A Gift Quilt Project - Christmas Ornament

If you have some little elves in residence, involve them in this ornament making!

Here we have two star ornaments that land on the easy side, and one a little more difficult.

Draw a star shape on paper. This is a good thing for the little ones to do. They could also draw a snowman or whatever shape they’d like, as long as it’s not very complicated.

Trace the outline of the star (or whatever shape) onto the right side of the top fabric. If the elves are helping, ask their opinion on the fabric and colors. It’s perfectly okay to have a purple and orange star!

The two plainer stars are simply made. I just layered a backing fabric, some batting (the light star has really flat batting and the striped one a thicker batting) and the top fabric.

Once again, use your glue stick to keep them in place. As I said before I’m a gluer not a pinner!

I used yarn (I’m a knitter, too) from my stash as the outline and a zig-zag stitch to hold that down. The thickness of the yarn I used warranted a double strand. This is really pretty easy to do, using a walking foot on your machine. I always do a test before stitching down this yarn in order to set the zig-zag the right width and length. You could also use a narrow ribbon. And there are many decorative yarns.

Simply hold the two (or one) strands of yarn together and zig-zag over it. When through sewing, trim just outside the stitching. Be careful! It’s easy to cut your zig or zag!

And that’s it! Since you have stitched the outline, nothing else must be done! On the second star, I added a button in the middle. Just ‘cause I could!

Now to the third star. It’s called a variable star. This one is made using the flying geese no-waste method. You can make this any size you’d like (thus the variable). Mine is 4 1/2 inches square. I wanted the “geese” to be 1 inch by 2 inches finished. Here’s the rule for the method: The height of the finished geese plus 7/8 inches for the small squares; finished length plus 1 1/4 inches for the large square. So in my case, I cut the large square 3 1/4 and the four smaller squares 1 7/8 inches.

On the wrong side of the smaller squares, draw a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner.

Place two of the small squares as shown in the photo and sew 1/4-inch from the drawn line on both sides. Carefully cut on the drawn line and press toward the small triangles.

Place one of the remaining two small squares on each of the two units already made and sew each side of the line as before.

Cut these apart, press and you have four “geese”!

Sew them into rows in whatever order is best for you, then sew the rows together.

Cut a backing and batting to about 5-inches square. Using our wonderful glue stick, make your quilt sandwich, centering the pieced top.

Set your machine for a zig-zag stitch. Since I was using a double strand of yarn I started with the loop at a corner for the hanger and went around from there. When you get back to the starting point, turn the ornament over and tie the remaining yarn (or ribbon) in the back, dab with glue and cut as close as possible.

And VOILA!

See other Holiday ideas below, or wait for More Christmas ideas by visiting QuiltingHub on Facebook.