Advent Calendar

I finished the advent calendar over the weekend - just in time! I am loving how it turned out, although I must say it took a LOT longer than I had anticipated. More on that later. (First, can I give a shout out to my 3 year old holding the quilt for me in the above photo? I think my husband's job as photo assistant may be in jeopardy! LOL)

I followed the tutorial on Sew Mama Sew by Elizabeth of Oh Fransson. I had actually been looking at this tutorial back in the summer and thought "why would I make this now? I'll wait until closer to Christmas!" HA There's something stressful about having a deadline like December 1, when you are rushing to get ready for the holidays.

So...why it took me so long. Mainly, it was those pesky numbers. I'm not good at freehand sewing around things, especially 1.5" numbers. Lots of tight curves and it's very obvious if it doesn't look perfect. I thought this would be a perfect time to use my new embroidery module on the Bernina to do appliques! Well, it was....but it was not a quick task. Lots of hooping of fabric and stabilizer. Lots of trimming fabric. And I failed to consider that most numbers on the calendar are really TWO numbers (24 = 2 and 4). So that part took about 5 times longer than I thought. :)

Forming the pockets took a bit of time but after that it was smooth sailing.

You can't really tell, but on the front, the white is a Michael Miller fabric with snowflakes. I thought that was a cute variation.

The back view shows the quilting. I did free motion in the borders, a bit challenging not to hit the pockets and sew them shut accidentally.

I'm going to fill these with candy and hopefully start a fun tradition at our house for years to come!