Category: Christmas

Christmas, fabric project, quilting, quilts, Uncategorized

A Mini Tree Skirt

Deb Gehringer

This Christmas season I bought a little 4’ pre-lit artificial tree to brighten up my sunroom. At first, I wasn’t going to do much but light it, then I decided to add a few decorations but keep it simple.

First, I hung a variety of colored bead strands then added crocheted snowflakes my daughter made me a while back. Wanting a rustic look, I found a lightweight star ornament with a deer scene that’s perfect for my ‘in the pines’ setting. My husband easily made a wire spring, drilled it into the bottom and voilà—a star topper is born! 🙂

Once I’d gotten to this point, I knew a tree skirt would be in order. Years ago, I purchased a 10” Dresden ruler for making mini tree skirts I gave as gifts, so already having that was great. I also had leftovers from five holiday fat quarters from last year’s stockings. It ended up I was able to get two Desden cuts from each—exactly what was needed.

I used a tonal white-on-white flower print (leftover from my Scrappy On Point Four Patch quilt) for contrast fabric, and luckily had enough Kona Red solid to make the bias binding. I was ready to go!

Sewing the Dresden pieces together goes really fast. I think it took me more time to press the fabric and cut them. 😉 I used a metallic holly berry print with a green background for the backing, also a leftover.

Figuring how to quilt it was a bit more of a challenge. On the others, I quilted a tree in each section but that required a lot of hiding thread ends that I didn’t want to do. I thought of going around circle after circle, but was afraid it would look like a spider web…so I let that idea rest for a few days.

Nothing else came to mind so I decided to give circles a try after all. To start, I quilted about ½” down from the center. I set up my walking foot guide to 1 ½” and continued from top to bottom.

The quilting ended up looking nice, and I don’t think it looks anything like a spider web. 😉

Next was attaching the binding. Since I lack experience with sewing circles, I knew my sewing skills would be put to the test, but overall it was a good turnout!

I now have a scrappy mini tree skirt and this little tree is decked out for the holidays!

If you’ve got a small tree, I suggest giving this project a try. It’s fast and easy. Also, these little tree skirts make great gifts, too.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas, mini quilts, monday morning designs quilt pattern, quilting

Wee Three Trees Kits

Deb Gehringer

Wee Three Trees is now available in kits! Shabby Fabrics has this little mini pattern bundled with festive fabric so that one-stop shopping makes it easy. Inside the kit you will find beautiful Moda fabric and a paper copy of the pattern. Kits are limited so be sure to order early! 🙂

Have your own fabric? No problem! You can purchase either a paper or PDF pattern in my Etsy shop.

Wee Three Trees is designed for the confident beginner, but of course it’s a fun make for anyone. Plus, it goes together fast making it a great weekend project. And now’s the time to start on that holiday sewing, right? 😉

Christmas, sewing, tutorials

Quick-Make Holiday Gifts

Deb Gehringer

Looking for a quick and easy-to-make gift with the holidays fast approaching? I’ve got a few suggestions that just might help.

If you have someone on your list that seems to have everything, a personalized handmade gift can be the one thing they’re missing. If you’re like me, you enjoy giving people something handcrafted verses something store bought.

Since everyone in my family has at least two quilts from me, I occasionally move from the realm of quilting for gifts. One great idea is pillowcases. These can be really fun because you can make them personal by choosing fabric that reflects the recipient’s hobbies, interests or simply something they’d enjoy. My husband is a huge bird watcher so I made him a bird print pillowcase.

Since I’m all out of ideas for my son, I decided on pillowcases for him and his girlfriend. I chose a bright and whimsical fabric that’ll be perfect throughout the holiday season.

I made these using the Easy Burrito Pillowcase Tutorial from Baby Lock.

You’ve gotta love those French seams! If you’re not familiar with them, this is a great introduction.

When trimming the pillowcase fabric, use the cutaway selvage for tying it up before gifting. It makes a nice presentation if you use a pinking rotary cutter or pinking shears.

Here’s a future money saving tip—shop for fabric after the holidays. You can get last year’s prints for a lot less than new ones.

My daughter requested an Easter Bunny mini quilt from a free Bernina tutorial. It’s so cute and easy.

I think it took me more time to cut the fabric than to make it. 😉

So now I’m set and am already planning for next year…

I also have other small gift ideas under my TUTORIALS tab. Check it out and see if there’s anything you’d like to try!

Christmas, home decor, modern quilts, monday morning designs quilt pattern, PDF pattern, quilts, Uncategorized

Christmastime Quilt Pattern

Deb Gehringer

Just in time for Christmas in July, here’s my pattern for this upcoming holiday season, Christmastime! Now available for purchase as a PDF download in my Etsy shop.

Finishing at 31 ¼” x 30 ¼”, Christmastime sews up in no time. Just choose your favorite colors and create a festive quilt – great as either a wall hanging or a table topper. And here’s a fun fact, I designed the tree construction in a non-conventional way that’s oh-so-easy with fewer seams and a smoother finish!

For my version of the quilt, I went bold with Kona Cotton solids which kind of gives it a Dr. Seuss look. 😉

Here’s a look at two of my testers quilts…Barbara went full-on Christmas which is just beautiful!

Janine chose solids and created a delightfully fun color scheme! And her choice of quilting is spot-on.

This is my first pattern of wall hanging or table topper size giving even more choices in my Etsy shop. If you’re looking for something fun to whip up that’s also whimsical AND original, give Christmastime a try!

Christmas, quilting, Uncategorized

Christmas Stockings Galore

Deb Gehringer

After making a Triangle Peaks Christmas quilt last winter, I had several whimsical fabrics left over from a Moda fat quarter bundle.

I figured the leftovers would be best showcased in smaller, festive projects instead of a quilt so I decided to make handmade stockings for my family and a wine bottle bag for a host/hostess gift for an upcoming holiday party.

As a side note, I’ve written a tutorial for making this wine bottle gift bag. It’s a really quick make and requires a small amount of materials. I’ll post the tutorial sometime soon!

To get started on the stockings, I did a bit of searching to find a tutorial that best suited my needs. I wanted to make them with a one-piece front and I wanted to quilt them. I found a pattern called ‘Stocking Up’ on the All People Quilt website that was exactly what I had in mind.

I was hopeful to get two fronts out of one fat quarter, but because all fat quarters are not cut equally, I was only able to get two out of one of them. Since I was making six stockings and one wine bottle bag, and I needed fabric for cuffs, I ended up going to my LQS for an additional fat quarter.

I don’t have much of a stash but I was able to put together nice combinations of stocking fronts and cuffs with what I had on hand (one fat quarter shown ended up getting swapped out).

Having used fat quarters instead of yardage, I opted to sew a solid matching color for the backs omitting both the lining and quilting.

There were a few steps in the making process that threw me—I got confused trying to think inside out and backwards but I managed alright in the end. 😉

I chose to quilt all six the same. The front piece is a rectangle so I drew a diagonal line from corner to corner using a hera marker then quilted every 1 1/4″ with white thread.

I love the diamond pattern.

I also made my cuffs a 1/2″ longer than the pattern, just a personal preference.

I really like the variety of colors and fabrics, and overall this was a fun project to make this time of year. I’m very happy with them and I hope my recipients will be as well!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas, mini quilts, modern quilts, monday morning designs quilt pattern, patterns, quilting, Uncategorized

Holiday Sewing Projects

Deb Gehringer

Even though summer has just left us, now’s the time to get started on our holiday sewing projects. It’s definitely not too early especially if you plan to make a quilt and would like to have it finished in plenty of time.

I’ve noticed a lot a quilt patterns out there are so close to being the same as one another, and well, it’s getting kind of old. In order to make what change I could, I decided to design something completely different, and what better subject is there than the holidays? So last year I set to work and came up with my Holiday Hemlocks throw quilt in two versions, Scrappy Holiday Hemlocks PDF pattern…

and non-scrappy Holiday Hemlocks PDF pattern (both available in my Etsy shop). Additionally, I have a Holiday Hemlocks PAPER pattern available for those of you who prefer paper over digital, and shipping is FREE!

There’s no denying this quilt design is definitely different than any other holiday quilt, right? Well, that’s exactly what I was going for. But different doesn’t mean difficult. 😉

Here are a few things I’d like to note about these quilts…they’re traditionally pieced with no tricky blocks involved, and the patterns are suitable for anyone who has made only a couple of quilts! In fact, one of my testers was an absolute beginner and hers turned out great.

My patterns are always clearly written with step-by-step instructions, there are also plenty of detailed, colorful diagrams throughout.

Don’t have time to make an entire quilt? Try this festive little mini instead—Wee Three Trees.

This pattern is by far the best seller in my Etsy shop. I made the one photographed here for myself, but I’ve made several of them for gifts, too. Wee Three Trees is a relatively quick make, you could easily whip one up in a weekend.

If you like both designs AND want to save some money, I offer Wee Three Trees and Holiday Hemlocks Pattern Bundle for a lesser price than buying them separately. The same goes for the Wee Three Trees and Scrappy Holiday Hemlocks Pattern Bundle. No matter what you choose, I’ve got you covered.

Lastly, if you don’t shop on Etsy and would like an alternative, all my patterns can be found at: https://payhip.com/MondayMorningDesigns.

I hope you find your next holiday project here. 🙂 Happy sewing!

Christmas, modern quilts, quilting, quilts, Uncategorized

Christmassy Triangle Peaks Quilt

Deb Gehringer

Two years ago I made a blue and orange Triangle Peaks quilt for my daughter and had since planned to make myself one with red and green fabric—I guess all those triangles got me thinking about Christmas trees. So here it is, my last quilt for 2020 (of 14 total).

Last year I ordered this lovely bundle of red happiness specifically for this quilt. I used only half of the fat quarters by excluding the richest reds and replacing them with reds that were more in line with the lighter ones in the bundle.

For the background, I used Art Gallery’s Loved to Pieces Frost Topiary. This fabric isn’t completely white, it actually has a frosty hue and the tiny topiary trees are so cute! I thought a different type of tree would give this year’s Christmas quilt a different twist. The accent triangles are Kona Cotton Sage green, which BTW took around nine MONTHS to get! Pandemic online fabric ordering has been quite the experience. Lastly, the backing is Andover Fabric’s Teal Yuletide Holly accented with pretty gold metallic.

Triangle Peaks, by Emily Dennis, is one of the fastest makes out there. While it takes a while to cut the fabric (doesn’t it always?) there’s very little to do to make blocks. The large cut triangles are the main ‘block’ and the smaller triangles are simply sewn to the background. There are biased edges, but with so little to sew handling them sparsely is a given.

And chain piecing is always fast…

As always, choosing a layout is time consuming for me, I think I might tend to overthink it. Once the layout was determined, sewing the rows went quickly. Sewing the rows together to finish the top took quite some time, mainly due to pinning.

My absolute most dreaded part of quilting is cutting threads off the back. I will find every other non-related chore to do to avoid doing it. But, since this quilt has mostly biased edges that don’t fray, trimming was a cinch.

I decided to straight line quilt so pin basting was pretty intense. After my Quilting Disaster! I’m diligent about using plenty of pins. Lines were quilted 2″ apart giving it a clean, simple finish.

I used the remaining yard of the sage green for the binding to match the accent triangles.

After attaching my binding to the quilt and before sewing it down completely, I always give it a press. I find this helps it lie flat and makes it a bit easier to stitch down. 🙂

The holiday themed backing makes it complete.

And here it is!

Yet another festive quilt for the holidays. Merry Christmas!

Christmas, modern quilts, monday morning designs quilt pattern, patterns, PDF download, PDF pattern, quilting, quilts

Scrappy Holiday Hemlocks Quilt Pattern

Deb Gehringer

As promised, here’s my scrappy version of Holiday Hemlocks! Scrappy Holiday Hemlocks is available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

Since we quilters love to use our scraps, I thought it would be fun to offer this whimsical quilt in an alternative pattern. It’s made the same as the original except for the stars and trees (see Holiday Hemlocks here). And as a bonus, it’s great way to stash down.

Since the holidays seem like forever away, but will be here before we know it, there’s plenty of time to have one ready for the season.

This throw size quilt measures 56″ x 66″ and it’s easy enough for the advanced beginner. Now that you’ve got two choices, pick your favorite and have some fun quilting!

Christmas, modern quilts, monday morning designs quilt pattern, PDF download, PDF pattern, quilting, quilts, Uncategorized

Holiday Hemlocks Quilt Pattern

Deb Gehringer

My latest quilt pattern is here! Holiday Hemlocks is available for purchase in my Etsy shop. This one was difficult to keep secret so I’m happy to finally share it with everyone. 🙂

The idea came to me in June and after the long process of designing, tweaking, making one, sending it out to testers, taking photos, etc.— keeping everything under wraps was tough! Plus, it’s the first throw size holiday pattern I’ve designed which made it pretty exciting.

Here’s some information about the quilt…it measures 56″ x 66″ and the pattern is a PDF download with detailed instructions and plenty of colorful diagrams. I would rate it easy enough for an advanced beginner. The best news is that it’s still August and the holidays are months away so you have plenty of time to whip one up. And I think you’ll agree with me on how fun it is to see this come together.

I made mine using traditional colors, but I think it would look great in non-traditional colors, too. How about teal trees and silver stars…

If you love scrappy quilts (as we quilters do) I have a scrappy version coming soon, so be on the look out for it if you want to use up some stash.

I hope you enjoy this pattern as much as I do! Happy holiday sewing. 🙂

Christmas, home decor, quilting, sewing, Uncategorized

Microwave Bowl Cozies

Deb Gehringer

Once spring arrived and I’d completed my 8th quilt for the year, it was time to make something else. Not that long ago microwave cozies were really popular and I was seeing them everywhere, so I figured now was a good time to try them out. I’m always in favor of making practical things people can actually use, and stashing down is always a plus.

There are plenty of tutorials available on how to make these and they’re pretty much all the same. I followed a YouTube video by The Sewing Room. To make one bowl cozy you need 10″ squares for everything—the inside and outside fabric and the cotton batting in between.

The process is pretty basic: you quilt the squares, sandwich the pieces, sew them together adding darts, turn it inside out and top stitch. After making five, I discovered a few tips and compiled them for those of you who decide to make your own.

Instructions have you quilt an X from corner to corner. For accuracy, I marked my lines with a hera marker. I chain quilted the X on all five to save some time. Is chain quilting actually a thing? Carrying on…I used my walking foot guide for the rest of the quilting. Don’t forget to pin!

I quilted mine 2″ apart, a bit closer than in the video.

By doing so, the quilting helped shape the bottom of the cozies. I didn’t expect that but it turned out nicely.

And I certainly didn’t expect the lines on my fabric to line up either! 🙂

Since you’re going through two layers of fabric and batting, take it nice and slow when top stitching.

I spent a few hours making all five of these. I kept one for myself and gave the rest to my family.

Because I didn’t have 100% cotton batting, we don’t use ours in the microwave, but we do use them to keep food warm. They work great and all the bowl sizes we tried fit just fine.

You can also make them for decoration. I made this one for displaying pine cones around Christmas. The beautiful metallic fabric and 1″ quilted lines give a festive holiday feel.

If you’re on your umpteenth quilt for the year and need a change of pace, you can quickly make a few bowl cozies to mix it up.