Winterkist Blog Hop - Gnoma Advent Calendar

When Katie asked if I wanted to be part of the Winterkist blog hop I said yes in about 0.2 seconds. And then in about 0.5 seconds I knew what I was going to make.

Even though I knew what I was going to make, I wanted to ensure that anything with Winterkist was made in the epically fun spirit of its designer. So I thought to myself: WWMSSD? That's What Would Monica Solorio-Snow Do? for those of you who are behind the times :) Monica's a pretty fun and hilarious lady, so I tried to rise to her level - this is me channeling my inner Monica.

I gathered myself a gnoma and we set out into the world, Flat Stanley style. I took the Prince Harry of gnomas, because he's not directly next in line for the throne, so he's allowed to engage in shenanigans and go out and rabble-rouse, whereas poor Prince William gnoma had to sit at home waiting for his moment to shine in the project. What did Prince Harry Gnoma and I do on our day of fun? Take a look:

1. Buckle up, Gnoma, safety first! 2. We had to get gas, and he pumped it [it builds character] 3. He was thirsty, so we had to stop for a Coke 4. Prince Harry Gnoma's favorite artists are ABBA, Tracy Chapman, and Tenacious D, in no particular order 5. Kelly and I buried him in the sand at the beach 6. I told you Prince Harry Gnoma was all about the shenanigans...wonder where he got all that cash money?! 7. Went hiking and had a zen moment at the top 8. Practiced the art of seduction with a mustache

By the end of the day, we were tired, but ready to get to work!

A Winterkist advent calendar! When I was growing up we had a Christmas tree advent calendar and you hung an ornament up for every day. I loved doing that [still do] and so I really wanted to be able to physically move something for each day to countdown to Christmas.

So to count down each day closer to Christmas you get to take a snowflake from the pocket [the snowflakes slide in more, I just wanted them to be seen for the picture] and snap it up around Prince William Gnoma. The snaps that are on the calendar itself are very hard to see since they're clear, so when none of the snowflakes are snapped on then it still looks great!

I Steam-a-Seamed the largest gnoma in the collection to the background and then stitched in DMC Perle 8 around the edges. The only thing I'd do differently next time is layer some white fabric behind the gnoma so you can't see the background when it's stitched down. I kind of think it looks like freckles?

The snowflakes are interfaced and then stitched to some heavy duty red felt for durability.

The white background [which is also Winterkist] is free-motion quilted in a new-to-me design. Swirls! Hopefully so it looks windy/snowy/blustery. I don't have the patience for practice, so this was my first try at this design, and I'm pretty darned pleased.

Winterkist pairs up so nicely with this red Farm Fresh dot for the pockets, and the Riley Blake [I forget the line] for binding, and some fabric marker drawn numbers to indicate the day. In all honesty, I'd originally planned to embroider the numbers, but wanted nothing to do with more hand-work when I was sewing this all together.

AND LOOK. Baby gnoma! From Holiday Happy! For the 25th :)

I love it! I love that it's on the bigger side [about 18" by almost 36"] so it will take a commanding space in my living room this winter. And I love that it's not "Christmassy" and so I can leave it up in January and February and June. The pockets are plenty big enough [3.5" square] to hold the snowflakes and even a little treat or note.

I plan to sew some snaps onto some double fold binding or some ribbon so that I can use the snowflakes as a garland in January if I want. You could totally do that with the gnoma too, I just didn't think of it until I had already sewn him down.

Thanks Katie for letting me join the fun, and for Monica for having gnoma fun with fabric!

Don't forget that if you leave a comment on this post, or any other blog hop post this week, that you get entered to win a FQ bundle of your choice from The Fat Quarter Shop!

The remaining blog stops:

Aug 16  Diane at from blank pages

Aug 17  Allegory at {sew} Allegorical

Aug 20  Kim at My Go-Go Life

Aug 21 Di at Random Thoughts...do or "di"

Aug 22 Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts

Aug 23 Jenelle at Echinops & Aster

Aug 24  Katie at There & Back