Toy Soldier Wall Hanging

As our good friends at Monty Python's Flying Circus used to say, "and now for something completely different!"  I've had a series of life-sized wall hangings bopping around in my head for months now, and finally managed to birth the first one (s). These giant (6 ft. tall) toy soldiers add a fun, whimsical touch to our Christmas decorating. Simple to make for even a beginner quilter, the pattern has straight seams, rotary cut pieces, and fused appliqué features. These wall-hangings are intended for indoor use, protecting doorways, or standing guard beside the presents under your Christmas tree.

 I think these toy soldiers are so fun, and I can't wait to hang them this Christmas.  As with most things simple, it took a lot of thinking and complicated maneuvering to make it so.  It was important to design this big fellow in such a way that a full sized pattern wouldn't take 100 sheets taped together when printed.  And it doesn't.

With the words of Albert Einstein bouncing in my head, I made these fellows "as simple as possible, but no simpler." The pieces are rotary cut, and honestly, you can easily finish one of these fellows in a day. The blocks are appliqued before joining together so there is not a lot of fabric to deal with on the sewing machine bed.  I used a blanket stich to outline the shapes, dipping into my stash of Aurifil threads to match them to the fabrics being used.

The quilting was kept to a minimum,  The soldiers use "flex foam" batting to keep them standing straight and tall.  The next bit of fun was finding a good spot to photograph these sentinels.  Here they are keeping guard outside a bedroom .

I swear their eyes followed me whatever angle I chose!

One soldier alone decorates a door nicely.

I took them outside to dress up the front door, but they will not spend the season here as they were made of quilting cottons.  A weatherproof fabric intended for outside would solve that issue.  The pattern is available in both print  or download  versions, or ask your local quilt shop to order then in.

When our tree goes up. these fellows will be standing on guard to make sure a certain little kitty cat does not go climbing...

Next up:  The Magi!