The Year of the Gnomes

Remember these gnomes that I showed you last week? I’ve added some different ones to the “collection” this week. I’d signed up several weeks ago to take a class at the quilt shop after seeing how cute the samples were. The design is by Embroidery Garden, and it’s easy to make with the embroidery machine; my Bernina zipped right through them. The original instructions specify using felt for the hats and coats, but we simply backed fabric with thin batting, and that worked just fine and gave us more options in terms of color and pattern. I used a lot of metallic threads for these, and I can’t say enough about how easy Kingstar metallics are to use! Where I needed to use a different brand, my Thread Director solved the inevitable kinking/shredding problems that so many metallics have. The base for each of the gnomes is a styrofoam cone, and the coats, beards, noses and hats can be pinned in place with tiny pins or attached with hot glue. I think they’re adorable, but perhaps I’ve made enough gnomes for one year. 😉