CHRISTMAS IN JULY! CHRISTMAS WINDOWS WALL HANGING

I have really enjoyed seeing all the projects from the Christmas in July blog hop and am in the mood to sew some more!  I hope you like my Christmas Windows wallhanging tutorial.  Update:  Check out my recent posts for more projects and another tutorial!

Here are the links to all of the projects that were featured during the Christmas in July blog hop:

• July 12:  Amy – Amy Made That!
• July 13:  Amanda – The Patchsmith
• July 14;  Elaine – Summercrafter
• July 15:  Sarah – Sarah Rose Quilts
• July 16:  Patricia – Quilting Lines
• July 17:  Sheri – Sunshine in the Attic (you are here)
• July 18:  Julie – The Crafty Quilter
• July 19:  Wrap Up and prizes

Let's Get Started on the Tutorial!

Supplies:  
1.  A Christmas panel or fabric with a christmas or winter scene.
2.  Sill fabric (light color) 1/8 - 1/4 yard (depends on the size of your panel);  Cut: 2 inch strips
3.  Jamb fabric (dark color) 1/8 - 1/4 yard  (depends on the size of your panel);  Cut: 2 inch strips
4.  Pane border fabric in a contrasting color, 1/8 yard;  Cut: 1 inch strips
5.  Border fabric 1/4 - 1/3 yard;  Cut: 2 inch strips
6.  Batting
7.  Backing fabric:  You need about 1/2  yard bigger than your panel.
8.  Binding:  1/3 - 1/2 yards

NOTE:   I'm using the terminology sill, jamb, and pane, even though that may not be technically correct. 

I bought 1/2 yard of this "winter scene" fabric at Hancock's of Paducah online.  It is called Snow Magic by Wilmington.

I cut a 15 inch square and this will be my panel.  

STEP 1.  CALCULTING THE SIZE OF YOUR WINDOW PANE BLOCKS:  Measure the panel and then divide the width and length by 3 or 4.  the "window pane" blocks should start out about 5 - 7 inches and can be square or rectangular.  (I'll demonstrate cutting my 15 inch panel but have also included some other panel photos and suggestions on cutting the number of "window panes" at the end of this blog post.)

Note:  Before cutting, be aware that every cut will take away 1/2 inch off of the scene (1/4" either side of each cut which ends up in the seam).   The way I cut mine, the main snow man's face ends up disappearing into a seam.  You'll see it in some of the photos and later how I fixed it.

IMPORTANT UPDATE:  Before cutting, please read this note sent to me by an experienced quilter regarding cutting a panel that includes a human figure (and may apply to other situations as well).  I was really glad to get this hint to avoid a lot of frustration with the panel I have shown you at the end of this post!  Patricia says, "I have a hint about the attic window treatment on the fairy panel for you.  If you split her and add the width of your sashing once or twice along her arms and legs she will become dis-proportioned.  For example:  a cut between the elbow and shoulder would make her upper arm much longer than the lower arm.  Fussy cutting might work better.

Lay strips of fabric (or Paper) the finished size of your sashing across the panel and look at what parts would be revealed and what would be hidden.  If you look through a real window you don't see what is behind the sash.  The strips can be moved around and then you can do some fussy cutting keeping the body proportioned.  You could try it with a magazine picture to see the different effect.  

Scenic panels don't distort as much as a human figure.<-- That is good to know-- thanks Patricia!

Step 2:  Cut your fabric lengthwise according to your calculations.  (My panel is a 15 inch square.  I divided that by 3 which gave me 3 five inch columns) 

Step 3:  Cut your strips width wise according to your calculations.  Note:  Here I've cut across to get my 9, five inch squares

Step 4:  For the "window sill and jamb" take the dark and a light fabric you've chosen and cut 2 inch strips the width of the fabric.  

Step 5:  Sew the dark blue strip to the five inch square on the left side.

The side jamb will be the darker fabric so place your squares onto the dark strip (right sides together) on the left hand side and sew them all in a row using 1/4 inch seams. (Note all seams for this project are 1/4 inch)

Step 6:  Press open (seam to the light side because it works out better when you sew the "sill" on)

Step 7:  CUT THE "SILL" (light fabric).  The size will be the width of the block you just sewed    Note:  (in my case 5 inches + 2 inches minus 1/2 = 6 1/2 inches.)  I cut nine 6 1/2 x 2 inch strips.

Step 8:  Cut a 2 inch square of your darker fabric for each block (I've cut 9 dark blue 2 inch squares)

Step 9:  Fold or draw a line diagonally on the 2 inch square.  Lay this on the left side of the light color "sill" piece as shown above.  

Note:  Before you sew, be sure to check to make sure your seam is going to go the right way so when you sew it together, it should look like this (I folded the blue square back to see if it will be sewn correctly)

Step 10:  Sew along the fold or diagonal line you've drawn.  Trim off leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance.  Press towards the dark fabric. 

Step 11:  Sew this strip to the block which now starts to have the 3 dimensional appearance.  Note:  my blocks are now 6 1/2 inch square.

Here's a photo of how the blocks look so far.  With all the "sill" strips sewn on,  the blocks are starting to look like window panes.  This is when I noticed in the lower right hand corner, the snowman's face is gone! 

Note: To fix this I can "fussy" cut out a new square that includes the snowman in the block a little lower so his head won't end up in the seam.  (Fussy cut just means that you cut the block so the image you want is placed in your block the way you want it.)

Step 12:  Square up your blocks.  (make sure they're as square or rectangular if applicable, as possible) Photo is of my blocks laying on the red fabric.  Note:  I went ahead and took that lower right hand block apart and cut a new 5 inch square which contains the snowman lower in the square so his face won't disappear into the seam.  Much better!

Step 13:  Cut 1 inch strips (you'll probably need at least 2 or 3) from the fabric you want to use to border the window pane blocks.  

Step 14:  Sew the border strip to the top of each block.  Note for the bottom row of blocks only, also sew the border strip to the bottom also.   (Again I'm sewing all in a row and this view is from the back of the sewing machine.)

Photo of the red border fabric sewn onto the tops of each block.

Step 15:  Trim the red (I'll say red but you know I mean whatever color you're using) borders evenly and press the seam toward the border.

Step 16:  Sew the blocks together vertically taking care to make sure each block is lined up accurately.  Note:  In this photo you can see that I have not sewn the red border to the bottom left hand block.

Step 17:  Sew on side borders to left side of all 3 columns and onto the right side of the right hand column.  Press seams toward the border.  Even up, keeping all raw edges as straight as possible.

Step 18:  Sew the 3 columns together.  Press seams toward the borders. This measures 21 1/2 inches now.  Note:  Here you can see that I still need to square up the bottom right which is sewn down a little longer the the left two columns.

Step 19:  Cut 2 inch strips the length of the fabric for outside borders.

Step 20:  Sew outside borders to two opposite sides.  

Step 21:  Press open, seam to outside border.  Square up and then sew outside borders to the other two sides.

Step 22:  Square up corners and even out anything that looks crooked.

Step 23:  Cut some batting 1-2 inches larger than the panel.  

.    Step 24:  Cut backing about 5 or 6 inches larger than the panel (2- 3 inches on each side)

Step 25:  Finishing:  Layer your backing, batting, and wall hanging top, baste, quilt and then bind.

I used the stitch in the ditch method.  This pictures shows the direction to sew. 

I also stitched in the ditch in the outside of the pane border.

Baste around the outside of your wall hanging and then square up the corners and trim the excess backing and batting from your wall hanging.

Mini tutorial on making triangular hanging sleeves 

Cut out (2) 3 1/2 inch squares 

Fold square in 1/2 (into a triangle) and press. 

Lay the triangles onto the top, back corners of your wall hanging. To be sewn into the binding. 

 Here I've sewn on the binding to the backing with the triangle hangers in each top corner.  

FINISHED PROJECT!!!!

Inserting the dowel into that little triangle part.

 I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial.  If you have any trouble or find mistakes, please contact me so I can answer questions and correct errors.  Also, I'd love to see your Window wall hanging if you make one!

OTHER PANELS AND HOW TO CUT THEM

I love this Michael Miller panel I got on ebay and wanted to do the tutorial with this panel.  But since it was so big, I wanted to try the technique out on something else first.  It measures 22 x 42.  I will probably cut it into 5 1/2 inch x 7 inch "panes".  If you do the math, that would be 4 rectangular panes across and 6 down.  It will look so cute-- like you're peeking into the window on Christmas Eve and see the Christmas fairy by the Christmas tree!

IMPORTANT UPDATE:  Before cutting, please read this note sent to me by an experienced quilter regarding cutting a panel that includes a human figure (and may apply to other situations as well).  I was really glad to get this hint to avoid a lot of frustration with the panel I have shown you at the end of this post!  Patricia says, "I have a hint about the attic window treatment on the fairy panel for you.  If you split her and add the width of your sashing once or twice along her arms and legs she will become dis-proportioned.  For example:  a cut between the elbow and shoulder would make her upper arm much longer than the lower arm.  Fussy cutting might work better.

Lay strips of fabric (or Paper) the finished size of your sashing across the panel and look at what parts would be revealed and what would be hidden.  If you look through a real window you don't see what is behind the sash.  The strips can be moved around and then you can do some fussy cutting keeping the body proportioned.  You could try it with a magazine picture to see the different effect.  

Scenic panels don't distort as much as a human figure.<-- That is good to know-- thanks Patricia!

The next cute panel is 20 x 18 inches, not counting the red and green gum drop border which I'd probably cut of.  So the "panes" would probably be 6 5/8 inches x 6 inches.  (3 panes across and 3 down)  Or it might be better to do 5 inches wide x 6 inches long (4 panes across and 3 down).  To decide, I'd lay my clear 15" square ruler down to see what might get sewn into a seam and try and choose the best cutting strategy to prevent that from happening to important parts of the scene.