I wanted to make something special for my parents and in-laws for Christmas this year. I decided that a wall hanging with my children’s hand prints on it was just the thing. I had seen this blog which inspired me.
First, I traced my children’s hand prints onto paper and cut them out. Then, I fused Heat & Bond to the back of some fabric. I then traced the hand prints onto the back of the fabric and cut them out. If you want to be able to stitch around the hand prints then use some other fusible interfacing.
I used a plain muslin fabric to cut one 12 1/2″ square. Out of the same fabric I cut four 3″ squares. I cut four strips that were 12 1/2″ x 3″ from the same fabric I used to cut the hand prints from (minus the Heat & Bond). I stitched the pieces together, and then fused the hand prints to the center.
Next, I sandwiched a layer of batting in between my the wall hanging top and a piece of larger fabric that would become the back of the quilt (I used the same fabric as the hand prints.) I then stitched in the ditch along all seams of the quilt top. Once I was finished I squared up the edges so that I could apply my binding. I decided to make my own and made it 1/4″ double folded. I first stitched it to the front and then wrapped it around the back and stitched in the ditch. Here is a tutorial that is good.
To personalize the wall hanging I made a square of the muslin and applied Heat & Bond to it. I had the older kids sign their names (I signed for the younger ones) and made a little chart out of it to show whose hand was whose. I also put the age each child will be at Christmas. I made a pocket and hand stitched it to the top of the back. A 1/4″ dowel rod will be placed through the pocket. I will cut ribbon and attach it to the dowel with wooden end caps. Then the wall hanging can be hung from a nail.
I hope the grandparents like this gift. It really only cost me maybe $3 for dowel rods and end caps plus my time. I had been given a huge sack of fabric from my husband’s aunt recently, and she gave me the Heat & Bond and some batting. I made one for myself and already have it hanging up. I had debated about whether to put the kids names on the front, but opted to leave it plain. It was a fun project and should have a lot of meaning during a season where the meaning is often lost on commercialism.
