Songbird Holiday

 I love to embroider, I learned how to embroider when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. I remember mom giving me a crewel kit from Bargello to work on. Remember those? It had everything you needed to embroider a picture or Christmas sock. I remember using yarn and wool to embroider with and learned a number of different stitches while doing the kit. I don't really remember much about the item I worked on except I know it was a fall design full of autumn colors. I think stitching with the yarn and larger needle helped me learn since I'm sure my stitches were big and clunky compared with my stitches now. Growing up I also remember my grandmother embroidering on dishtowels and pillowcases. I have a set of each that she made for me as a bridal shower gift. I have them tucked away and only use them once in a while since I treasure the stitches that she made. I hope that as my granddaughters get older that I'll be able to hand down some of these skills to them. 

On my panels I don't get too fancy with my stitching, I mainly use a back stitch, lazy daisy and French knots to complete most of my designs. Sometimes I use a satin or chain stitch for texture. I have some short how-to videos posted on my Instagram account. I thought I would feature a couple more projects using my Songbird Holiday panel. It's available now for purchase in a quilt shop near you. It can also be found on my website and Etsy shop. 

Panels are fun to work with, not only can they be used as is, I enjoy cutting them apart for smaller projects such as table runners and pillows. It's always stressful to cut something apart. Measure once, measure twice and sometimes a third time doesn't hurt before you get the rotary cutter out.

I have several free patterns available to go with this panel, they can be found on my website.

~ Quick as a Wink Quilt ~

Quick as a Wink Quilt is a free PDF pattern download that is available on my website. It uses my strip it fabric to create the scrappy border. The only blocks that are pieced are the Ohio stars corner blocks. I have more fabric on the way so you can preorder Quick as a Wink kits for this holiday season. Shhhh, I didn't embroider the panel for this quilt.

~ Ohio Star Table Runner ~

The Ohio Star table runner pattern features two of the Songbird Holiday blocks fussy cut from the panel. It can be embroidered or left as is, it's up to you. I like using my strip it fabric to create a scrappy border without the extra piecing. It's a great little cheat!

~ Songbird Holiday Table Runner ~

This is a sweet table runner pattern that features four of the blocks from the Songbird Holiday panel that I fussy cut and then sewed together to make a large rectangle. I didn't embroider these, so this is a quick and easy beginner project.

I hope that you enjoy my free projects that go with this sweet fabric. I have more fabric on order and panels are available again in my shop.

I hope you have a great day and find some time to stitch!

Happy quilting!

Cindy, Josephine and Bonaparte