Reusable Gift Bags

If you've read my blog for any length of time, you might have heard about my remnant problem. I love to stop at the remnant bin at JoAnn's and pick out something I don't need. :) It has become a real problem with Christmas fabric. I always grab it and think "Oh, I can do something with this!", only to get it home and it is too thin, too short, too sparkly, too something for clothes/quilts/napkins/etc.



I had a brainstorm last winter, and didn't get it done in time, but this year I did - and I'm so glad! It really didn't take but an hour or two to make these, they look cute and my kids really liked them. I simply pulled all those funny pieces out, and some leftovers from other Christmas projects, cut them into various sized rectangles and squares (based on how much fabric I had and how I could best use it), and sewed them into bags! I also used a bunch of holiday ribbon I had purchased for 'something' at some point for the ties.



I made gift tags for the kids with cardstock, washi tape and letter stamps (still need to get one for Henry!). I figure if the bags get ruined, I can make new ones, if the ribbon comes out, I can replace it. Feels so nice to get that out of the stash!

Polaroid Pillows

I had seen the polaroid quilt blocks popping up on blogs, flickr and pinterest over the past several months, and I thought they were such a cute idea! I knew I wanted to do something with them, and when I started thinking about Christmas gifts, I thought of how much my kids LOVE pillows. I thought these would make great gifts for both my kids and my niece and nephew.



I started going through my scraps and choosing prints for each kiddo - things I thought they would like.



Then I cut all the white pieces for the frames and sewed those to the fussy cut centers.



I decided how big I wanted the pillows to finish, and then added grey sashing around the frames.



I tilted my ruler as I cut them down to size, so the pictures would appear tilted. Then I sewed them together in rows and made the pillow top. I didn't want to quilt them, so they would still be soft, but I wanted to prevent some fraying, so I sewed a muslin back onto the pillow front before I sewed the envelope closure on the back.



I used a bunch of stash pieces for the backing and just did simple envelope closures. I think they came out pretty cute!

Christmas Making

Way back when we were iced in, we made this felt tree when we couldn't get out to get our real tree. Thank goodness for a stash - I had a large enough piece of green felt. Daddy made the star for the top of the tree and Samantha spent hours coloring and creating other ornaments (there is a huge family of gingerbread men), stockings and presents. It was a great activity for a day we were stuck inside!



We also used the same idea to make a small snowman the kids could 'build' out of felt pieces, but I failed to get a picture of it.

For classmate gifts this year I made peppermint playdoh for the little's class, and Samantha and I made these snowmen ornaments for her class.



I had seen the idea on Pinterest, and I didn't end up with enough time to embroider details, but I think they are still cute. Samantha chose all the buttons from my button stash, and I sewed them onto a piece of red felt (again from the stash!), and then blanket stitched another piece to the back to cover the sewing.



I also made Henry a stocking for the mantle. I used this cute vintage print that I picked up at MadTosh. I winged it, by tracing one of the other stockings, making two quilted panels, sewing them together, and finishing the top with bias tape. Voila!



Finally, the week before Christmas I saw someone post on Instagram a picture of the cutest flannel they had picked up at JoAnn. I had to stop by there anyway, so I looked for the flannel. They only had two cute prints left (and barely enough) - the snowglobes and the penguins. I debated what to do for the third pillowcase when I remembered this nutcracker flannel my mom had given me a few years ago. The kids LOVED them, and rushed to put them on their pillows right away. A good reminder that sometimes the simple gift is best!

There was much more making - I will have to split it into multiple posts!

Seasonal Pillow Challenge

Our MQG did a seasonal pillow challenge as our last challenge of the year. I knew I wanted to make a Christmas pillow, but I also knew I didn't have a lot of time, since I had lots of other obligations! :)

I had just won a copy of Simply Modern Christmas, which has a great wreath table topper/wall quilt. (You can see it here.) I loved it, but at 26"x26" it was just too big for a pillow.

I cut up all my greens and white, sewed up a bunch of HSTs and started playing around with the layout. I thought this looked enough like a wreath to be seasonal! :) I quilted straight lines about 1/4" apart and I put in a hidden zipper in the back, which was WAY easier than I thought it would be, and looks so nice!

We don't have a lot of Christmas decor that is not up on shelves or toys, so I'm thinking I might need a few more pillows! And I found fabric to make myself a Christmas quilt, that has been waiting three years now! Maybe if I get everything done on my list.....

Working working working

I have been busy cutting stacks of fabric into pattern pieces for Christmas presents. There are about 50 things on my 'to-make' list. I have about 15 done. Based on the behavior of my children and the napping schedules, I may finish by Christmas 2016.

December 1 - Christmas Jammies!

Every year I give the kids new Christmas jammies. I used to give them closer to Christmas, but now I like to give them early so they can wear them for the season.

I picked up this adorable flannel at JoAnn's a few months ago when it was on sale and I had a coupon. It is hard to see, but they have moose wearing scarves and hats. I hadn't used flannel for their jammies in several years, and I will be going back to it - they are so soft!



Their shirts were inspired by a Pinterest pin. I was a bit of a pain to cut out four sets of coal mouths, four sets of eyes and four noses (Henry has a pair too, but he was in bed when we took these pictures), and to applique them on, but they came out SO cute!

The kids were jumping up and down when they got them tonight - makes it all worth it!

Christmas Circles Quilt

A few weeks ago, I saw this pin and I knew what I wanted to make for Ellie's Christmas quilt. I had been wanting to use some of Ann Kelle's Jingle line and wanted a design that would show off the relatively large prints. (You can see progress on this quilt here and here).



I finished it up about a week and half ago. I quilted lines 1/4" away from the seams on both sides. Nice and simple to not distract from the circles! I bound it using a blue and white snowflake print that I found in the remnant bin at JoAnn's. I don't have a picture of the backing, but I used a large print that has Christmas lights on it and some scraps to bring it up to size (penguins and wreaths). One of the scraps is actually a vintage print that I inherited somehow. The white background is Kona White.

It turned out pretty cute and every kid who sees it has fun 'finding' all the cute prints on it.

Holiday WIPs

Last night, after surviving the first day back to school, I got down to brass tacks and started my holiday crafting. This is an entirely different category from the holiday knitting, so it requires a different frame of mind. And a different set of tools.


These little pockets were inspired by Jenny at allsorts. When finished, they will turn into this. So cute! We don't have anything other than a paper advent calendar, so I am looking forward to having this finished. Last year I attempted to create some decorations, but ran out of steam. The advent calendar is the first thing I have planned (I don't have too much planned), but I have other holiday crafting to do - some of which is gifts.


Speaking of gifts, I have another complete!



Pattern: Sophie (I know, it's really getting old)
Yarn: Paton's Classic Merino - 1 skein
Needles: Sz 6.5mm Circular and DPNs
Mods: none
Thoughts: my favorite quick gift project. All of my gift Sophies are finished. I do have a skein of red Paton's to make a christmassy Sophie for me, but we'll see.

I have another project nearly done, but it requires a trip to JoAnn's, which hasn't happened for the past two nights, since we've had unexpected family stuff. Hopefully tomorrow after school.

Off to finish up another!