TUTORIAL: How to adjust the FatQuarterShop.com Christmas Wreath Wall Hanging to a Throw Quilt

Christmas Wreath Wall Hanging or Throw Quilt

While scrolling through Instagram a few weeks ago the Fat Quarter Shop posted a free pattern to create the cutest Christmas Wreath wall hanging.

I instantly knew this would be a great project to create with my Send Me to the Woods fabric that has plenty of green prints and a few red as well!

CLICK HERE to get the Christmas Wreath Wall hanging pattern on the blog at the FatQuarterShop.com

What I loved about the pattern is that it was all straight cuts – pretty quick and easy given the size! The directions are well written and straightforward.

Below are some photos of the process.

Send Me to the Woods Fabric by Tara Reed

FABRIC USED:

I used 4 green prints and two red prints from my Send Me To the Woods collection available through Riley Blake Designs.

TIPS / LESSONS LEARNED:

The pattern calls for 1/2 yard of 6 different green prints. Since I had 4 I wanted to use instead of 6, I did a yard for each of 2 prints and 1/2 yard for the other. (For the equivalent of six 1/2 yard cuts)

In the pattern you sew three REALLY LONG strips and then subcut them. I found it really helpful to write the length of the subcuts and clip them to the piece as I cut so I didn’t get confused! (see photo in the carousel above.)

Finally – be sure you pay attention to directionality of your fabric as you sew the strips together. I might have put two rows upside down and had to get out my handy seam ripper… d’oh!

Turning the Wall Hanging into a Throw Quilt

After making and admiring my work I started to think about where this 52″ square wall hanging would go… I then decided I wanted to make it a throw quilt instead to give to my mom!

The bow, while pretty and perfect for a wall hanging felt less than ideal for snuggling up on the couch on a cold December night.

I thought about it for a few days and came up with a simple solution to create an applique bow that gives the same basic look but is more functional as a lap quilt.

Here’s how I did it (and how you can too…)

RED FABRIC APPLIQUE BOW PIECES

(2) 4.25″ x 17″ (for hanging ribbon)
(2) 11″ x 8″ (for the bow)
- MARK 2.5″ from each edge of an 8″ side.
- CUT a diagonal to the opposite 8″ side from each mark. This creates the bow that is 11″ wide and 8″ high on one side and 3″ high on the other.
(1) 3″ x 3″ square (for the bow center knot)

Using a lightweight fusible fleece (I used Pellon 987F) cut the same size pieces as the applique bow fabric.

I found the easiest way to do this was to lay each piece of red fabric face down onto the fusible side of the fleece and trim to size.

Using 1/4″ seams, SEW each piece of red fabric to it’s matching fusible fleece piece, making sure to have the right side of the fabric down and the fusible side of the fleece up.

Leave an opening to turn on the part of the piece that will join in the center.

on a short end of the ribbon lengths
on the 3″ end of the bow
on any side of the center knot square

TURN each piece and hand-press – DO NOT IRON (remember that the fusible part of the fleece will be out and we don’t want to attach it to your ironing board!)

You will fuse and quilt the bow in stages instead of all at once so the final result will look more like a bow and now like you quilted around a bow shape.

Applique the Bow to the Quilt

Put your Wreath Quilt on the ironing board and POSITION the ribbon pieces of your bow where you want them to go.

PRESS into place.

Go back to the ironing board and PLACE the bow pieces where you would like them.

PRESS in place.

You can play with how much you want them tilted or straight but make sure they are close enough together that the 3″ ends will be covered by the square “knot” in the next step.