Quilty Christmas gifts

Last weekend, I finished piecing 4 Christmas gifts for friends and relatives. I came to the realization on Sunday night that all 4 still needed to be quilted and have the binding put on by Christmas day!!! I put in a few late nights at the sewing machine quilting and sewing the binding on the 4 table runners/table toppers and got up earlier than the rest of my family on Christmas day to hand sew binding on my MIL's. I actually finished hand sewing the binding on one friend's gift in the car on the way to Sarnia on Christmas day. Thankfully, all gifts were completed on time and delivered to the recipients who all seemed pleased with their quilty gifts. Here are a few photos of some of the gifts I made for Christmas this year. One still has not been delivered yet so I will show a photo of it later.This table topper was made for my cousin who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. I mailed it to her on the Saturday before Christmas and was told by the post office lady that it would not arrive in time for Christmas...she was wrong!! It arrived on the Tuesday before Christmas. My cousin's 4 year old daughter thought it was just the right size for her doll!!! She was quickly told that it was not a doll quilt!



This table runner was given to a friend at church. If you click on the picture to make it bigger, you can see that the squares and border are snowman fabric. She had come to our quilt guild show in the fall and had admired the quilts so I thought she might like a quilty gift.
The three churn dash blocks in this runner were made from some leftover charm squares that I had after finishing my SIL's Christmas gift (see below...). I gave this runner to a long time friend in Sarnia--it matches the colours in her family room and now graces her coffee table. I like the way the green binding and red sashing really pop on the cream background.
This is my MIL's table topper. It was completed on Christmas morning. She can have this out for the winter as it has snowmen and snow flakes on it.
This table runner has been posted before. It was a gift for my SIL. I think it will look nice on her dining room table.

I love making gifts for people, especially when they are not expecting a gift from me at all.

Shhh! It's a surprise...

This table topper is for my MIL for Christmas. I finished piecing it tonight. Most of the material in it is from a charm pack by Moda called "Let it Snow, Let it Snow". The cream fabric and the dark blue squares are from my stash. I bought two of these charm packs so I can make my self something as well. I may even use the same pattern since I am pleased with how this table topper turned out. I also pieced one more gift tonight and I have one more to go. The pictures will not be posted until after Christmas as the recipients may be looking at my blog.

I am hoping for a snow day tomorrow...

Christmas Preparations

Santa put this ornament in my stocking last year. The trunk of the tree is a thimble.

I continue to work on Christmas gifts in my sewing room, none of which I can post yet so that the recipients do not see their presents before the big day next week. I took some pictures of ornaments and decorations that I have made over the years and thought I would post them for you to see.

I made this one about 20 years ago. It is made from yo-yo's stuffed with cotton balls.

I made several Christmas tree skirts from this pattern for my parents, my in-laws, my sister in law and for a friend for her wedding gift. Everyone is still using them every year at Christmas.

I made this creche in 1987. I worked in a church at the time and part of my job was to tell the children's story each week. During Advent, the children opened a gift which contained part of the creche each week. On Christmas Eve, the baby Jesus was in the last parcel. When my daughter was little, she liked to act out the Christmas story with the figures. She played the part of the narrator. The three wise men are still not finished yet--they are sitting by my sewing machine in hopes of being finished this year so that they can join the other figures in the creche.

I purchased 3 panels to make this creche and kept one for myself. I gave the other two away to a friend and my sister in law for their small children to play with.

I purchased this Christmas decoration when we were on holidays in Philadelphia this past March.

Fabric Postcards

This week, I made 4 fabric postcards. Two others are started but not done yet. I had problems downloading the pictures the other night so I took new pictures and will try again now to post them to my blog... Cross your fingers...


Yeah!! I got it to work tonight! I'm not sure why I could not post the pictures the other night.
I would like to make some more postcards before Christmas--we'll just have to see if I have time. I have lots of other things to do in the next 3 weeks. The house and tree are not decorated, there are no lights outside, shopping is not done, no wrapping done and no Christmas cards done yet. I have big plans for this weekend....

Mystery Quilt

Here is a picture of the blue border I added to the Mystery quilt I am making. Each month, another border will be added. I wonder what the next one will be like??? For the pattern, go to Claudia's Quilts.
I also made some postcards tonight but I am having problems uploading the images. I will try again tomorrow.