Our annual Christmas gift exchange was just as wonderful as ever...I thought you might like to see what gifts were given - try not to be too envious!
Denise made this adorable runner - those ornaments are paper pieced! She is our resident paper-piece-expert and I was trying to "channel" her this week as I was sewing my own paper-pieced project...but I use the word "sewing" loosely because what I mainly did was sew and then UNsew, over and over again!
Someone has lovely nails! I did not get a great shot of this gift, made by Marsha - it's a garland of mini-Christmas stockings - all different and so very cute! Just so you know, making a mini-stocking is almost as much work as making a big stocking!
Terry made this adorable felted-wool Santa ornament - if only you could see her stitches, but that's a joke because no one can see her stitches! They are so teeny and tiny and perfect...Terry is our resident perfect stitcher!
Kareena, the perfect-machine-stitcher in the group, made this delightful Santa pillow...it pains me to say she has only been sewing/quilting for about 3 years...three years and she's already an expert...I'm going on 33 years and still working on getting an expert badge in ANY category!
Ardith, who was not able to join in the fun this year, sent these beautiful hand-made ornaments as her gift. I don't remember who took these home but I'm sure they will love putting them on their tree in the years to come - they are so sweet and delicate! (I was the lucky recipient of one of these beautiful ornaments on my birthday!)
This fun pillow was made by Lori - she is the queen of redwork! And after embroidering all of that she then pieced a border - so, so cute!
Janet made this adorable Santa pillow out of wool - and she even gave Santa rosy cheeks! I had my eye on this pillow and was planning on a steal but it was taken before I had a chance!
Stephanie comes up with the most fun ideas for her Christmas gifts! This year she tickled us all with her Elf, inspired by one of her grandchildren's drawings. I know you won't find this hard to believe, but this "speaks" to me! Unfortunately, I didn't come home with it! But let me show you what I did come home with...
This beautiful felted-wool bag!! I just love it! Barbara brought it, and although she didn't make it, she could have, in her sleep, with both hands tied behind her back! It has a brown lining and a zipper closure - and it's the perfect size and shape! When the girl was here, she spied it and made a few noises about it - her way of asking/begging for things...I quickly pointed out that it's made from wool and she is highly allergic...whew...finally her allergies had a benefit, at least for me! I have already put this to good use and have loved toting it around! I get lots of compliments so thank you Barbara!!
We had a great time, lots of laughs and plenty of good food...wish you all could have been there! I have to show you Stephanie's Christmas gift quilt one more time - it's a one-of-a-kind - just like Stephanie!
You can find my gift block tutorial here - it's a super fun block to make and it can be used in a lot of different ways - go have yourself a looksy! And just in case you're wondering what I took to our gift exchange, let me remind you...
12 Days of Christmas in a bag...Marsha ended up with my gift. She told me she emptied the boxes of their gifts (they were all intended for a quilter) and then refilled them with "grandkid" appropriate gifts. For twelve days, starting on Christmas, whichever grandchild was the first to visit her each day got to open a gift! That's just the kind of fun I had in mind when I made it - so glad it worked!
Now I'd best start thinking about what to make/give NEXT Christmas!
