Holly Jolly

This month's challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors is to make a seasonal table topper, using appliqué.

We could choose any season, colour, or size, as long as it featured appliqué.

No surprise I would choose to make something Christmassy, as it's by far my favourite season.  In EQ8, I drafted out a shape that featured curves, and then cloned those curves for the outside edge.  In between, appliqued holly leaves dance around the twisty red vine.  I chose an assortment of fabrics, some from the Island Batik Basics and Blenders line, and some from Stashbuilder rolls.  The background is a Neutral, call "Moo Milk."  It doesn't get much more Christmassy than red, white and green!

The leaves were backed with fusible web and ironed raw edge to the patchwork.  Aurifil 12 weight thread is used to outline the leaves and vines in blanket stitch.

28 weight stitched the details in the leaves.

Underneath the stitching, I used a layer of  HobbsThermore to act as stabilizer.

Doing this adds an extra bit of loft to the finished piece, but more importantly, it means I don't have to rip away any tear-away stabilizer afterwards.

The stitched top was then layered on Hobbs Tuscany wool batting before quilting. Nothing complements a curved edge better than a feather, so naturally that was my choice of quilting motif.  The quilting is done with a 50 weight Aurifil in natural white 2021.  It matched the Moo Milk background perfectly.

The bias binding was hand stitched to the back side using Aurifil 80 weight, which disappears into the fabric.

The two layers of batting really make the quilting stand out.

The holly in our garden is heavy with berries. The berries on the table topper are small buttons.

On the back, I chose to use the same moo milk as the front. 

It looks great with this hand made holly dish, which we fill each year with cranberries.

Thank you to Island Batik, Hobbs Batting and Aurifil thread for supplying the products used in this project.  As always, I am also deeply grateful for the help of pattern editor Cheryl Coville.  You are a treasure, Cheryl :)  The pattern is available from my website, as an instant download at this link, and locally at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium.