Christmas Elves Quilt Along: Block 1

I had so much fun making this first group of blocks for the Christmas Elf quilt!

Click on this link to go directly to the pattern on Craftsy: Christmas Elves, Block 1

It's ever so scrappy, so I get to play with all of my pretty Christmas fabrics. I like the gray background fabric, too. I was surprised at how nicely it pulls all of the colors and designs in my various fabrics together. There may be more gray in future quilts.

I want the whole quilt, but I can definitely see each of the elf blocks as an independent wall hanging. I wonder how many people will make them that way.

Every quilt has a few little quirks, and this one is no exception. I've tried to include everything in the patterns for the blocks, but some of the details may need more clarification.

1. I think that the trickiest part of the quilt designs is with the ears. The front of the ears need to be snipped down a bit to make space for the hair and hat brim to slip under the ear and fit tightly against the forehead. I didn't photograph every one of the elves faces, but these two pictures should explain.

The snip down the front of the ear lets the hair slide under the ear and over the forehead. 

The ear overlaps the hair and hat brim.

2. The elves look fine without eyes or definite features, but just the slightest enhancement really bring them to life. A simple French knot is all that's needed for an eye, and a tiny bit of colored pencil suggests lips and rosy cheeks. I'm not planning to wash this quilt, but if you do have to wash it, don't worry too much about the pencil washing out. After it's been pressed with a hot iron, it will be fairly permanent.

The colored pencil work really is minimal. In this photo you can also see the way the blanket stitching fit on the ear and hair.

3. The lettering on the North Pole sign would be very hard to embroider after it was fused to the background. Hand embroidery is not easy on thick layers of fusible web. I bit of fabric is lost, but I cut a square of white fabric that was just a bit larger than my embroidery hoop. When I was finished with the embroidery, I ironed fusible web to the back of it. It was easy to work with after that. As a bonus, the embroidery will never pull loose. Those threads on the back are fused right along with everything else.

4. The paint can was fun. Sometimes  a marker is the best solution, although machine lettering would have been lovely, too. I could have drawn the handle with a marker too, but machine triple stitching was fast.

The right edge of the paint at the top of the can is tucked into the can rather like the hair is tucked behind the ear.

In case you were wondering, this is how Block 1 and it's smaller blocks will fit into the whole quilt. The quilt will be 29" x 33" before sashing is added around the outside.

Stay tuned.

Block 2, the Elf with the reindeer, is coming in three weeks!

Happy Stitching!!