DIY ~ A Vintage Quilted Ornament

Lately I have been seriously in love with the idea of having a completely retro Christmas.

I am talking, ornaments that belong in the 50's, garlands that are delicate and reminiscent of that time and classic red green and white color schemes done with a modern twist. Of course this led me to a new project. I wanted to see if I could create a vintage style quilted ornament. You may have seen one of these floating around at your parents house or maybe even your grandparents. I will let you in on a little secret... they are easy to make and easy to customize!

The Necessities:

~ 3" Styrofoam Ball

~ 2.5" Squares of Fabric 

          - 2 for under neath your center stars

          - 8 in your center star color

          - 16 in a color for the second star (I actually used 2 colors for my second star)

          - 16 in your final color

~ Small dressmaker pins

~ A long scrap of fabric for a center band

The Process:

~ Cut all of your fabric into 2.5" squares as listed above

~ Using the color of your center star, fold one of the squares in half and then half again

~ Press the seams with your fingers to that you will be able to see the fold marks once you open the square again

~ Place one of the needles in the center of the square using your fold marks as a guideline

~ Fold the square back in half

~ Place one of the end squares on the styrofoam ball and find the approximate center

~ Pin the piece of folded fabric in place

~ Fold one corner down and pin into place

~ Repeat with the other corner

~ Create four pinned down triangles to make your first star

~ Be careful to line up all of your points

~ To start then next row, measure approximately 3/4" down the center of one or your original triangles

~ Pin your next colored triangle into place

~ Repeat for the other triangles

~ The rest is fairly easy to figure out

~ Your next set of triangles will overlap the others within that row and your final row of triangles will start another 3/4" down

~ Repeat all of the above steps for the other side of the ornament

~ Next you must create the piece of fabric that will cover up the exposed raw edges in the center of the ornament

~ Cut a piece of fabric 1.5" wide and long enough to go around the circumference of the ornament and still leave you with about 2" of extra length

~ Press the edges into the middle to hide the raw edges

~ Pin one end into place covering the exposed edges and pins

~ Continue wrapping around the ornament

~ Fold the raw edge under and pin into place

~ To make a loop for hanging the ornament, simply create a loop with some pretty ribbon and hot glue into place

Here is the final product. What do you think? Doesn't it bring forth some of those incredible childhood Christmas memories you have?

Mrs. E