Handmade Gifts Finished

I loaded all of the pictures into this post and titled it on December 23rd with every intention of logging back and and writing something shortly thereafter. Well, here it is on January 5th and I am finally getting around to it.

First off, let me apologize for the lack of blogger etiquette and wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Boxing Day (linked because I had to look it up myself), Happy New Year, and/or best wishes for whatever holiday(s) you celebrate this time of year.

Whew. It feels good to get that out of the way!

Needless to say, it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks. The days and weeks leading up to Christmas were kind of a nightmare, due in no small part to the fact that I bit off a little more than I could chew with making homemade gifts (hence the relief implied by the title of my post!). Pictures of all of the gifts I made are at the bottom of this post. I was literally uploading the pictures as my wife and kids were waiting outside in our packed minivan!

On December 23rd, we set off to Greensboro NC to spend the Christmas holiday with my wife's family. It was a nice visit, and my brand new nephew was baptized on Christmas morning. From there, we drove 12 hours up to New Jersey to stay a night with my aunt, uncle and grandmother. On the 28th, we continued on to New York City where we stayed with my mom in Brooklyn through New Year's. On Friday the 2nd, we made the 13-hour trek back to Raleigh.

We had a nice enough trip and, of course, it was great visiting with family. But we decided that this is the last year that we'll be traveling for Christmas. For starters, the traveling is completely exhausting and, even with 2 weeks off from work, we don't feel like we had much of a break. That's a shame.

And more importantly, it's time that our kids are able to wake up in their own beds on Christmas morning and for us to start making our own traditions. I think we've reached a point where it makes more sense for the grandparents to come to us on Christmas, rather than vice-versa.

So that's my holiday break in a nutshell. Now, on to what you really want to see ... pictures!

First up is a pillow that I made for my SIL. She's in the Air Force and lives in California. On my wife's side of the family, we have a tradition where we secretly pick a name for one another (like a normal Secret Santa), but the twist is that the gift has to either be homemade or you have to do something nice for that person. I decided on this 20" x 20" log cabin pillow:


I love this Simplicity fabric and I've been on a tear with it. I made a deal with Emily to buy some of the scraps from her daughter's quilt. Thanks for the scrap bag, Emily -- I'm getting a lot of mileage out of it!

My favorite is the "words" fabric ... I put "family" at the center of this design.

Another of my SIL's got this pillow as her gift:

It's made from another of my favorite lines: Park Slope by Erin McMorris.

The funny story is, I had a FQ bundle from this line on my birthday / Christmas list, and she (not so subtly) hinted that she's love something made from this line for Christmas. The original intent was to make a quilt but ... yeah, that didn't happen. Actually, I got all of the blocks made, but ran out of time to assemble it. Maybe for her birthday. Or maybe I'll just keep it.

A close-up pic ... I've been on a free-motion bender lately!

Another log cabin Simplicity pillow -- this one was for my mom. She had often commented on how much she likes rectangular pillows and wanted one for her couch. So instead of buying her one, I decided to make it!

Again, free-pieced and free-motion quilted. This one features "family" and "harmony" in the middle squares, with some other words scattered throughout.

Remember my Giveaway Day tote bag? Well, it was one of three. The other two were gifted. This one, made from pink and red Swell fabrics, went to my grandmother.

Next, I made an apron for my aunt -- she's an amazing cook and actually wears aprons ALL THE TIME while cooking, so I know this one will get a lot of use. I got the (free) pattern from the Spool Sewing blog (one of my faves!) and used some cool new Debbie Mumm fabrics from Joann's (50% off before the holidays!).

Here's a close up of the front fabric -- ferns and bugs.

A coordinating plaid for the back:

And finally, I gave my grandmother a quilt for Christmas. I figured if anyone deserves one, it's her. I actually started this quilt in my Beginning Quilting class one year ago this month. I pieced it in the winter, basted it in the spring, quilted it over the summer, and finally bound it before Christmas.

(P.S. Don't look for any close-ups of the binding. I machine-bound it to save time, and it did NOT come out very well. Luckily, I don't think it's very noticeable ... but it was certainly less than ideal).

The fabrics are from the Folklorique line from Fig Tree Quilts. Basic rail fence pattern -- hey, it was my beginner's class!

I like that it's kind of Christmas-y, but doesn't have to be.

And that's it! Thanks for looking at all of my pictures -- I know it was a lot, and I am somehow unable to pick only 1 picture of each project! I hope all of your homemade gifts were received as warmly as mine were.