July 22, 2017

12 Days of Christmas in July - Free Motion Quilted Ornaments

Welcome to my stop on the 12 Days of Christmas in July blog hop, hosted by Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict! Sarah has put a lot of work into this hop, including a quilt-a-long on her blog and even a giveaway every day, so be sure to head over there to get in on all the good stuff.

If this is your first time here at Devoted Quilter, it's great to have you. If you like what you see, be sure to sign up for my newsletter, The Bulletin. When you do, you'll get my free Wind Farm quilt pattern (exclusive to subscribers) along with a fun monthly email from me.

I've been planning the ornaments I wanted to make for this hop for months, though I only finally got to make them a couple of days ago (on the hottest day we've had yet, no less!). In fact, I had hoped to use this hop as the perfect opportunity to get all the ornaments I plan to give out for Christmas made well in advance. Instead, I've made...three. 😒 But at least I'm three ahead, right?

I used the same basic method as I used last fall for my Free Motion Quilted Ornaments, but this time around I made them smaller and tried something different with the quilting. I started by printing out the word JOY and tracing the letters onto freezer paper. They look deceptively large in this close-up, lol.
Joy free motion quilted ornament | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
Then I cut the letters out and used my iron to stick them to a piece of solid red fabric.
Joy free motion quilted ornament | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
I used my Hera marker to trace around a credit card to give me the outline of the ornament. Then I layered with batting and backing, added the ribbon and started quilting 😊 Don't you love when you can get to the quilting stage so quickly?

I outlined the outer edge of the ornament first, then micro stippled my way in to the J. I outlined the letters and filled in the rest with more micro stippling. I love how it looks!
Joy free motion quilted ornament | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
I really like the way the letters pop against the micro stippling. And I love the classic look of the red and white, especially against the green of the tree.

I have to admit, though, the freezer paper wasn't great for the letters. I'm guessing it's because the letters were so small that as I stitched around them they were lifting off the fabric. I'll have to think about other options for transferring the letters to the fabric. Maybe just tracing with a disappearing marker would work. Do you have a favourite disappearing marker?

The freezer paper worked better for my other two designs, both of which were bigger than the letters.

First up, a heart. I switched to white fabric and red thread for this one. I like it, but I definitely want to try one on red fabric with the white thread.
Heart free motion quilted ornament | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
And then a star. I want to make more of these on yellow fabric, but I haven't decided what colour thread I'd want to use. I don't know if white would have enough contrast. I'll probably have to give it a try to find out.
Star free motion quilted ornament | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com
I didn't make the stippling as small on these two and I think they'd look better with smaller quilting. My stippling tends to be a bit messy, but it's less noticeable when there's more of it, lol. Something to keep in mind when I get around to making the rest of the ornaments for Christmas.

If you'd like to try your hand at free motion quilted ornaments, be sure to check out my original tutorial for all the how-to. And if you'd like to see more projects like this, don't forget to sign up for The Bulletin.

Head over to visit Sarah for the quilt-a-long and info on the giveaway. Plus be sure to visit the other bloggers sharing today.

Saturday, July 22nd


Thanks for stopping by and Merry Christmas in July!

141 comments:

  1. Leanne, what a great way to do ornaments, and have 3 in a row as on your previous post via the link. very nifty. I am going to make a fabric tree, and these will be a wonderful addition. My free motion quilting is abysmal!!! so this would be a good time of the year to get a head start.

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  2. CUTE IDEA,JUST NEVER ENOUGH TIME
    hjrogers@sympatico.ca

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  3. Your ornaments are lovely Leanne, I really like the white on red, most Christmassy!

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  4. Good idea plus its a bonus to practice free motion quilting! kthurn@bektel.com

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  5. This is an idea I would never have thought of doing, thanks for sharing. x

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  6. I really like your technique, I am thinking of other ways to use it. Thank you for the tutorial.

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  7. Wonderful idea! I have really been trying to use up my scraps this year and I have a tradtion of making each of my children ornaments each year, this is perfect.

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  8. Wonderful idea! I have really been trying to use up my scraps this year and I have a tradtion of making each of my children ornaments each year, this is perfect.

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  9. I love these, this is my type of tree ornament. thank you

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  10. They look lovely. Thanks for being part of the blog hop. I have subscribed and I look forward to reading your future blogs delissac@hotmail.com

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  11. I love making ornaments. We made one new one each year for tree. Kids loved it and brought back many memories each year as we decorate.

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  12. Love the ornaments! Thanks for the tutorial.

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  13. Great idea! I love to use my hera marker too for drawing lines!

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  14. Beautiful ornaments - free motion quilting scares me - need to be more confident in this area!

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  15. Great idea! A good way to get some FMQ practice in.

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  16. These look like fun. I can practice my free motion quilting on something small and work my way up. Grinnie1961 @ gmail . Com

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  17. What a fun idea! You could even use them as gift tags. Thank you for sharing your idea.

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  18. A cute idea and a clever way to use up some scraps and practice some background piecing. Thanks for sharing!

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  19. great idea...they look wonderful...such little stippling!

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  20. Love your ornaments-how easy are these-and so versatile-will have to practice tiny stippling1 Thank you for sharing, Susan

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  21. Great ornaments--love the joy one especially! Great way to practice stippling, too. Thanks for sharing!

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  22. Thanks for the suggestions. Janice.snell@gmail.com

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  23. Very cute ornaments and I can see some with family names on them! Also good practice for the micro stippling.

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  24. Great idea for ornaments!!! Thanks for sharing!

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  25. Nice idea for microstippling practice.

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  26. Cute idea, I'm going to grab it and run. This has been to most inspiring and informative hop I've have followed in quite a while. Thanks for you participation and sharing.

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  27. Great idea that can be used for other things too like gift tags, name tags. Thanks!
    eahorgan@gmail.com

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  28. Great way to practice my free motion skills. Thanks for sharing.

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  29. What a cute idea. It's a great project for practicing your stippling and also when you need a cute little gift....FAST! Thanks for the ideas.

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  30. Green thread would be lovely on yellow fabric. These would be great to add as an embellishment on a gift as an extra gift.

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  31. Cute ornaments! Thanks for sharing.

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  32. Thanks for the ornament idea!

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  33. Great suggestion for an ornament!

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  34. Great idea and good for practicing FMQ.

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  35. Very unique ornaments. I like them. Thanks for the ideas.

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  36. Cute, but, I stink at free motion quilting.

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  37. Love the ornaments, simple and so pretty!
    patsystitch@gvtc.com

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  38. Great idea but no FMQ for me. Maybe I could bigstitch an ornament....

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  39. Nice idea and a wonderful way to expand your FMQ, thanks.
    ejaneemerson@yahoo.com

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  40. Really cute idea............I may give FMQ a try! Thanks.

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  41. Cute idea that's perfect for both gifts and decorating at home! Thanks for sharing!

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  42. These turned out so cute!! Simple, but delightful!! Thanks for sharing! IronLftr10@yahoo.com

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  43. Great project and a nice way to practice stippling...especially for a beginner like me!

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  44. Thanks for sharing your cute little projects.

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  45. Very nice. Thank you
    Swoot@att.net

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  46. As I was reading along, other shapes came to kind to try with this technique. Thank you for the great idea starter!
    Blessings,
    Debbie
    ollieami@aol.com

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  47. I am really interest in FMQ. I can do a pretty decent larger stipple, but haven't tried the smaller size. This gives me an incentive to try it. I love your ornaments.

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  48. Cute ornaments! I like Dritz Mark B Gone for a blue disappearing pen. EZ also makes a good one. I don't like the Clovers as they seem too dry. I also like a Sewline pen for erasing it with water. Happy Christmas in July!

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  49. thanks for sharing , i make ornaments every year for family and a few friends.

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  50. I can see where the freezer paper on the letters could be a pain. I love the effect though. I use the friction pens and so far no problems.

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  51. Your ornaments turned out really well--very pretty & good for practising machine quilting!!

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  52. Barb, #56 forgot to leave e-mail--barbkaup(at)(yahoo)(dot)(com)Thanks.

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  53. What a wonderful way to practice FMQ and have a usable product at the end.
    Pat

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  54. I like making ornaments, thanks for the great idea.

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  55. Great idea. I wish I were good at any kind of FMQ - it's been on my to-do list for years and each year it doesn't get touched. This gives me a reason to think about it. Thanks for a great tutorial and idea.

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  56. This is a great idea and good practice!

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  57. Your ornaments are gorgeous!! Thank you.
    kcimmings71@gmail.com

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  58. Cute idea! I like hand-made ornaments on the tree.

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  59. Thanks for the detailed instructions and such inspiration!

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  60. One of my favorite things to do is make fabric ornaments for the tree, gift giving and gift tags. When I was teaching, it was a classroom favorite. Thanks for sharing yours D. Weeks (aka Momma Llama)

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  61. The ornaments are so cute! I'd probably try tracing around the letters with my chalk marker -- it has a fine white chalk lead in it, but I can't remember the name of it. Anyway, it comes off easily and would probably get covered up well if you were using white thread. Could you use a sparkly white thread for the yellow star ornament? Just a thought.

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  62. Fun ornaments! I make ornaments every year for the grandkids.

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  63. Very cute. Thank you for sharing the tutorial with us :)

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  64. darling projects. Nancy A: rangerer@sbcglobal.net

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  65. Great idea for ornaments and a good reason to use up your scraps! ndfromsdATgmailDOTcom

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  66. I like the idea of homemade ornaments and the quilted ones are very pretty. I like the colored fabric with a contrasting thread. Stippling is pretty challenging for me. But if I make enough of these it would be great practice.

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  67. This is a great idea for practising free motion quilting

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  68. Wow! These would be great for small gifts for my retreat we have around Christmas!

    hulseybg at gmail dot com

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  69. Thanks for the fun idea.

    hijoffeATgmailDOTcom

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  70. Cute ornaments! I need to learn how to do stippling.
    nikilsend(at)outlook(dot)com

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  71. Your micro stipling is beautiful. Thanks for sharing your cute ornaments.

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  72. WELL 3 GIFT READY IS BETTER THAN THE 0 GIFTS I HAVE READY SO YOU ARE AHEAD IN THIS RACE FOR SURE. READINGTIRZAH AT YAHOO.COM

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  73. That's so cute! I like how they can all be customized without too much extra effort. I can definitely see myself making some of these!

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  74. This is a sweet ornament to make as you can use multiple patterns. Also a good way to practice my quilting.

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  75. Just beautiful! Thanks for sharing such a clever idea!!

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  76. I like the stipling on these ornaments. Inspirirational to me!

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  77. These are really cute, and I adore your original versions, with the different fmq motifs! I need to work on my fmq skills, and doing something like this might make it more fun. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  78. Love your ornaments. I may have to break down and learn to stipple.

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  79. Love the ease of these ornaments. When I need lots of something, I am going to try this.
    Thank you

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  80. Simple and cute idea for ornaments. Am thinking of other ideas on the same order already. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  81. Loved your ornaments and I checked out last years tutorial as well -thanks for a great share :)

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  82. Such a cute idea! I think I'm going to have to try that. Thank you so much for sharing.

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  83. Thanks for sharing cute Christmas �� ideas!
    msstitcher1214@gmail.com

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  84. Excellent. I want to practice my free-motion quilting and this is perfect. Thanks!

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  85. These are really cute. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  86. Well that's a nifty idea tyty for sharing... happyness04431@yahoo.com

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  87. What adorable little ornaments!

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  88. The ornaments are cute! Thanks for the inspiration. cknapp3626(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

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  89. Cute ornament idea! Thanks for sharing with the 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop.

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  90. *Thank you!*, Leanne!
    I want to make your pretty ornaments as gift tags/gift decorations!... It's always nice when the decoration becomes a keepsake gift, too!
    Thank you, again!
    Pat T.

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  91. Neat idea! Thanks for sharing!

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  92. I think your stippling looks great! Not only do these make great ornaments, but if you used family member names on them, they could be used for gift tags. Lovely!

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  93. these are so sweet. thanks for sharing.
    quilting dash lady at Comcast dot net

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  94. Thank you for sharing your creativity with us, I'm going to be seeing a few of these on my tree!

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  95. Thank you for sharing your creativity with us, I'm going to be seeing a few of these on my tree!

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  96. I see this as a good way to practice quilting and getting a cute ornament on top of it. Thank you for the inspiration.

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  97. Great idea. I am such a chicken a free motion quilting, afraid to ruin a quilt. This would be a good practice run. Thanks for the idea. Darlene dhoctor@sbcglobal.net

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  98. I always love a small project. Your idea is very versatile. Thanks for sharing.

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  99. What a great way to practice FMQ - thanks for sharing!

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  100. I just signed up for your newsletter. Barbara Winkler creations4u7@aol.com

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  101. Neat idea, thanks for sharing your quilting and your faith!

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  102. What a great way to give personalized handmade gifts! The possibilities are endless!

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  103. Love the "JOY" ornament. beimborn@charter.net

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  104. I love these cute little ornaments! Thanks!

    Please click on the delaineelliott above for my email link.

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  105. Leanne, thank you for sharing the ornament tutorials. They look great! My favorite disappearing ink pen is the Frixion pen, made by Pilot.

    schimmel(dot)db(at)gmail(dot)com

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  106. Leeanne,

    Such a wonderful idea. I think I am going to have to do some. They make great little gifts to give to friends and neighbors ors. Thanks

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  107. Cute ornaments--thanks for the idea and tutorial. I think I'll try drawing several on a larger piece and cut after quilting, I think that for me it will be easier to FMQ. susanprincess at att dot net

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  108. Quick and easy, would be great for package tie-ons!

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  109. Great idea. Might even get me to try FMQ again. The last attempt was a disaster.

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  110. Sweet idea. Need to practice up on my FMQ. Might be a great practice idea.

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  111. Very cute ornaments, and a great way to practice one's FMQ. Thanks for sharing!

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  112. Very awesome! I love some of the ornaments I made decades ago because they remind me of what was happening then. That is part of what Christmas is all about.

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  113. I need to try this soon. I'm a longarm quilter (but only been doing it a few years and mostly do edge-to-edge designs for others.) I need to try this! Thanks for the tute. Shahann@yahoo.com

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  114. very nice, thank you for sharing the information

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  115. I really love the quilted ornaments. Thanks for including your original tutorial.

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  116. I try not to FMQ on quilts, let alone teeny tiny ornaments. You've done a bang up job!
    tvonzalez at gmail dot com

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  117. Cute ideas for the ornaments. You did a great job on them.

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  118. I like the idea, and the fact that it can be adapted to any words you like. Maybe a baby's first Christmas ornament with name, etc. Thank you for participating in the blog hop. momoftana at yahoo dot com

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  119. Very cute ornaments. Great idea.

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  120. What a cute idea! Love your micro stippling. I don't think I could do that, but it's wonderful!

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  121. I love the little ornaments - and I love to give them for gifts. It's always nice for a coworker that you don't really exchange gifts with, but want them to know you are thinking of them. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  122. Those are great ornaments and perfect to practice FMQ.

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  123. Terrific idea for ornaments Leanne! Need to do this 'relief' quilting. :-)

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  124. Love the quilting on these-- such a cute idea!

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  125. These ornaments are great. I tried my own when you published your original tutorial, and didn't have much success, but seeing these new versions has inspired me to try again. Thanks for sharing!

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  126. Very nice--thanks for sharing your ideas!

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  127. What a simple and great small gift idea! Plus you practice your FMQ too. Thank you for sharing!

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  128. Love your ornaments! Definitely going to try it.

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