December 30, 2016
Some of those gift card holders held gift cards for books. Each grandchild received a book of my choosing but, in case they didn’t like what I picked, they can pick their own. I think all of the books purchased were the first in a series; I didn’t plan it that way but that seems to be the way it worked out. I made a bookmark to add into each of their books.
Can you guess who got which bookmark?
December 29, 2016
This red work ornament was the result of a Guild demo night. I’ve recently become quite a fan of embroidery, provided the piece uses a simple stitch.
Our November demo night was all about ornaments and, although there were quite a few patterns to choose from, this was the only one that I completed. As a further note, I still haven’t located my glue gun that, had I found it, would have made a nicer finish for that button.
December 28, 2016
Due to postage costs it is almost impossible to send physical gifts to everyone on my list. In many cases I opt for a gift card of one kind or another. I try to make my own card holders, and this is the pattern I used this year. The stockings were large enough that the cards could sit deep into the pocket and you’d have to be very naughty to see what was inside before Christmas.
My “test” stocking (the red one) was made using batting and a planned quilting pattern. Although it was fine, the quilting barely shows and it was a little harder to turn. My next “test” used flannel rather than batting and worked much better.
When I went into production mode I placed all the stocking fronts and backs onto a large piece of flannel and used free-motion quilting across all of them – no ends to tie in and no breaks in the motion. These ones had the proper hanger inserted prior to turning.
December 27, 2016
Last year at one of our Tuesday bees one of our Guild members gave a workshop on making these wreaths. I made one for myself and planned to make some as Christmas gifts this year. I worked on them at the Texada Retreat in November but only managed to get three finished.
