Challenge Ornament: Time to Cut and Fold

In the photo above the corners of the Challenge Ornament have been trimmed to within 2-4 threads of the edge of the border. Cutting the corners off allows you to fold the bare canvas under to the back side.



Before you actually fold the corners back permanently, fold the bare canvas all the way around the square edges (top side) and then fold the corners back (bottom left). Pressing them to the back with your fingers makes a crease that helps hold them in place better in the next step. If you study this folded over photo carefully, you'll see why you don't trim the corners any closer to the design than 3-4 threads of the bare margin--it starts to fray.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Time to Glue

Above you see everything laid out in two rows. The top row, left to right, is the Challenge Ornament, trimmed to within 1 " of the design, the black felt for the back of the ornament and one piece of the finishing foam, with the paper backing pulled off and it stuck to one side of the first piece of quilt batting.

The bottom row, also left to right, is the paper xerox copy of the Challenge Ornament trimmed right to the edge of the border, the gold lame fabric that will be underneath the Challenge Ornament with the second piece of the finishing foam stuck to it, and then the second piece of quilt batting, which isn't stuck to anything. I also included my glue stick as you need glue for this step if your finishing foam doesn't have the self-stick side to it.

By the way, I often use this acid-free glue (purchased from the scrapbooking section of my local crafts emporium) for finishing. You do need to be careful with it as too much glue will saturate the fabric, so put some on a paper plate and use a plastic knife to spread it as thinly as possible around the finishing foam. Make sure you have some in the middle and some all around the perimeter so the quilt batting sticks to both areas. Put a book on top of it to weigh it as it dries but if you are worried about the glue bleeding through, put a piece of waxed paper on top of the quilt batting and the finishing foam (or fabric) first and then put the book down.

Probably most folks will want to glue their quilt batting to their finishing foam, not the fabric, but if you want one side of your ornament pretty flat, attach the foam to the fabric. My Challenge Ornament will have a flatter face than back side and will have padding in the middle. If this doesn't make sense, don't worry. It will become clearer as this goes together.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Cutting Out the Materials

Using your ordinary scissors and the Challenge ornament itself with its inch margin of bare canvas as the template, cut out the backing fabric and the fabric to go under the ornament to show through the holes on the front. (If you aren't going to use fabric to show through, just cut the backing fabric.) Above you see my black felt and my gold lame cut and laid out with the Challenge ornament itself.

You also see my paper xerox copy of just the design in the photo. Use that as the template to cut out the finishing foam. In the photo above you see the two pieces of black finishing foam, one turned black side up and one turned white paper side up. The white paper protects the sticky side from gluing itself to my long hair.

You also see something new--I decided to pad my ornament with quilt batting. I cut two pieces of that using the paper pattern as the template. If you don't want your Challenge ornament slightly padded, you can omit this step. If you want to use quilt batting, you can buy a roll of it at any crafts emporium or sewing store. It comes in a sheet that is rolled up like a jelly roll. Unroll it a bit and cut two small bits from the end. Remember to use regular scissors for this part and all the steps above, too.

Next, we'll start to assemble the ornament.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament Supplies

The first step in finishing Gay Ann Roger's Challenge ornament is to take the canvas off your stretcher bars and trim the finished NP design, leaving about an inch of blank canvas all around the edges. The second step is to make a xerox copy of the trimmed Challenge ornament. Cut the copy out but instead of leaving the 1 inch margin, cut it right up to the edge of the design area. In the photo above you see the ornament cut out with its margin of blank canvas, and the paper copy being trimmed right up to the edge of the design.

You also see the other supplies which will be needed: fabric for the back of the ornament (I choose black felt), fabric to put under the ornament (I choose gold lame, but note this is optional although you will need something underneath to hide the ornament's innards since this design doesn't cover the canvas totally), and a product called finishing foam. I bought a package of finishing foam sheets in assorted colors. My sheets are 6x9 inches and are acid free. They come in assorted colors but the back side is covered with glue. You peel off the protective paper and can glue anything you want to the sticky side. I am using two pieces of black finishing foam. You see one piece with the black side up and one with the paper protective side up that is peeled away to reveal the glue. You can get much larger individual pieces of finishing foam in most crafts stores. It is sold under various brand names and comes non-acid free, without the glue, in all sorts of colors, etc. Just check the label to be sure what you are buying.

If you don't have pre-glued finishing foam, you'll need glue. I prefer an acid-free glue stick. I bought mine in the scrapbooking section of the crafts emporium. Don't put your threads away yet. You will need them in finishing the edge of the ornament. If you have pretty beads or a charm that might look good on your ornament, put it with your finishing supplies. Of course you'll need scissors, but use regular scissors instead of your stitching scissors so you don't dull them cutting the finishing foam.

The next step is to use those non-stitching scissors!


Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Finishing Gay Ann Rogers' Challenge Ornament

This last year I've been sitting in Gay Ann Rogers' cyber classroom auditing her Mystery in a Corner class through the Shining Needle Society. As part of the class, Gay Ann did a follow up ornament called Challenge, which is much smaller than the original class piece but which allowed folks who learned new things stitching Mystery in a Corner to try them out. I stitched the little ornament, which you see above. I call mine Insanity Improv.

Several folks in the class asking for help in finishing their Challenge ornaments and I'm going to post step by step instructions as I finish my piece here, starting now. But first, here is Gay Ann Rogers' website where you can see completed Mystery in a Corner class pieces in the MIAC slideshows. The Challenge ornaments were a follow-up and "final exam" in this class. None are posted on the website yet, however.

http://www.gayannrogers.com/site_2/Home_Page.html

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow