Handmade Holidays from All Year Long - 2013

I really really really love Christmas...

especially the handmade decorations

and cookies that go along with it.

Last December I finally acknowledged to myself

that the month of December

is probably the month when I actually sew the least!

No wonder, since I do my sewing in the dining room.

That's why I decided to try to make at least one

Christmas-y handmade / handsewn item

every month, during 2013.

Would you like to see a review of my year

of handmade holiday stitching?

January...

a Snowflake pillow made from a vintage quilt.

February...

Mini Christmas stockings from the Fig Tree Quilts pattern.

March...

a Cherry Christmas table runner from the Cotton Way Candy pattern.

April...

a Paper Snowflake Pillow from my own tutorial.

May...

a Divided Basket from the Noodlehead pattern.

June...

Some Christmas gift tags using a tutorial by Nana Company.

July...

First, a Topiary Tree Pillow from my own free tutorial...

and also a Christmas bunting!

August...

Christmas Pinwheel mug rugs.

September...

a Christmas mug rug from The Patchsmith's Ticker Tape pattern.

October...

the Comfort and Joy mug rug of my own design.

November...
was a big finish for me. The Holly Jolly Tree Skirt
really put me in the Christmas spirit.

{I need to make another one for myself!}

and now it's December!

{Will I actually make something this month?  Stay tuned...}

Pin It

Have A Holly Jolly Tree Skirt!

It's the end of November,

and I no longer feel even the least bit funny about

stitching up something Christmas-y every month!

This month I finished a bigger project...

the Holly Jolly Tree Skirt!

I used the awesome pattern by A Bright Corner on Etsy.

Here's Andy's pattern cover,

featuring a Christmas tree and everything.

{My tree is NOT up yet.}

For my version,

I used fabrics from Kate Spain's In From The Cold collection.

I chose 6 prints for the front of the tree skirt.

{Little Ginger photo-bombed me, under the table.}

At the end of the day,

I had my tree skirt top all pieced together.

Here it is, spray-basted and ready for quilting.

After another day,

I had the tree skirt all quilted,

and the binding was even finished.

On the back, and for the binding,

I used a red and white snowflake print

from the same fabric line.

{I'm so glad I have some yardage left over to make something for myself.}

I really love that cookie print,

reminding me of family cookies from Christmases past.

And these cocoa cups look like the ones my great-grandma

used in her restaurant...in my mind's eye, anyway.

{OK...her cups were solid white with green stripes,

but they were the same shape as these cups.}

The little label on the back will remind Val that I made this,

just for her.

It was easier than I expected to attach the binding

to all of the angles of the giant hexagon.

I chose to make ties from the binding fabric,

but you could use ribbon, too, as the pattern suggested.

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Stop by soon for a wrap-up of my

Christmas projects from 2013.

Pin It