Quilting a holiday stocking using Rock City batik border print

The gift making season is upon us! It seems to come along quicker every year.

This week I created two items that can be made in time for the gift giving season, including a large checkerboard star quilted cushion cover. In yesterday post I added wide strips of Rock City batiks to the back of a quilted table runner.

A quick gift to make usually involves less piecing than the star blocks so I saved this item until last – a quilted stocking!

There is a beautiful border print in the Rock City line of batiks that is arriving in quilt stores this month. I chose to use the one in the rose gold colorway – it reminds me of warm Arizona, don’t you agree?

To make the stocking you’ll need a fat quarter of the border print 80183-32 and a fat quarter of what seems to be my favorite print, 80180-92. If I have time, I might make a second stocking using the border print in the sterling colorway, 80183-92.

To make the stocking I went back to my reliable template from my husband’s granny’s quilting treasures. I shared the template several years ago and still use it to make stockings for new family members and friends.

Granny’s stocking template

Tape the two pieces of the template together as labelled. You’ll also need to cut ¼″ away from the line on the template to include a seam allowance. In my photos you can see I’m using a fabric cut out of the stocking; this is a leftover lining stocking that I find easier to use, but I started with paper too!

I like templates because you can pin them on either side of the fabric. My only word of caution is to think about which way you want the ‘toe’ of your stocking to hang and to cut out your panels to make that happen 🙂 You can reverse the template when needed but you do have to do the work of figuring out when that is – in this case, my stocking toe hangs to the right when looking at the stocking.

• Cut out the front panel from the border print
• Reverse the template to cut out the back panel (OR reverse the fabric!)

To quilt the front panel, I pinned the panel onto a rectangle of batting that is bigger than the panel. Once I was done quilting, I cut the batting away. There is no backing fabric here as there will be a stocking lining so it doesn’t really need another layer.

I didn’t quilt the back panel, but you could – just repeat the process with another piece of batting pinned to the back panel.

I thought of making a stocking with this fabric as soon as I saw it – even though my first peek was in the middle of the summer! The border print works so well as the trim at the top of a stocking.

To quilt the front panel, I followed the grid lines between the square motifs with a light thread color that blends in with the fabric. I also quilted through some of the vertical lines at the top of the stocking to help secure the batting but also to give it somebody. Then I decided to go around the large floral motif too.

Once the quilting is done, cut away the rest of the batting from around the front stocking panel.

Sew the front and back panels together with right sides facing. Leave the top edge open!

Then you need to make a lining for the stocking using the same template.

I cut both lining pieces from the same fat quarter of an Ikat Sketch print – 80084-33.

• Sew the lining pieces together, right sides facing, and again leaving the top edge open AND leave a turning gap of about 2″ along the bottom edge. Backstitch at the beginning and end of the gap to keep the stitches from unravelling when you turn the stocking to finish it.

To make the stocking, turn the lining right side out and put inside the stocking which should still have right sides turned in. Pin the top edges together nesting the seams together.

Before you sew it together you’ll want to include a piece of something to use to hang the stocking. For me, I love to use rick rack and I found this piece of red vintage rick rack in my stash that was just long enough – about 7″ long. Fold the rick rack in half and put in between the lining and stocking. I usually pin the ends in place where the seams meet.

• Sew around the top edge being sure not to catch the loop of the hanging material in the seam.
• Turn the stocking through the turning gap, pushing and rolling the seams to make them flat (you could use an iron.) Then push the lining down into the stocking to make sure it lays flat inside. Once you’re happy that the lining and stocking will hang well, pull the lining back out and stitch the turning gap closed either by hand or machine.
• Push the lining back into the stocking and sew a ⅛″ – ¼″ topstitch around the edge of the stocking to finish it off.

That was easy! I love how quickly this quilted stocking came together. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting ready for the season using the Banyan Batiks Rock City. Remember to look for them this month in your quilt store 😉