It's Day 7 of the Merry Little Christmas Stitch-Along and today we're making candy canes!
The instructions for today's block are a little bit different. When I first attempted this block, I tried fusing and appliquéing the candy cane shape first and then fusing and appliquéing the stripes afterwards, but to my eye, the block looked a bit bulky and messy. I'd also had a difficult time neatly aligning the outer edges of the white stripes with the outer edge of the candy cane, especially with the thicker wool.
So I tried again, but this time, I cut the white stripes longer than the patterns at both outer ends and fused them in place on the candy cane first, using a piece of parchment paper beneath the candy cane to be sure it didn't stick to my ironing board. With the longer stripes in place, I flipped the candy cane over and trimmed the stripes even with the outer edge of the candy cane. Then I fused the whole unit to the background fabric, blanket stitched the white stripes only on their inner edges and finished by using red floss to blanket stitch around the outer edge of the entire candy cane. Using this method made for a much neater finished product.
And for a little more eye candy, here's the candy cane block that I made for my traditional pillow:
Thanks for stopping by on your weekend! I'll see you back here Monday for Day 8!
—jen