Christmas Lights String of Characters Pattern Release and Pillow Tutorial

Daydreams of Quilts is thrilled to announce the release of the "Christmas Lights String of Characters" PDF embroidery pattern on Etsy and Craftsy.

My eleven-year-old son helped me come up with some of the ideas for this one so it's extra special to me.

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My son thought of the idea for sunglasses for the super bright and super cool yellow light and he also thought of the Derpy Christmas Light on the end. The Derpy light has had one too many electric shocks.

The PDF pattern contains a bonus larger version of the Derpy Christmas Light. (4.5 x 5") If you only want that then you can get it for free by signing up for my newsletter or joining my Facebook group where you will find it in the files section.

The Derpy Christmas Light. (I Googled Derpy and it is a slang word for silly or foolish.)
The row of Christmas Light Characters is fairly detailed and I thought it would take a while to trace it. I have been meaning to try Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy for a while and I thought this would be the perfect time. I bought a sample pack at my local quilt shop (Creative Klutter in Irma, AB if you are in the Wainwright area) and there was one sheet of Sticky Fabri-Solvy in it. You can find a sample pack from Sulky here or a pack of 12 sheets here.


This was my first time using this product and I love it! I have already ordered four more packages of 12 sheets. Available in my Etsy shop here. It makes transferring embroidery patterns so much easier!

All you do is load a sheet into your printer tray. Make sure you know whether it needs to go face up or face down in the tray. (Mine is face down.) Then print your pattern page. Voila! It's ready to go! Trim close to the image, peel off the paper back and stick it down on your wrinkle free fabric. Stitch your design and when you are finished rinse the project under running water until the Sticky Fabri-Solvy is disolved. Lay your project flat to dry on a towel, press with an iron and proceed with finishing by either framing it in a hoop or sewing it into a project.


Here is my pattern printed on the Sticky Fabri-Solvy.


Here it is all stitched up and ready to take out of the hoop and rinse.

Pillow Tutorial:


I sewed my Christmas Lights String of Characters into a pillow cover. To make this you will need my embroidery pattern and 8 charm squares. I used Cotton + Steel charm squares for mine. You may also wish to have the Sticky Fabri-Solvy as well to save some time. You need about a 12 inch square of white fabric to stitch on and an 8" embroidery hoop. I used a size 11 embroidery needle and stitched everything with three strands of DMC embroidery floss.

Find embroidery tutorials on my blog here.

After rinsing, drying and pressing your embroidery trim it to 2 1/2 inches x 8 1/2 inches. 

A note about pressing: When you press just take the tip of your iron up to the embroidery but don't press right over it. If it's badly wrinkled lay it on a towel and press from the back.

All seams are a 1/4 inch.

Cut your 8 charm squares in quarters so that you end up with 32 - 2 1/2 inch squares. Sew one square on either end of the embroidery and press towards the squares. Sew the rest of your squares into rows of six and press seams on each row in opposite directions so your seams will nest together. (For example all odd numbered rows press to the right and all even numbered rows press to the left.)

Sew the top two rows together, then the embroidery row and then the bottom three rows. Press all row seams the same direction. You may wish to press away from your embroidery if you are using white fabric.


When you have everything sewn together lay your patchwork on a piece of cotton or cotton blend batting and quilt. Mine was free motion quilted with stippling. You can back it with muslin if you wish but it is not necessary.

Create an envelope back for your pillow. Read more about envelope backs in this tutorial



Trim the edges and sew binding as you would bind a quilt. I machine stitched mine to the front, turned it to the back and held it in place with Clover Wonder Clips. Then I machine stitched it from the back side. This gives the look of a piping edge without all the effort of adding actual piping.

Measure your pillow cover. It should be about 12 inches plus the binding. Sew a square pillow form to fit using muslin fabric. Leave an opening big enough to get your hand through on one side. Stuff the pillow form with polyfil stuffing, sew the opening closed and insert it into your pillow cover through the opening in the envelope back.

Linking up with "Finish it Up Friday" at http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.ca/