Would you love to hang cute quilted stockings from your mantel this Christmas? We would! The owners over at Sunny Day Supply have a wonderful stocking pattern and tutorial up on their blog all available for free. They include lovely inspo photos and even some stocking variations for you to experiment with!
Here is our version of the Sunny Stocking. And down below we've got a mini tutorial for cutting diamonds.
The Sunny Day tutorial provides a diamond template to create the patchwork. We will show you how to cut diamonds with rotary cutter and ruler and cutting mat, easy peasy. Kristen takes any opportunity to avoid paper or cardboard templates because she says they are too fussy! Guess what, the diamond template from Sunny Day is 2.5" high. This is good news because that means, you guessed it, jelly roll time (or Accuquilt Studio die cutter time). We love our 2.5" strip die cutter to bits. We also have some Ruby Star Society Speckled Jelly Rolls in our online shop, they have a touch of gold for some holiday sparkle and would make some beautiful stockings. One jelly roll will make enough diamonds for the whole family.
As you see in the photo above, when you put the Sunny Day diamond template on it's side, it measures 2.5" so you can cut continuous diamonds from a long strip.
If you have it, it helps to use a cutting mat that has half-inch grid markings as you see in the photo above. The side of the diamond measures 3.5" and will measure more easily with the half-inch grid. Use the 45 degree mark on your ruler to get the angle you need. Keep the 45 degree mark even with your fabric strip (see above for example). You'll need to cut your first cut off the left end of your 2.5" strip to start the diamond, and then the second cut is 3.5" from there. To speed things up even more, stack 2 or 3 strips together before cutting the diamonds. Be mindful of directional fabrics, they may or may not work with your patchwork design. We recommend that you cut one to audition before you cut EVERYTHING. Sunny Day has all the piecing tips and tricks you'll need for sewing up these little diamonds.
Lastly, if you want a faux binding at the top of your stocking like ours, here's what you do. Cut a 1.5" strip with the length trimmed to match the length of the top of the stocking. Then fold it in half wrong sides together. Sandwich it between the front piece and the lining piece, raw edges together, when the directions tell you to stitch those parts together. After you stitch that seam, it will be sticking out on the right side. Then fold and press it down towards the toe of the front stocking to look like binding before you continue the rest of the sewing instructions.
Now, put away the computer (or phone or iPad) and go have some fun sewing!
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