I Wish You A Merry QAL! Block 4: Christmas Memories

Block 4 is here in the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long, and it is Christmas Memories by Jennifer Fulton!  It is a beautiful block! You can find the pattern at The Inquiring Quilter. As a host, I am presenting my version of the block and my tips for completing it. Remember that all 12 of the blocks in the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long are available for free on the designer's  web site until January 15, 2018 at midnight. I will be offering links to the released block patterns on my Quilt Alongs page until then. Collect them all!

Here is my version of Christmas Memories. The ornaments are appliqued on a 13 1/2" square and then trimmed to 12 1/2" square after completion. I am going to trim mine when I assemble my quilt.  When  do trim it, I will only trim the sides and bottom of the block so that the hanging ribbons are not trimmed.

Block 4: Christmas Memories

The block is raw edge appliqued. I sewed the raw edges down with a straight stitch. I auditioned many fabrics for the block. I wanted to use mainly focus fabrics, but to increase the variety of red and green fabrics, I incorporated an additional red fabric and two additional green fabrics. One of the additional green fabrics was used in my Block 2: Christmas Tree Farm. I also added a gold fabric that I used in Block 3: Santa's Belt. By repeating fabrics and primarily using my focus fabrics, I hope to make the quilt blocks look more cohesive in the final quilt.

To make the block applique pieces, I used HeatnBond Lite.With a pencil, I traced the outline of the finished ornament pieces templates onto the paper side of the fusible. I traced the solid inner lines on the templates because I was using raw edge applique. The outer edge on the templates are for the seam allowance needed in hand applique.

After tracing the line on the fusible, I rough cut around the shape and then ironed the fusible onto my selected fabric. It is important to follow the manufacturer's directions. By using this method, I was able to save fabric and trace the lines easily. Please see the photos below.

Traced around the Inner Line of Template

Rough Cut around Lines to Save Fabric

This process was repeated for each applique piece. When deciding which fabrics to use for each part of the ornaments, I tried to balance colors and to repeat certain elements. For instance, the snowflake circle in Ornament 1 was fussy cut from the snow portion of Ornament 2. Ornaments 3 and 4 share a common red fabric. As I will discuss later, I also used the striped fabric in Ornament 1 to make the hanging ribbons. I made the ornaments first because I wasn't sure what fabrics would be best for the hanging ribbons. I am glad that I did that because it enabled me to see later that I could cut them from the striped fabric. I made Ornament 1 and 2 first because I wanted the largest contrast between those two ornaments. 

Ornament 1

Ornament 2

Ornament 3

Ornament 4

To make the hanging ribbons, I fused the HeatnBond Lite onto a piece of the diagonally striped fabric. Then, instead of cutting the hanging ribbons from the templates, I measured them and cut them from the stripes on the fabric.. They are rectangles, so that was pretty easy to do. Using the striped fabric added another repeated element and reduced the number of different fabrics that I needed. The placement of the ribbons is given in the pattern. See Photo below.

Hanging Ribbons Fused in Place

Using the hanging ribbons as a guide, I fused the ornaments in place and then fused the gold trim over the place where the the ribbon and the ornaments met. Then, I used a straight stitch to sew down all of the raw edge applique pieces. I will trim the square to 12 1/2" later by trimming only from the sides and bottom of the block, so that the hanging ribbons will not be shortened. The completed block is shown below.
​

I enjoyed the design challenges in this block. Thanks for a great block, Jennifer!

Where Can I Find the Pattern and the Designer's Tutorial?

Go to Jennifer Fulton at The Inquiring Quilter for the pattern, templates, and designer tutorial.

What Are the Prizes for Block 4?

As an added bonus to all quilt along participants, Jennifer is offering 20% off all pdf and printed patterns in her store until midnight Eastern on September 30, 2017. To get the discount, just enter MERRYQAL20 at checkout.

How Do I Enter to WIn the Giveaway for Block 4?

There are three ways to enter. Do one of the following by September 11, 2017 at 11:59 pm  EST:

1. Upload a photo of your finished block to Jennifer Fulton's Linky Party at The Inquiring Quilter.
2. Upload a photo of your finished block to the I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Facebook Group.
3. Upload a photo of your finished block to Instagram using #iwishyouamerryqal.

I Want to See More Versions of the Block. Who are the other hosts?

Abbie at Sparkle On
April at JANDA Bend Quilts (That's Me!)
Becca at Pretty Piney
Bobbi at Snowy Days Quilting
Diane at Cwilt Fabrics & Haberdashery
Jennifer at The Inquiring Quilter
Karen at Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats
Laura at Slice of Pi Quilts 
Sandy at Sandy Star Designs
Sherry at Powered by Quilting
Vanda at Quilt in Piece

I Have Questions. Who Can I Ask?

You can ask me in a comment to this post or in an email, or you can ask the designer at The Inquiring Quilter.

When Will the Next Block be Released?

September 12, 2017

Where Will I Be Able to Find Block 5 on September 12?

You can find the Block 5 pattern by Sherry Shish at Powered by Quilting A link to her blog will be found here at JANDA Bend Quilts, on I Wish You a Merry Quilt-A-Long Facebook Group, or on any other host's blog.

Other Blocks from the QAL That You Might Enjoy

Block 1: Snowflake

Block 2: Christmas Tree Farm

Block 3: Santa's Belt

​Thanks for joining me and Happy Quilting!

This post was originally published at JANDA Bend Quilts.