For the Mountain State Fair this past September, I wanted to enter the Twisted Snowflake that we made last year during a guild program. I thought I did a tutorial for it then, but it seems I didn’t. When I dug out the snowflake from the Christmas stuff, it was crushed due to my poor attention to packing it up. So, time to make another one. I started by fusing two pieces of fabric wrong sides together with Heat and Bond. I used a high contrast combination with one side black with gold stars, and the other a bright gold. Cut six 2-inch squares with a rotary cutter.

Next, we’ll make cuts in the squares. I have found that these 7-inch size Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Scissors are the best thing for projects like this. The micro-serrated edge grabs the fabric for straight cuts through heavy fused fabric like this all the way to the point. The fabric doesn’t slide off the scissors while you are trying to cut with precision. I found a bit of 1/4-inch wide ribbon to use as a guide. Fold one square in half diagonally, and clip the ribbon to the top point.

Then, from the fold, make three cuts following the angle of the raw edge equal distance apart, or thereabouts. Cut only to the edge of the ribbon. Repeat for the other side.

Remove the ribbon, then open the square flat. Repeat five more times.

Heat up your hot glue gun, and begin with the center. Pull up the two center pieces and overlap them. Glue them with a dot of hot glue between the points.

Flip the piece over, and repeat for the next set from the center.

Repeat two more times, flipping the piece each time.

When you have finished the first square, repeat with the other five. You’ll have six sections to glue together. I let mine rest for an hour or so to be sure the glue was completely cool and well set before continuing.

When you are ready to proceed, glue a ribbon loop on one side of a section for a hanger.

Then glue a second unit on the first one, enclosing the hanger. Be sure you are gluing the units in the same way, in other words with the same color facing the same way. Here, the black is on the right

Add a third unit to the two. Then make another set of three glued together. On the internet and youtube, (and in the class I took) you’ll see others glue all six in a row, but I found this way was easier to glue the center.

On one set, put a drop of hot glue on two of the points at the top of the unit. Be sure the glue is positioned to be between the points of the three sections.

Then quickly press the points of the three units together and clip. Using a set of tweezers for this step will help keep your fingers from getting a burn from the hot glue. Allow to cool, and repeat for the other unit of three sections. Again, keep the same color to the right.

Now glue the centers together. By making two sets of three sections, your center glue spot will be easier to do, as they will be facing opposite directions.

Place a clip in the center, then align the outer sections on one end and glue. Clip to allow to cool.

Pull together the final two sections, glue and clip. Allow to cool and harden for at least 15 minutes.

This tutorial makes a snowflake about 5 inches wide. Cutting your squares to a smaller or larger size will result in smaller or larger ones.

I was delighted to win a second place at the fair for “ornaments”.

So pretty! And it looks wonderful in just about any color combination. Put one on the top of your tree. Or make more in a smaller size for use as ornaments. Make a bunch in metallic prints to hang from the chandelier over your holiday table. Craft them in white for January decorations. The only limit is your imagination and fabric stash!

Have fun crafting!