I am feeling a small moment of glee right now. I said on Saturday that I would post this tutorial on Wednesday and for some reason it is actually happening. Even during what feels like a constant clatter of banging pots, I am getting it done.

Okay, so you want to make your very own Capitol Christmas Tree Ornament.

One of the fun things about this project is that you probably already have everything you need. In fact, this project uses leftovers which is always enticing to me.

You will need the following supplies.

• Star Pattern– I googled Star Outlines and found one I liked and printed it out on regular typing paper. Here is the link to the star I used.
• Smooth Tracing Wheel–The one I have is green and made by Dritz.
• Approximately 9” square of shot cotton fabric. Any fabric will work, but I am very fond of how beautifully the shot cotton shows quilting stitches.
• Approximately 9” square of backing fabric for your star. I used upholstery remnants, but you could use denim or any other stable fabric.
• Thread for quilting. I used Aurifil Thread in 28WT.
• Stuffing– I used my rotary cutter to shred up so small bits of Warm and White Batting. This worked really well.
• Approximately eight inches of fabric trim or other thin fabric for creating the hanging devise. 3/8 inch trim works really well. Using a wider trim is a bit more difficult.

Standard quilting supplies–stitching thread, sewing machine,scissors, snips, pins, and that sort of thing.

Okay here we go. Iron your shot cotton fabric and then using the tracing wheel, trace your star pattern onto the fabric. At first, I used tracing paper, but I discovered that the typing paper leaves a fine pattern.

This line is your final stitching line.

Create a quilt sandwich and begin quilting around your star. I like to start with the edge of the star and work inward.

Here I have loaded a dozen on to my long arm, but you can EASILY do this on a domestic machine.

In fact, It is a great way to practice quilting.

I like to make each one different.

After the star is quilted it will look like this.

Next, I used my scissors to cut around the star. You want to cut at about a 1/2” away from the stitched edge. This is your seam allowance for when you stitch the backing to the star. As you can see in the photo, my seam allowance is a bit scant on one point of the star. That is OKAY.

Take your backing fabric and place it right side up on your table. Place the quilted shot fabric wrong side up on top of the backing fabric like so.

Pin around the star securing the backing fabric to the quilted star fabric. Using your scissors cut around the star.

Cut your fabric trim to the length you like. I think eight inches is good.

I found that the hanger is best hanging from one of the star points. Fold the fabric trim in half with RIGHT sides facing out. Slide the trim in between the quilted star and the backing fabric. Pin it into place.

Next, select a star point that NOT near your hanging tab.Using a pencil, mark an opening space that looks like this. This will let you know where to start and stop stitching.

Stitch around the star using your walking foot if you have one. I stitched my star points like this to make sure they are secure.

Using the opening, flip your star right side out.

If you are going to use a wider trim for your hanging tab, you will need to stitch THAT star point like this.

Next shred some batting. I just use my rotary cutter and sliced the batting into approximately 1” by 5” strips. Now that I figure this out, I don’t think I will ever throw batting away again!

It takes about handful of batting to get a nice puffy star.

Stuff your star.

There will be a small opening that you need to whip stitch shut by hand.

And that’s it. You are on your way to making fabulous Capitol Christmas Tree Ornaments!

They make wonderful gifts.

While we are on the topic of hand made holiday gifts, I might as well share with you two other posts I have written about hand made gifts. First, the ever popular Artful Oven Mitts.

Here is a link to the latest chapter in that story. This link includes the link to all other stories about Artful Oven Mitts–how to make them, how to get the pattern, etc…

Or if you could care less about the backstory and really just want the tutorial click here.

And then there is the hands down most popular post I have ever written. You’d think it would be something about art or stitch, but NO. It is about how I make fleece flannel blankets.

This time of year, that post has more hits than anything else.

It is good to know that I am contributing to make the world a more comfy place with all those fleece flannel blankets being stitched out there.

Now, what are all of you making this Christmas season?

02 Dec This entry was published on December 2, 2015 at 2:55 PM. It’s filed under Tutorials and tagged Capitol Christmas Tree Ornament. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.