS: Just cut one of each piece, unless otherwise specified.

RED:
1” square – cut three
1” x 1 ½” – cut two
1 ½” x 2 ½”
1” square – cut two
1” x 1 ½” – cut three
1” x 2 ½”
1” x 2” – cut two
2” x 4 ½”

WHITE:
1” square – cut four
1” x 1 ½”
1” x 2” – cut four
1 ½” x 2” – cut two
1 ½” x 2 ½” – cut two
2” square – cut two
2” x 3”
2” x 3 ½”
2” x 4”

ASSEMBLY: I made this one section at a time, and put it together log-cabin style, attaching each section clockwise around the center section as I went along. That's how I wrote these instructions, but you could also assemble the sections individually and sew them all together at the end. The section assembly will be preceded by an asterisk, so you can leave those instructions for the end if you'd rather.

SECTION 1:

RED:
1” x 2”
1 ½” x 2 ½”
2” x 4 ½”

WHITE:
1” x 2”
2” x 3 ½”

1. Sew red 1” x 2” to white 1” x 2” , along the short side.
2. Sew white 2” x 3 ½” to bottom of unit; orient so the red section is in the top left corner.
3. Sew red 1 ½” x 2 ½” to left of unit.
4. Sew red 2” x 4 ½” to bottom of unit.

 

SECTION 2:

RED:
1” x 1 ½”

WHITE:
1” x 1 ½”
1 ½” x 2 ½”
2” square

1. Sew red 1” x 1 ½” to white 1” x 1 ½”, along the short side.
2. Sew white 1 ½” x 2 ½” to right of unit; orient so the red section is in the top left corner.
3. Sew white 2” square to top of unit.

* Sew SECTION 2 to the right of SECTION 1.

SECTION 3:

RED:
1” square
1” x 1 ½”
1” x 2”

WHITE:
1” square
1” x 2”
1 ½” x 2”
2” x 4”

1. Sew red 1” x 1 ½” to the top of white 1 ½” x 2”. Sew this unit to right of white 2” x 4”; orient so the red section is in the top right corner.
2. Sew red 1” x 2” to top of white 1” square. Sew this unit to right of previous unit; orient so red parts connect.
3. Sew white 1” x 2” to top of red 1” square. Sew this unit to right of previous unit; orient so red square is in bottom right corner.

*Sew SECTION 3 to bottom of SECTIONS 1 & 2.

SECTION 4:

RED:
(3) 1” square
1 x 1 ½”
1” x 2 ½”

WHITE:
(2) 1” square
1” x 2”
1 ½” x 2 ½”

1. Sew white 1” square to left of red 1” square. Sew to bottom of red 1 x 1 ½”; orient white square to bottom left corner.
2. Sew white 1 ½” x 2 ½” to bottom of unit.
3. Sew red 1” square to top of white 1” x 2”. Sew red 1” x 2 ½” to left of THIS unit. Sew this unit to bottom of previous unit.
4. Sew white 1” square to left of red 1” square. Sew to bottom of unit.

*Sew SECTION 4 to left of SECTIONS 1-3.

SECTION 5:

RED:
1” square
(2) 1” x 1 ½”

WHITE:
1” square
1” x 2”
1 ½” x 2”
2” square
2” x 3”

1. Sew white 1” square to top of red 1” x 1 ½”. Sew this unit to right of white 2” square; orient red section to bottom right corner.
2. Sew red 1” square to left of white 1” x 2”; this is the top of this unit. Sew white 1 ½” x 2” to left of red 1” x 1 ½”; this is the bottom of this unit. Sew top of this unit to bottom of this unit, so red square is in top left corner and red rectangle is in bottom right corner. Sew this unit to right of previous unit.
3. Sew white 2” x 3” to right of previous unit.

*Sew SECTION 5 to top of SECTIONS 1-4.

You're done!!  Don't worry if he looks a little funny at this point -- adding a 1/4" seam allowance to a 1/2" square makes things look way out of proportion, but when you put him in a quilt he'll look all right. :)



And, just for fun, I thought I'd change things up just a little bit, and give old Rudolph a scarf. 

 

Isn't he even cuter?!  And the change is only to SECTION 1, so here are the new cutting instructions and assembly instructions.

SECTION 1:

RED:
(2) 1” x 2”
1 ½” x 2”
2” x 3 ½”

GREEN:
1” x 2”
1” x 3”

WHITE:
1 ½” x 2”
2” x 2 ½”

1. Sew red 1” x 2” to top of white 1 ½” x 2”. Sew to right of red 1 ½” x 2”; orient white rectangle to bottom right corner.
2. Sew green 1” x 3” to bottom of unit.
3. Sew white 2” x 2 ½” to right of unit.
4. Sew red 1” x 2” to left of green 1” x 2”. Sew red 2” x 3 ½” to right of THIS unit. Sew this unit to bottom of previous unit.

Proceed with all other instructions as described previously.


I hope you like this project -- and if you make a little reindeer, please let me know!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Keeping It Real

I bet you thought I was going to show you my super messy laundry room, didn't you? Fooled you! I'm talking today about seasons (as in, the seasons of our lives) and my goals. So, here's a little piece of what I've been working on lately...

When I had my babies, I really wanted to make them baby quilts.  And that's as far as I went. I made them quilts because that's just what you do -- at least, if you're in my family, you do. (Or you might buy a quilt or have one made by a family member - but you get the picture.) It's just something that happens when there's a baby, like getting a crib or a car seat.  Right? :) I just didn't know any better, so that's what I did. And I enjoyed the process -- until it got to the quilting. I learned to quilt by hand, in a time when NOBODY quilted by machine, not even a longarm. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't cool, it was too expensive -- if you really cared about someone, you would quilt it by hand.  If you were doing a quick project, you could tie it, but NOBODY quilted by machine. And I didn't even know there was another option with my first three children. So, I would find out the gender, make up a baby quilt, and at 8 1/2 months, hand quilt my baby's quilt. Let me tell you, it was NOT comfortable. But the baby needed that quilt!  And I got all of them done on time.  I think.  You forget a lot of things after you have that baby, but I don't remember feeling guilty about it, so I must have been done, right?

After I had my fourth baby (his baby quilt was taken to a quilt shop and machine quilted -- and I loved it so so much!), we had our biggest gap ever between babies.  I felt so liberated -- for a couple of months, we didn't have anyone in diapers!  My hands had never been so smooth -- and I had a little more time on my hands, so I really started to catch that quilting bug.  I wanted to join a quilt guild, or go to a quilt group, or something, but the only ones I could find were classes at the local quilt shop, and I couldn't afford classes AND fabric, so I started up my own little group.  It is so so so much fun!  The ladies who come are all fun and funny and we have a really fun time together.

I think part of the reason why quilting wasn't really my thing before I was almost done having kids was that it just wasn't the right season for it.  I come from a long line of crafters -- we can all do pretty much anything we set our minds to, we just have that mindset -- and I really didn't have the time when my children were teeny tiny and running around biting ankles to focus on much more than that.  Does that mean that a young mother who is also crazy about quilting can't be a good mother? No way -- that just means that I couldn't.  I had other crafty things that I would do occasionally, but as a young mom I really couldn't do anything as long-term as quilting.  And writing -- another of my passions -- was indefinitely set on the backburner.  I really do want to write fiction -- but for me, that day will have to come later.

Right now, though, is my time and season for quilting on the side. Maybe it will last the rest of my life; maybe it will last for another couple of years. Who knows!  That's what's so exciting about this life -- you just never know what's around the corner!  I still can't go to every retreat I've ever wanted to attend (Oh, Quiltbliss, how I long for you!), for both financial and time reasons.  In a couple of years, my baby goes to Kindergarten, and the next year is first grade, so I'm planning on doing more then, but until that happens, I just don't feel like I can. But what I can do -- that I've not been able to do until recently -- is go to a sewing day for a couple of hours.  And blog (infrequently). And host a quilt group at my house. And sew at night after the kids are in bed. And every so often, I get a day or two off from my full-time mothering gig; Joel will take a day off work and let me go play with my quilty friends.  It's so much fun!  And I really use those days to recharge and relax from my day job -- and go back with a renewed spirit.

As for pattern design, I really really loved doing it for a year. And I'll love it again -- maybe sooner rather than later.  I plan on submitting some ideas to places like Moda Bakeshop and American Patchwork and Quilting -- and maybe some others -- in the new year. I'm really not afraid of failing -- I'm afraid of succeeding too early, when I really need to devote more time to my stay-at-home children. :)

And... just because I KNOW you want to see it... here's my messy laundry room.

Yikes, I've got to get on that straight away -- it's scarier than I thought!!