Brrr!

So the title of my post is, in part, a reference to the temperatures of late (it has been chilly but today was much warmer - it's 2 degrees out there now - yay! ) but really, it is the name of Laurie Wisbrun's Christmas fabric line which features polar bears! I first saw it on someone's blog way back in the spring and was ever so pleased to learn Hawthorne Threads would be pleased to enable my fabric hoarding collecting and allow me to sign up for a "notify me when" email when the fabric came into stock. I was all over that email when it arrived.

Of course, as usual, I fell for a large-scale print without having any real plans (did I mention I got it in both colourways?) but I was smart enough to order several coordinating prints and textures to go along with it so that when I did decide what I wanted to make, I'd have everything on hand.

I do have a plan for it but reality says that may not happen in time for (this) Christmas. As it happens, one of my son-in-laws is rather fond of polar bears. This same young man also needed a Christmas stocking of his own for here at our place on Christmas morning. Hmm...polar bear fan + polar bear fabric = polar bear stocking!

This stocking was inspired by a photo posted over at Sew Katie Did (love her work!) and - bonus - it was fun and easy to make. I fussy cut the polar bears and sewed them in a strip with a few other scraps until I had a piece long enough to go with my stocking pattern. The background is an Essex linen from my stash and the backing is the snowflake print, also from Brrr. I did some straight line quilting on both back and front, added a lining and a hanger, and bound the top edge like I would any other quilt. And it's done!

Here is a close up of one of the polar bears:

I like it! And, I am looking forward to stuffing it full of goodies!

e.