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...}

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Christmas Ticker Tape Mug Rug

Have you ever seen a pattern that just begs you to make it?

That happened to me, the moment I first saw

The Patchsmith's design for

the Ticker Tape Mug Rug!

{So many of Amanda's patterns call out to me, that I have trouble keeping up with them.}

Ticker Tape Mug Rug by The Patchsmith

I turned to the Ticker Tape mug rug pattern

this month, as I made my monthly Christmas project.

I was inspired by the red holiday version that Amanda created.

Here's my interpretation, using my Cherry Christmas bundle!

I drew a sketch for a similar mug rug in my sewing journal,

but unlike The Patchsmith,

I had never executed the idea into an actual design.

What a pleasure it was to just follow

the most excellent instructions

and wind up with THE cutest holiday mug rug ever!

Do you notice the one deviation from the pattern?
I added the big red appliqued bow to the main square,

so it would look like a Christmas present!

I was inspired by this Tiny Treasures pattern

from Pieces From My Heart,

using the little teeny Moda candy squares,

which I also have on my {long} list of

patterns that are begging to be made.

Tiny Treasures pattern by Sandy Gervais

In no time I was finished creating this festive

and functional mini quilt.

Instead of blanket stitching,

I chose to straight-stitch

along the raw edges of each block,

with a stitch length shortened one notch to a 2.0.

Perfect tension made it look

just as good on the back as the front!

All of the mug rugs I make are reversible.

I chose a favorite print from Cherry Christmas

for the backing.

Those are Santa's clothes hanging out to dry.

I love using Pellon 987F fusible fleece, 

so that the mug rug is smooth and flat.

No spilled cocoa from a lumpy surface!

I used my own free Machine Binding Tutorial,

found here, to finish the edges with

my favorite aqua holly print.

{Sigh...}

Wouldn't this make a lovely Christmas present?

Sorry...this one's mine to keep. 

I could be coaxed into making more, though! 

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Christmas Pinwheels

As another month came to a close,

I found myself hustling

to make something else for our

Across The Pond Sew Along

as well as for my monthly Christmas project.

Christmas Pinwheels count for both!

While I was researching

ideas for the Pinwheel theme for August's

Across The Pond Sew Along, I came across this block.

It's called Flying Kite Pinwheel...so fun!

I found an error in this PDF for the block,

plus I didn't want my block to be as large,

so I decided to draft my own version.

I used some of my red/white/blue repro 30's prints,

as I'd done in my Daisy Pinwheel block.

These were my first efforts...

I love this one, but the points were too close to the edges!

Back to the drawing board!

This time I got the points right, but the blue triangle size was a bit off.

The third time was the charm, using my Cherry Christmas prints.
My method of making this block results

in a pair of blocks that are mirror images.

See how they spin in opposite directions?

{Oh, never mind...it's dizzying to figure that out!}

All it took was a wee bit of quilting to convert the 8 1/2" blocks

into a pair of pretty mug rugs for Christmas.

{Note to self:  Points on the edges will be hidden under binding.}

I used my own free tutorial

for Machine Binding, and it was a quick finish.

Here's the back of the red one.

Here's the green one, on the back.

And now I've got some cute mug rugs,

ready for Christmas cocoa and cookies...

when the time comes.

Have you made any pinwheels this month?
It's never too late!
Show off your finishes at the Across The Pond Flickr group.

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Christmas in April

Back in January,

I made a commitment to myself to sew

at least one Christmas-y item each month.

As it turns out, I wasn't the only one 
who had this great idea!

Julie, The Crafty Quilter, really has her act together,

introducing a new Christmas project on the 15th of each month.

And now I'm linking up with Christmas Through The Year
at Lily Patch Quilts, too!
Head on over there for even more ideas and a linky party.

I wondered whether I would have trouble

with motivation when warmer weather arrived

and the trees were budding.

As it turns out,

while I was stitching away on my new

Paper Snowflake Pillow,

I felt...downright festive!

I had made this pillow once before,

as a free project for Pellon,

using my must-have-in-the-house-at-all-times

Pellon 987F Fusible Fleece.

For this new version,

I had a jumpstart, since

I had already cut out my snowflake design...

and chosen my Cherry Christmas fabrics.

I did a bit of stitching here...

and some quilting there...

and pretty soon I was ready to make the back of the pillow.

I used my very own tutorial for a

Covered Zipper Pillow Backing.

I was grateful for the good tips I'd written down,

because it's been a little while since I made a pillow.

My house is going to look so merry this Christmas!

Stay tuned...now that I'm pillow-happy,

I'm going to finish off my Copenhagen Pillow!

{It's about time, right?}

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