My first thought was “Ha, this is the perfect excuse to finally make some holiday decor EARLY” since I always mean to, but never do. It took me awhile to narrow down a die to use, since there are just so many that aligned with my taste. After much thought, and help from Sizzix, I ended up with this awesome Snowflake die. More specifically the Sizzix Bigz Die – Snowflake.

I knew right away how I would use it too! I wanted a piece that was great for Christmas, but could also work for a month or two afterwards. That way I could be lazy and keep it out for awhile. Also, we don’t decorate for the holidays until after my daughters birthday which is the second week of December,so holiday decor that can stay up longer is a big bonus.

I took a few photos while I was putting this together, which means I have a quick tutorial so you too can make this awesome pillow!!

Supplies Needed:

• Sizzix Bigz Die – Snowflake
• Various Solid Blue Fabrics. Mine are all leftover Kona Cotton from my Icosahedron Quilt. Each Block should be no smaller than 5″
• Various Solid White and Light Grey Fabric. I used Kona Cotton here too
• the Warm Company’s Steam-A-Seam 2 Lite
• Batting (I used Warm & Natural Cotton Batting)
• Coordinating thread
• slightly coordinating thread

First thing I did was cut out out 9″ squares from both the white or grey fabric and the Steam-A-Seam. The Steam-A-Seam is sticker adhesive, so I just removed one of the protective layers and stuck the fabric down. I smoothed it out and pressed firmly to make sure it was adhered properly.

Then I cut the 9″ squares into four 4.5″ squares and set them aside.

Next I cut one to two 5″ squares from each of my blue fabrics, I had an uneven number of blues I really wanted to use, so that’s why there were single squares.

I took the pile of white and grey pieces to my Sizzix Fabi and ran them through. The proper way to do this is called the Sizzix sandwich. You start with a cutting pad, then the die with the foam side up, then whatever you are cutting (here I had the interfacing side up) and then another cutting pad. I cut two pieces at a time when using the Steam-A-Seam. This prevents shifting and pieces getting stuck.

You can see here there isn’t much waste and the shape cut perfectly with the interfacing attached.

Now were all ready to start assembling…

First thing I do is layout my pieces to see where I want them. This usually takes me about five minutes, because I’m constantly changing my mind.

As you can see above, I am using a portable design wall I made out of leftover Homasote wrapped in extra batting that I stapled to the back. It’s great for this step because I can just carry the board over to my machine and pull off the pieces that need to be sewn in a specific order. The Homasote hardly weighs a thing. It’s awesome.

Ok, back to this tutorial…

After I was happy with the layout I stitched all of the blocks together using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Once they are all together, you ended up with a 20.5″ square piece.

Now were are ready to adhere some snowflakes!

This Steam-A-Seam2 is amazing because you hardly have to use an iron! I was able to sit on my couch for this step. All you do is peel off the other side of the protective layer and position it in the middle of a block and press firmly. How easy is that?!? Best part is, if you don’t like the way it looks, you can peel off the piece and re stick it somewhere else. It isn’t permanent until you use a dry iron and slowly iron over each piece. I love this stuff!

Once, you have all of the snowflakes permanently adhered you are ready to quilt the top. You have two options here. The first is you can top stitch around each snowflake so a look similar to these trivets I made, or you could use a method called matchstick quilting. I chose the second option.

Matchstick quilting is when you stitch a whole bunch of lines, sometimes in various colors, super close together. It isn’t recommended for all quilts as it makes them a little stiff, but for projects like this, it’s perfect. All those close lines help keep all these thin snowflake pieces in place!! I used a few different color threads to achieve a bit more depth.

It’s not too noticeable, but I used white, light gray and light blue thread. I started out in the middle with light gray thread and used one of the seam lines as a guide. I stitched 1/4″ away all the way across. Then the next line was 1/2″, then the next was 3/4″, and then 1/2″ again and so on and so on. I did this from the middle out, on both sides. Staggering the distance between the lines. I wasn’t super careful either, so some lines were a bit wonky. Afterwards I threaded my machine with the light blue thread and filled in some of the spots between the light gray lines. Lastly I went through with white thread and just did a few lines here and there. Especially where the snowflake tips needed to be tacked down.

To finish the pillow off I used some quilted dark gray Kona for the back, and a 20″ invisible zipper sewn into the bottom.

This was a very rewarding project because I am absolutely in love with the finished piece. It was so easy to put together and the end result looks like it was difficult. Those are always the best!

Oh, and you want to know the best part? This project totally kick started my need to make holiday decor!!! I already have a few other pillows in the works, along with a tree skirt. A TREE SKIRT! I’m hoping the flame doesn’t sizzle, and I actually finish them before December. I guess if I don’t I’ll have things to share NEXT July…

My favorite product is the Silhouette brand Sewable Fabric Interfacing. I use it in every fabric project I make for their blog, plus a load of personal projects for myself. It’s a great time saver that adds a special personal touch to your sewing projects. I use it to personalize quilted pieces or cut super intricate designs. It’s also great for kids clothes and any type of sewn gift.

I chose a personalized stocking as the project to showcase the Sewable Interfacing because it’s been on my to do list for YEARS! I started three, one for each of us, but was only able to finish the one shown due to my sewing machine malfunctioning. I’m hoping to share the other two, that my family helped design, later in the month.

I wanted to show each of our very different personalities in a quilted sock form. Mine shows my love for shapes, polka dots, fabric with writing on it and the color gray. The Honeycomb Background design file would have taken forever to cut by hand, but with my Silhouette CAMEO it only took a few minutes.

I also love how it looks super complicated, but was super easy to put together!

I used the Stocking design file and enlarged it as big I could to fit on the 12″x24″ cutting mat. I cut just the basic stocking shape out of card stock. I then opened the Honeycomb Background file and tilted it slightly so the edge near the toe made it look like a sock with those different colored toe tips. I clicked on “Release Compound Path” so all of the honeycomb lines were separated. I deleted a few hexagons here and there so some would be solid. I used some awesome rainbow speckled denim and I wanted to showcase it here and there.

Once I was happy with the file, I grouped it back together. I prepped and cut it as a I usually do (my full tutorial on the Silhouette blog can be found here) and ironed it onto my already cut out stocking. I also cut out a basic stocking piece for the back. I then spray basted both pieces to separate cotton batting and quilted them up like I would any quilt. I cut the lining out of the cute black and gray polka dotted fabric and sewed all of them together, just like you would a zipper pouch!

After everything was sewn and turned inside out, I folded down the top cuff and added my name using the Lovely Day Font (found in the Silhouette Design Store) and some solid gray fabric to finish it off.

It took me about two hours total to finish this one stocking. Not Bad, right?!!

Now onto the GIVEAWAY!

On Silhouette’s behalf, I will be giving away one pack of Silhouette Brand Sewable Interfacing and one Fabric Blade. To enter you NEED to follow Silhouette America and myself on Instagram. To earn additional entries you can follow me on Bloglovin and/or leave a comment letting me know what kind of projects you’d like to see on here in 2015!

Rules, Guidelines & Disclaimers:

This giveaway is being hosted by me, Jessee M / Art School Dropout, as part of the Silhouette Design Team Blog Hop. There will be only one winner chosen by Rafflecopter. This giveaway is open to US/Canada Residents, 18 & older.  Void where prohibited. This giveaway is not associated with Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Prizes will be fulfilled by Silhouette America. Winner cannot have won another Silhouette America giveaway in the past 90 days. Winners should expect their prize to arrive within 4-6 weeks. Only one entry per reader, period. Only the first comment posted will be counted. Giveaway starts at midnight December 1st, 2014 and will end at 11:59PM (EST) December 5th, 2014. Whew, I think that’s it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck to everyone who enters. Please head on over to Guiseppa Gubler’s blog to find out what she’s giving away. Then from there hop on over to the next one and the next. If all works out you should finish up right back here where you started. If you’d like to start at the begging then go check out the Blog Hop Giveaway post on the Silhouette America Blog.

Updated:

Here’s a list of ALL of the Silhouette Design Team Blog Hop Posts in case you think you may have missed one!…

Today marks the day when all the craziness of the holidays ends! Hopefully…

I hope everyone who celebrates any of the December holidays had a great month! I can’t wait to get back to my normal, everyday schedule. I have so much to share.

(oh and to explain a bit about why CT has TWO of the same pez in the above photo… I apparently have been really absent minded lately and bought two of the same thing. I didn’t realize it until Christmas eve, while wrapping. So I wrapped them together, and we told her she got twin pez dispensers. SHE WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT IT!.)

Last week we decided we wanted to get a new Christmas tree. We have been using the same tree since our first apartment together 9 years ago. It was bought on clearance after the holidays, and was pretty much the only one we could find. It was a little short, and a little sparse, but it always looked super cute when we put all of our ornaments on it. You can see a photo of it from last year (CT is really cute and tiny in the photos too!!). The reason we decided to upgrade was because we felt it would be nice to have a bigger tree, since we have such large ceilings. Plus we found the perfect tree for us by accident and needed an excuse to buy it. Ha.

The new tree is 7.5 foot, instead of 6 foot. It has those plastic feeling branches on the outside and tinsel on the inside instead of tinsel all over. Oh and the best part… The lights are LED’s and can switch from colored lights to white lights!! That last part is what sold me and made me spend my hard earned cash on a new tree! I’m a sucker for new technology.

We apparently waited to long to buy it, and ended up with the floor model. Which bring me to why we set it up so early. Since we bought the floor model, it didn’t come with a box. So our options were to have a huge tree in pieces in the middle of the library, or set it up! We set it up, and of course I couldn’t have a naked tree standing around. So we decorated it too! CT’s decorating skills have improved greatly since last year. She put ornaments on the bottom half of the tree, and I did the top half for the most part. JC had to put the star on, I’m just too short.

I’m happy the main tree is up, along with a few other decorations. It’s been slowly lifting my spirits. Everything is so shiny and bright. I still have my white tree to put up, but I’ going to wait until after CT’s birthday in mid December. That way I have more space in our dining room for the party! Which I really need to start preparing for…

Has anyone else already set up their tree, or decorated for the holidays? Or am I the only crazy one?