The Gifts of Christmas, 2024 Version

We have had a very laid back, relaxing Boxing Day.  The last few days were very busy and we all needed some time to chill.  My husband is giving Finn a belly rub and my daughter is making dinner so I thought I would do a blogpost!  

A few years ago, my husband found an old quilt that originally came from his family farm.  It was very dirty and unfinished--the edges were not straight and it smelled funky. There were very rusty pins holding the edges together--I think the maker intended to finish it but never got around to it.  No one knew who made it. It lived in a plastic bag in our garage for a few years while I thought about what I would do with it.  This fall, I decided I would finish it and took a closer look at how it was made.  It is machine pieced and hand quilted. A couple of friends who know more about antique quilts than I do took a look at it and thought it was likely made in the late 30's or early 40's. My husband took at look at his family tree and found out that his great grandmother died of paralysis three weeks after having a stroke in 1941.  We think she is the one who made the quilt and had it pinned, ready to finish the outer edge but died before she could do this.  Her only daughter, my husband's grandmother was given the unfinished quilt.  As far as we know, she was not a quilter so it was never finished. I decided I needed to add binding before washing it so I trimmed the edges straight, cutting off parts of some blocks in the process.  

I added a gray and white striped binding--I thought it looked like ticking that would have been available at the time the quilt was made.   This picture shows how dirty the quilt was before washing. 

I used Retro Clean and soaked the quilt in cold water to try to remove the stains. Even though I used colour catchers, some of the orange and pink fabrics bled.   The water was not a pretty colour after soaking the quilt.   

It was rinsed in cold water several times and then machine washed on the gentle cycle in my front load washing machine.  I partially dried it in the dryer on gentle again and then laid it flat to finish drying overnight.

It looks much better now but not all of the stains came out. I typed out the story of the quilt, and included a copy of the death certificate that my husband found online.  We gave the quilt to his sister for Christmas. 

The dogs wanted to be in the picture but were not interested in posing.  

This picture was taken before it was washed but shows the quilting. 

I'm glad that I was able to finish my husband's great grandmother's quilt.  It has been waiting to be completed for over 80 years.  Now that is an old UFO!

My SIL asked me to make some covers for two pillows for the bed in her guest room.  They are made from blue Essex linen and have a covered zipper closure on the back. The tutorial for the covered zipper closure is at Sotak Homemade. 

I made a couple of gifts for my daughter.  First, a sew together bag for her crochet and stitching supplies:

The squirrel fabric was a gift from a friend and is from Japan. I fussy cut it so the squirrels danced across the side of the bag.  Unlike the three other Sew Together bags I have made, I quilted the outside panel before making the bag. I used one of my "YO MAMA made it" tags inside the bag on the wool needle landing. 

The fabrics were all in my stash.  I had to get a bit creative as I did not have enough of the pink print for inside the bag. The dotted fabric went with the other fabrics.  The zippered pocket lining are a pale pink Kona solid. 

I added a measuring tape inside the bag as she did not have one of those already.  It gets a bit easier to make the bag each time I have used this pattern.  

My daughter's second handmade gift was a pillow case.  She is a curler and I thought of her when I saw this fabric this past summer. 

There has been some crafting time today--I did some cross stitching and my daughter has been crocheting.  Since there can't be a blogpost without a picture of Finn...here he is helping my daughter with her crochet. 

I hope you are all finding some time to relax and enjoy your time with family and friends this holiday season.