It seems like Christmas is always around the corner when you’re a quilter! You’re either making a quilt to decorate your home, or making a quilt for a gift! This charming Santa quilt is one you’ll want to make for yourself AND to give away to someone special!
Half-Moon Holiday, throw version, XX” x XX”
Half-Moon Holiday was inspired by two things – the desire to make a Christmas quilt and to make a crescent moon quilt. I know those don’t sound like the same thing, but the half-moon Santa head motif is pretty common. I have an ornament that my husband got me probably before we were married of a crescent moon with Santa’s head on it. I’ve always loved that ornament. Since then, I’ve seen all sorts of Santa head half moons.
It’s funny how inspiration works. I’ve always loved this idea, but it never occurred to me to make it into a quilt. Possibly because I assumed it had already been done. Earlier this year, I nosed around on Pinterest and discovered that there really aren’t any half-moon Santa quilts! That was the push I needed to develop this pattern.
The original drawing. I do most my drawings on post it notes or tiny scraps, then I convert them to an electronic version using Illustrator. I even had the stars in mind when I sketched this out. Most ideas aren’t this fully formed right from the beginning! (Ignore the dog hair, I do!)
Once I had the pattern mapped out, it was time to look for fabric. This is not as easy as it seems when you have something specific in mind. Sometimes it takes a long time before the right fabric drops into your life. But I was patient and the PERFECT fabric presented itself!
Ruby Star Society Basics is the perfect fabric for this quilt! I like their color sensibility and the variety of colors they offer. The blues aren’t all shades of the same blue, but different blues all together, but yet they “go” together. This was important because I needed 3 blues and didn’t want gradations of one blue.
The Stars Block
Simple sawtooth stars in two sizes are the star of this block. (See what I did there?)
The Stars Block all cut! Organization is important for the Stars Blocks, there are a lot of moving parts, so keeping them in order helps with the frustration level.I love the repetition of piecing the same thing over and over. It’s very soothing to me. I’ve always loved the process of quiltmaking more than the final product!The finished block. For your quilt, you could use different shades of yellow for the stars. That would make them twinkle!
The Santa Head Blocks
The blocks are appliquéd, but there are no sharp points or tight curves to contend with, so it’s really easy to appliqué. I chose to prepare my shapes on freezer paper using glue to turn under the edges. I used invisible thread and a zigzag stitch to secure them down to the background.
If you’re curious about this method, I actually wrote a book called The Modern Appliqué Workbook. The technique is described step-by-step for you there.
Freezer paper Santa heads ready to be cut out.Once the freezer paper shapes are cut, they are pressed to the backside of the fabric and cut out leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance. Auditioning beards. This is a bit tricky because if you are using a light color for the skin, you need the beard to pop. Remember this is a quilt, not a real face, so you can use whatever print or solid fabric you like to make each element! You might also notice that dark blue background didn’t make the final cut either. So much of successful quiltmaking is in the auditioning phase.The final Santas (without eyes, that is)! I chose this pink fabric for his face, not because it is pink, but because of the dots that look like freckles! Plus it’s nice contrast to the beard, which isn’t white at all, but rather a light green! The finished Santa. I used a blue print that has a small white star it in for the eye. This replicates the “dot of life” in the eye without having to appliqué a teeny, tiny circle on an already teeny, tiny circle! Look through your prints to see if you can find something like this. Let your prints do the work for you!Half-Moon Holiday all finished! Your version can be controlled, like this version, or super scrappy. Experiment with skin and eye color, choose a variety of yellows for the stars, or used different background. Experimentation could result in a more interesting quilt!
