fat quarter friday {guest post with Sarah from Modern Country Style}

I am so excited to have Sarah from Modern Country Style here today to teach us how she makes her adorable cinnamon and heart garland. She first made this garland for a Christmas decoration but it is equally as perfect to use for Valentine's Day. Every time I look at this garland it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling of complete comfort. It makes we want to brew up a cup of warm apple cider, grab a book, and snuggle up in a cozy blanket in front of the fire.

So let's all welcome Sarah to fat quarter friday and get started!

Hi there, I'm Sarah from over at Modern Country Style, which is all about renovating our English Edwardian home in the Cotswolds, inspiring interior design and creating gorgeousness. I love making one-off beautiful things that are the complete opposite of off-the-peg. I love the care and attention I can put into things that I make for our house that help make our house a home.

And now on with the tutorial...

Welcome to Christmas: Modern Country Style!

I've been wanting and wanting and wanting to share this with you and now I feel it's respectfully close enough to Christmas that I can!! This is one of my favourite ever Christmas crafts:

Cinnamon and Heart Garland.

I've prepared a step-by-step tutorial so you can have a go too.

So...apart from a sewing kit. this is what you need:

jute twine, cinnamon sticks, fabric, ribbon, wooden spools, stuffing.

The fabric I chose was a fat quarter of tea-dyed red checks and ticking, and I had some Jane Means ribbon that matched rather nicely, don't you think?

Step 1: Draw and cut out a heart template on a piece of card. Take the material for your first heart and fold it in half, right sides facing. Pin it to your material and cut out, leaving a 1cm seam allowance all around.

Step 2: Sew around the heart apart from an inch or so to leave a space for stuffing.

{Shown as the beautifully and artistically drawn purple bits in the picture.}

Step 3: Turn the heart the right way around and stuff. Hand sew the rest of the opening closed.

{Yes, this is open heart surgery....boom boom}

Step 4: Repeat this six more times (leaving you with seven hearts).

{I'm not ashamed to admit that I roped in some of my children to help with the production line at this point....}

Step 5: Take a wooden spool and glue one end of the ribbon onto it. Cut the ribbon to the right length, leaving room for a slight overlap. Fold over the other end of the ribbon for a neat finish and glue in place. Repeat eleven times to leave you with twelve reels.

It doesn't take long, honest!

{The first time I did this, I foolishly left them where my twins could get them....yup, every last one had the ribbon removed....}

Step 6: Cut the cinnamon sticks into six 3-inch pieces.

Step 7: Using a sharp point, make a hole in the middle of each piece of cinnamon.

{Um, yes, that is a knitting needle...if you have something sharper, please may I have it to save me gouging my hands next time?}

Step 8: Using a needle with a BIG eye, thread the jute twine and start the assembly.

Heart, reel, stick, reel, heart, reel, stick, reel, heart....

Just to warn you, you have to pull harder than you think to get the twine through the heart....

I can't wait to share where I've put them....my first Christmas decoration!! Here's a sneak peek, just for you....

Thank you SO much to the scrumptious Christina for having me over here. If you like this tutorial then I'd love for you to follow me over at Modern Country Style. Maybe see you there...? Oooh, I do hope so!!

Thank you Sarah for sharing this with us today. You already know how adorable I think your cinnamon and heart garland is and how much I swoon over your beautiful country home! I cannot wait to see what you work on next.