I've delved into my box of kits again, and here's one that I purchased back in 2021 from Coast and Country Crafts and Quilts - the All For Christmas Advent Calendar by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched and this was a fabulous jit - it contained all of the fabrics (these are from the All For Christmas colletion, also designed by Anni) and also included the DMC embridery threads required, along with a pack of press stud fasteners for the cute little gift bags. The pattern instructions suggested using needleturn applique for the small blocks, but you could use whatever method of applique you prefer. The blocks are also embellished with hand embroidery, using very simple stitches. I used a lightweight fusible interfacing on the back of the blocks, which I fused in place after I'd traced the design onto the fabric...
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...once all the small blocks are stitched, they're joined together, pressed, and finally the bordered are added. Rather than quilting and adding a binding, this calendar is layered together with the wadding on the bottom, then the backing fabric facing the right way up and the pieced calander facing right side down. It's then stitched all the way around the outer edge, leaving a gap for turning through, which is then hand stitched closed and finally quilted...
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...next step was to make 25 little gift bags - each one is embroidered with a number, and has a perle thread drawstring to keep it closed. A press stud fastening is stitched on the back of each bag, along with the corresponding part stitched onto the outer blocks of the calendar...
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...the gift bags are then attached to the calendar, and can be arranged around the blocks however you wish. You can see from these pictures, I'd machine quilted this very simply with a cream quilting thread...
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...I've added a quilt sleeve on the back of the calendar so it can be displayed on the wall, and I've added a very simple label on the back, made from a leftover piece of fabric. I've used one of the fabrics from the same collection for the backing, although this wasn't included in the kit...
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...and here's the completed advent calendar - ready to be filled with little gifts and surprises for my grandsons. I'm sure they'll love dipping their fingers inside these bags to find their treats. This really has been a super project to make, and I'm sure it will get used every Christmas for many years to come!
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