Custom Quilting a Santa Christmas Quilt

Ramona did such an excellent job assembling and appliquing this adorable Santa quilt.  I love applique, and these Santa blocks are quite special. 

You can find the full video on YouTube by clicking here

The red and green fabrics that Ramona used for the borders read solid so I knew I could add a really strong structured border design. I decided to go with some arches with some outlines and a pebble feather, as I was going to use pebbles in the background of the blocks, and I like it when elements echo throughout a quilt. 

I did a smaller arch in the background, and although it does take a lot of extra time I think it was an appropriate element to add.  I added a little pebble to the swirl feather design in the green border.  The sashing around the quilt blocks was a scrappy one and I kept it simple with some continuous curves because I wanted to stay with a little of the traditional feeling of the quilt. 

The quilt was made up of 12 different Santa Clause blocks, Ramona wanted the Santa's to shine and I agreed with her. So I didn't add any extra details to the appliques instead stitching around the shapes with matching threads to just give them definition and hold the layers together. 

I struggled at the bottom of the quilt with a little excess fabric.  But with some starch and a little extra tension, I was able to ease all of the fabric into place. 

Pebble-style fillers and piano keys help when dealing with a little excess fabric or fabric shift while quilting. I haven't had a chance to film my problem solving when this problem comes up but I hope to cover it in a future video.  

I was very happy with how well this quilt came out.  I hope everyone has a great holiday season and I look forward to 2024 and wish everyone all the best. 

Also just in case you missed it I am going to be a teacher on the cruise hosted by Susan Smith (Stitched by Susan), alongside Bethanne Nemesh.  If you are interested in the details you can click on the photo, if you do decide to join us please remember to add my name when you book so I know you came from here.