Friday, December 27, 2013

Handmade Holidays

It's been a bit quiet around here lately (regular blogging back on schedule next week), and I've been itching to blog. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! The last two weeks were dedicated to starting finishing several gifts. Everything was a bit more rushed because we left to visit my sister-in-law's house in Maine two days before Christmas. It was like, breathe, in and out, in and out. I felt pretty stressed but I'm really glad I stuck my handmade gift goals - everything meant a lot more to gift. This was the first year ever that I handmade gifted a large portion of my gifts.


I made this reversible Thanksgiving/winter tablerunner for my mom in 2 days. She had requested one for Christmas after seeing my Halloween/Thanksgiving one. I love Winter's Lane so much that I'm making almost the same one for myself currently (the other side will be Christmas themed).

 

Note the Joel Dewberry Herringbone binding - I just got a half yard of it and I used a good portion already. Oh well, I guess that's what the stash is for, right? It just fit perfectly :)
 

I finished making a bunch of scarves for friends and family. I only got one picture because I was whipping them up and wrapping them right away! I need foresight next time. However, you can see some of the voiles I used here.

 

 I kept this one :D Love me some AMH voile!


I finished a commission king sized t-shirt quilt for a family friend. I knew king size would be tricky to baste and quilt, and I'm pretty sure the heaviness of a quilt made primarily of jersey cotton made it even more difficult. This quilt was truly a test of my quilting endurance.


I made a bunch of handmade cards for my teacher friends at school. I didn't have the time or supplies to make them for everyone but I really felt like sketching (and starting kicking myself the night before the last day of school when only half were done) but it was so worth it. I'm finding more and more that I prefer designing to most normal daily things. :)


I made a cute pouch for my teacher friend who LOVES Thursdays! 


And my favorite handmade gift of the season was gifted to none other than my favorite sister/quilt photographer in the world, Marisa. As some of you knew/figured out already, she was the recipient of ONE of my Sisters' Ten quilts! I will be sharing more about this very soon.


Right before we left for Maine, Mike and I hosted my family for "Christmas" dinner (Mike makes a mean penne vodka). We exchanged gifts before the holiday and spent some quality family time (that's where Mom received her tablerunner and Marisa opened her quilt hidden in a very small gift bag!). I like how "Facets of Emerald" serves as a holiday decoration in this picture!
 

More soon from Maine! I would love to hear more about your holidays. Did you make your gifts by hand? Did you finish them all? How were they received? :)

Linking up to TGIFF. I finished my December goal of finishing all Christmas presents with time to spare (phew!!!) so I'm also linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes!

MAKING CHRISTMAS 2013

 

9 comments:

  1. You were certainly ambitious! Good for you doing handmade for Christmas! The only handmade I did was two big cushions for my kids. Looking forward to hearing more about Marisa's quilt!

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  2. I'm obsessing over Winters Lane! I made six placemats (for me) and five table runners for gifts. I handmade most gifts this year, everyone seemed to like them!
    ritaferber_5@hotmail.com

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  3. Well done Jess, you did well to get it all made. I love your table runners! All I got done was 4 x+ cushions!,

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  4. Wow, that's a heap of work! Love your table runners and the FMQ :) thanks for linking up with TGIFF

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  5. Oh man you were so busy and productive! I love the table runner and the scarf! I've done NOTHING since finishing the starry night quilt. I've had a couple of people commission me to make a TARDIS quilt, which has been shared around FB this week and my blog seems to have exploded with Whovians. Still working out the details on the commissions. We had three house guest this week (one in the sewing room, two in the livingroom), so life has been craaaayzaaaaay. Finally getting a chance to breath again!

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  6. No handmade goodies of any kind here! You seem to have been incredibly busy!

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  7. You've been busy. But I agree nothing like handmade.

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  8. I have been in love with the Winter's Lane fabric since I first saw it. Envisioning a tree skirt, but never did get around to it. Lovely seeing yours in a table runner! I bet your mom loved it, as did your other gift recipients : ) Hope you had a great time in Maine!! (And had heat?? We were just below the ice storm line, but I hope you all didn't get clobbered!)

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  9. Congrats on those beautiful gifts and the lovely cards you made. I've been surprised and pleased to discover how much people appreciate handmade gifts. It's lovely to enjoy making presents and to feel appreciated! Thank you very much for joining in with Making Christmas. I hope you have a great 2014 :)

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