LITTLE TOWN
Count down the days until Christmas with a sweet appliqué advent calendar
YOU WILL NEED
■ Stripe pocket fabric: ½yd
■ Print fabrics: five (5) fat quarters
■ Background fabric: 2yds
■ Lightweight interfacing: ½yd
■ Batting: 20in x 40in
■ Binding fabric: ¼yd
■ Fusible web: ½yd
■ Ribbon: 6in length
■ One (1) copy each of the Large Pocket, Small Pocket and Numbers templates
FINISHED SIZE
■ 18in x 37in
NOTES
■ Seam allowances are ¼in, unless otherwise noted.
■ RST = right sides together.
■ Michelle used Gütermann Sulky Variegated Thread in 4030 and 4048.
■ Templates include seam allowances, where necessary.
■ For templates see page 92.
■ Fabrics supplied by Hantex (hantex.com)
■ Threads, batting and interfacing supplied by Gütermann (gutermann.com)
FABRICS USED
■ Print fabrics are Bowtied, Season Waltz, Twinkle Stars, Tree Farm Lit, Starbright Fog and Winterberry Mist from the Little Town collection by Amy Sinibaldi for Art Gallery Fabrics.
■ Background fabric is Soft Sand from the Denim collection, also by Art Gallery Fabrics.
CUTTING OUT
1 From the stripe pocket fabric cut:
■ Twenty four (24) pieces using the Large Pocket template.
2 From the various print fabrics cut:
■ Twenty four (24) 5¼in x 2½in strips.
3 From the background fabric cut:
■ Two (2) 18in x 37in panels for the front and back. Save the remaining background fabric to prepare the numbers.
4 From the binding fabric cut:
■ Four (4) 2¼in x WOF strips.
5 From the interfacing cut:
■ Twenty four (24) pieces using the Small Pocket template.
PICK A SOLID, NEUTRAL BACKGROUND FABRIC TO LET YOUR PATTERNED POCKETS POP!
MAKING THE POCKETS
6 Centre a Small Pocket interfacing piece on the wrong side of one of your Large Pocket pieces. Fuse in place, following the manufacturer’s instructions (Fig A).
7 Place one print 5¼in x 2½in strip RST at the top of the pocket piece, 1in down from the top. Sew in place, using a ¼in seam allowance. Press the print strip upwards and topstitch in place.
8 Fold the bottom edges of the pockets upwards by ¼in and press. Repeat, folding over by another ¼in to conceal the raw edges. Repeat this on the sides and pin in place (Fig B).
9 Press the print strip to the wrong side by 1in. Sew across the top, just above your topstitching. Topstitch around the side and bottom edges, being careful to catch the folds. (Fig C).
10 Repeat steps 6–9 to construct each of the pockets.
11 Trace the numbers 1–25 onto the paper side of the fusible web. Cut out roughly and fuse to the wrong side of your fabric, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Neatly cut out each number along the traced lines, using a small, sharp pair of scissors.
12 Peel the backing off your numbers and fuse in place on each of the pockets. Reduce the stitch length on your machine to approx. 1.4 and sew the numbers in place.
ASSEMBLING THE ADVENT CALENDAR
13 Make a quilt sandwich by placing the backing panel right side down, the batting on top, then the advent calendar front panel centrally and right side up. Baste the layers together using your preferred method.
14 Arrange your pockets into position on the front and pin in place. Sew each pocket in place, sewing over your topstitching lines to secure. Backstitch a few stitches at the top on each side of the pocket (Fig D).
15 Sew the binding strips together end-to-end using diagonal seams. Press the seams open and trim away the dog ears. Fold in half lengthways, wrong sides together, and press.
16 Sew the binding to the right side of the advent calendar, creating a neat mitre at each corner. Fold the binding over to the back of the quilt and hand stitch in place to finish.
17 Fold the ribbon in half to form a loop. Stitch to the back panel, centrally and near the top, to create a hanger (Fig E). Now fill your advent calendar with treats!