Making Stockings for a Growing Family

For the first time in three years, all of my children will be together. That is the best gift I could ever receive. It was time to add to the stocking collection so that everyone would be included.

There was a point in time when I thought I would make everyone a cross-stitch stocking, but quickly realized that was going to take more time than I had available. I still have the beginnings of those somewhere and add a few stitches every now and then. Instead, we went with inexpensive, crafty stockings that could uniquely represent each family member. This is where we started in the mid-1990s. Erica was old enough to hand stitch the face on to her flower.

These are all constructed using inexpensive craft felt. Once I decide what should be represented on a stocking, I search for free clip art or photographs to mimic. Typically, I enlarge and print the picture, then use tracing paper to draw and cut all the pieces. For the original stockings I zig zag stitched around each piece, but now I use a simple straight stitch around the edges to hold the pieces in place. The edges of the stocking are both straight stitched and zigzag stitched for strength to hold all the goodies that will be placed inside for Christmas. Beads and sequins are hand stitched down depending on the level of bling desired. These are easy to make and fun to include family members in the process.

In 2000 and 2003, two more children joined us. We've enjoyed our six stockings for many years.

Erica has her own family now. This will be their first Christmas at our house. Zack and Amelia needed a stocking. Amelia turned two last September. We haven't had little kid excitement at Christmas for quite a while around here!

Evan got engaged just a month ago. They live on the beach and Gabi loves her birds.

My mom recently mentioned that she did not have a stocking so I made a pair for her and her dog to hang at her house, too.

It's going to be fun to watch our family continue to grow over the years. This project is the last of my "must finish before Christmas" sewing. Now, I can slow the pace and enjoy time with family, time by the fire, and the peace and joy of the season.

Handmade Holidays All Around The House

Handmade decorations will always be my favorite, especially when I know the maker. Here is a little tour of the handmade decorations around my home.

This is probably our oldest handmade decoration. It is my husband's stocking that he made when he was a little boy.

This tree. My mom made this when ceramics were all the rage. This was always my favorite part of decorating when growing up. Plugging this tree in and adding all the lights was when the Christmas season officially started.

I love the simplicity of this cross stitch. This is one of the first handmade Christmas decorations that I made as an adult.

When these Christmas stockings were first made, we were a family of four. The kids helped design their stockings. The additional two were made just in time for their first Christmas.

These Santas are an adaptation from a Nancy Halvorsen pattern. I love the international twist. This was a shop sample. We all selected the fabric, I cut and fused the pieces; Ruhanna hand blanket stitched them all, then passed it back to me for finishing. It is intended to go on a mantel but I drape it over the window in our kitchen.

This snowman table runner is on the coffee table in our living room. It is usually covered with stuff, like remotes and game controllers and such.

This wall hanging is another Nancy Halvorsen project. We start December 1st and add a new piece each day. This was way fun when the kids were younger and excited to count down the days. These days, we find ourselves adding two or three at a time because we forget to do it each day.

This little bag hangs close to the wall hanging and holds all the parts while they wait to be added.

The candles hang by the front door.

This bell hangs on the front door. Here is a tutorial for this project.

Nancy Halvorsen was quite popular when my shop was open. I have lots of projects from her books and fabrics. This card holder is one of my favorite projects.

Another countdown decoration. We keep up with this one fairly well. It is in a spot that gets walked by often.

This special gift was given to me by my friend Holley.  She has many talents and always comes up with special handmade gifts.

Here is another decoration made by Holley. It is a photo album and each page is made with a special paper. There are little tags between the pages to write information about the photos. 

This is one of my scrappy projects. Every holiday needs a set of coasters and a pot holder.

This fun pillow sits in front of our fireplace, when there is not a fire going of course.

This medallion quilt hangs in our dining room turned office. While it is Christmas colors, I forgot to take it down last year so it hung all year round.

Another friend, Judy, made the Santa, and my youngest son decorated the reindeer.

These hang in my entryway. They are all fused down, but never stitched. I'm safe as long as I don't wash them.

These nativity pillows sit under my grandmother's treadle sewing machine.

This quilt and pillow keep us warm and comfy all through the holidays. I see the dog had to get in on the action in the upper right corner.

This is the quilt I made for the Moda Bake Shop earlier this year. The stairway needed something and this quilt works perfectly.

This twisted wreath is the latest addition to the handmade goodness all around the house.

Wow, I did not realize how much handmade there was around my house. I am sure that this collection will continue to grow over the years. Are any of your holiday decorations handmade?

Thank you for being here with me this year. This may be my last post until the new year. I might try to sneak in one more but I may find myself enjoying time with my family. As the kids have grown, we are not often all together anymore. Everyone will be home for Christmas and I want to enjoy every moment of that time. I wish you all peace and joy as the year comes to a close. 

We will have lots of fun quilting together in the new year.

Cross Stitched Christmas Tree

 

Recently, I had some major surgery that I thought was going to keep me away from my sewing machine for weeks. As you can imagine, I was not very happy about that prospect. I am not very good at doing nothing so I prepared in advance with some small hand sewing projects like this pretty cross stitch Christmas tree. The good news is that I am recovering far faster than I ever imagined. Four days post surgery I was in the sewing room happy as could be. There won't be any large quilt projects going on too soon, but there are plenty of small ones to keep me entertained.

I started this little project while I was still in the hospital and I was excited to finish it up this week, just in time for holiday decorating to begin.

The pattern came from Pinterest. It was relaxing and easy to make.

This frame had a generic picture in it so it was ready to be re-purposed and works just fine for framing up this little project. Here is to the start of holiday decorating!

Other posts with cross stitch:
Mom's Cross Stitch
Two Projects Finished Just in Time

Perfect Gift Ideas for Quilters - Basic Supply Needs

This post contains affiliate links.

Sometimes, shopping for a quilter can be a challenge. Generally, we all have tastes and preferences for fabric which can make it hard for non-quilters, and other quilters for that matter, to know what to give as a gift. I have long been a fan of Craftsy for classes, but have only recently started becoming familiar with their large assortment of supplies.

For us quilters, there are some basic supplies that we always need. It's sort of like tires for the car. They are necessary, but not necessarily fun to purchase. Not as much fun as shopping for fabric anyway!

I did a little browsing earlier this week and made a list of supplies that almost any quilter would be happy to receive. If you think your special quilter (or you!) would like to purchase any of these, all you need to do is click on the picture and it will take you straight to that product.

 

Thread - I cannot say enough good things about Aurifil thread. While thread can be a very specific thing, all quilters need a good assortment of neutral colors and Aurifil's 50 weight cotton thread is the perfect choice. This assortment would be better than a box of candy for any quilter. And Craftsy's prices for Aurifil thread are the best I have seen, even when they aren't on sale.




Machine Needles - A good quilter will change their machine needle after every project. A fresh, sharp needle can make a big difference in stitch quality. I generally use more of the 80/12 and 90/14 size and love the Schmetz Sharps.




Glass Head Pins - These pins are the best for quilting. They are fine so as not to cause distortion or bulk and stay very sharp. This is another supply that it is good to have extras. Because these pins are fine, they can bend easily causing the supply to dwindle over time.

 

Seam Ripper - This is one of those supplies that likes to disappear mysteriously from the sewing room, which means that multiples are a very good thing. I prefer a seam ripper with a good handle. Some have very wimpy handles that are hard to hold in any steady manner. These have a solid handle that is easy to hold and don't tire your hand as much if you happen to have a lot of stitches to pick out (which I hope you never do!)




Clover Water Soluble Pen - I use these pens all the time for marking free motion designs or other important points on my quilts. The marks disappear when sprayed with water. I have never had an issue with the marks not coming out. It is very frustrating to be in the middle of marking a project and have one of these run out. Extras are a very good thing.

Chalk Marker - I don't have a lot of experience with these but after watching Lori Kennedy use these in her Divide & Conquer free motion quilting class, I decided to add them to my collection of must have supplies. Light colors are for dark fabric; dark colors for light fabric. It is good to have an assortment.



Hera marker - This tool is great for marking your quilt when you really don't want to use either chalk or a water soluble pen. Really, a quilter only needs one of these but they are relatively small and easily lost in a busy sewing room, so it would be good to have a back up on hand.

Other supplies that are great basics for a quilter are cutting mats, rulers, and batting. These are supplies that most quilters are a little more particular about but if you have that intimate quilting relationship, these would be great options, too.

There are a couple of other extra special things coming from Craftsy that I would like to share with you as well...

Here is wishing you a calm and peaceful holiday season. Isn't it great that we can enjoy doing much of our shopping from the comfort of our home? I love not having to fight the crowds.

Six Ideas For Fast Handmade Gifts - Let the Holiday Countdown Begin

Can you believe there are only 43 days until Christmas? And if you celebrate Hanukkah, well that starts in a mere 23 days. Yikes! I am the world's worst at waiting until about this time to decide that it is time to get started on all those handmade gifts. I have to admit I sort of thrive on the chaos of a busy making season.

If you are in need of some gift making suggestions, here are a few ideas and tutorials.

ORNAMENTS

Ornaments are often a fast gift when you want to make something for a group, like teachers or coworkers. And why stop at bells? It is so easy to search out other shapes like trees, stockings, or stars that would also be fast and easy strip pieced ornaments.

What I love most about these is that if you make a plain back for them, you can add a personalized message. Learn more about making these strip pieced bell ornaments here.

DOOR HANGERS

You can upsize any ornament to make it a door hanger. Again, a plain back leaves room for you to further personalize an already special gift. Here is a tutorial for making this bell door hanger.

MUG RUGS

I love mug rugs. Bigger than a coaster. Smaller than a quilt. You can use orphan quilt blocks or bust into your scraps. It's hard to go wrong with a mug rug. I usually gift these along with a few cookies or a small snack. They can be made with a holiday theme or in fabrics that can be used year round. Check out this tutorial for a dresden mug rug.

If you like to quilt more than piece, this initial mug rug may be more your style. Here is a tutorial for making an initial mug rug.

BANNERS AND BUNTINGS

Banners and buntings are great to add some decorative flair to any room. They are easy to enhance with extras and can be themed or not. Here is a link to how this one was made.

COASTERS

I like to think of coasters as tiny quilts. There are a million ways to make coasters, and they are another great way to use up orphan blocks and scraps. While this picture has a Valentine's theme, they can be made in any fabric. These are made from leftover charm squares. Learn how to make these here.


SMALL QUILTS

Now, before you roll your eyes over how not quick a quilt is, keep in mind it doesn't have to be a big quilt. It could be a very small quilt, so small that it becomes a table topper, or mini quilt, or wall hanging. For example, in the quilt above, if I just made three columns of blocks, and shortened it a bit, wouldn't that make a cool table runner?

When you are looking for ideas, try to dissect the bigger projects a bit to see if something small, fast, and beautiful can be made from them. Go here to see how this quilt was made.

This blue plus quilt was also a fast one to make. Learn about it here.

This list is only a small sampling of fast handmade projects to get you started. Do some quick searching and you will find thousands of ideas for handmade gifts. What fast handmade projects have you made?