Hey everyone! Today we're turning a printed panel into a festive wall hanging, and you'll learn how to square it up, quilt it simply, and add a hanging sleeve.
Here we go.
Meet the Fabric
This is the 12 Days of Christmas Multi Panel, from Quilting Treasures.
It comes from the 12 Days of Christmas collection by Julie Lynch for QT Fabrics.
It's 100% cotton, and it's a panel print. That means the artwork is already composed for you. No piecing tiny blocks to build the picture.
The color on this one is listed as Multi, and oh my goodness, it earns that name. Teal, jade, and dark turquoise. Joyful red and soft aqua. Charcoal and gray to settle it down. Plus little touches of lime green.
The collection features the characters from the song. Lords-a-leaping and maids-a-milking. All the birds, too. Plus florals, ornaments, stripes, and stars across the coordinating prints.
A panel like this is a fast finish with a big payoff. The illustration does the heavy lifting. Your job is to frame it, quilt it lightly, and get it on the wall. If I can do this, y'all can do it.
The Project: A Panel Wall Hanging
A wall hanging is exactly what it sounds like. It's a small quilt made to hang, not to cover a bed. It dresses up an entryway, a hallway, or that blank spot over the mantel.
Finished size depends on your trimmed panel. Whatever yours measures, that's your size. We're not reinventing the wheel here. The panel sets the dimensions, and we build around it.
Here's why this fabric suits the project. A wall hanging is flat and front-facing. Every bit of that artwork stays visible. Nothing gets folded, tucked, or cut into little pieces. And quilting cotton presses flat and hangs neat.
Materials
- 1 panel of this 12 Days of Christmas Multi fabric
- Backing fabric cut 4 inches larger than your trimmed panel, all the way around
- Cotton batting cut the same size as your backing
- Binding strips, 2 1/2 inches wide, enough to go around all four sides plus 12 inches extra
- An extra strip for the hanging sleeve, about 8 1/2 inches wide
- Matching thread, 50-weight for construction and quilting
- A size 80/12 universal needle
- Rotary cutter, a long ruler, and a cutting mat
- Pins or clips, safety pins for basting, and an iron
- A wooden dowel or slim rod, cut a little shorter than your finished width
Brief Steps
Step 1: Press and square the panel. Press the panel flat first. Then trim it square with your ruler. Check that opposite sides measure the same. Take your time here. A panel trimmed crooked will hang crooked, and no amount of quilting fixes that.
Step 2: Layer and baste. Lay the backing right side down. Center the batting on top. Then center your panel right side up. Smooth from the middle outward. Pin baste every 4 inches or so, or use safety pins if you prefer. Completely up to you.
Step 3: Quilt it simply. Set your stitch length to about 10 stitches per inch. Start with stitch in the ditch around the panel's printed border, if it has one. Then echo the main shapes, or add a gentle meander in open areas. Keep it light. The artwork is the star, not the quilting. Slow down on the turns, folks.
Step 4: Trim and bind. Trim the batting and backing even with the panel edges. Sew your binding on with a 1/4-inch seam. Miter the corners, join the ends, then fold the binding to the back and stitch it down. I hand stitch mine while watching TV. Machine stitching works just fine too.
Step 5: Add the sleeve and hang it. Hem the long edges of your 8 1/2-inch strip. Fold it in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Sew it to the top back edge, right under the binding. Slip the dowel through, and hang it up. Just like that.
Practical Tips From My Sewing Room
First tip: measure the panel before you trim. Printed panels can print slightly off grain. Trust your ruler and the artwork's own border, not the raw edges of the fabric.
Second: if your panel bows a little in the middle, don't panic. Press it, let it cool flat, and baste it well. Mine have done that too.
And remember, it doesn't have to be perfect. A tiny wobble in one echo line will not show from across the room. You're your own worst critic on this stuff, I promise. Hang it up, step back, and enjoy it.
Thanks so much for sewing along with me today, y'all. We'll see you next time. Bye.
Shop the 12 Days of Christmas Multi Panel at Linda's Electric Quilters.
