dear and near. Ever since I was a little girl, Christmas meant
secreting yourself away creating just the perfect gift for
family and friends. Whether it was out of necessity or not,
I don't recall. But Christmas, to me, is synonymous with hand
made gifts. A lot of time, planning and creating went into
the "perfect" gift. A lot of "no peeking" and "you can't
come in here now" comments were heard. Perhaps my
efforts were not always the best, but there was something
about giving and receiving a handmade gift that touched
a special place in the hearts of both the giver and the
receiver.
Every year I think I won't get caught up in the "hecticness"
of coming up with the "perfect" gift to make and yet I
find myself searching and searching. This year was no
exception. I had told myself that I wasn't going to make
anything...that I would just shop and find the "perfect"
gifts. But....
Needless to say I found some darling stitchery patterns
on line that were free and were "perfect" for friends
and neighbors. And, the great thing about them was
they were simple and quick to make. I had purchased
red and green plaid towels last year and was going to
make them into placemats and napkins. But, for some
reason as November approached I just didn't want to
do that. Now, I'm glad because I like this idea so much
better.
I found this website from Australia for this darling
"Christmas" stitchery quilt. (And I have about half
of the blocks done for my quilt). One of them was
"Joy" and I recalled the cute gift from my niece last
year. She had given us all darling snowman towels and
a bottle of "Joy" detergent. So, I thought I'd copy her
idea. Quickly traced these on muslin and stitched
them then blanket stitched them onto the towels.
The little bird came as a free pattern from another
website that I also love.
Found some clear plastic bags and made a little tag
inviting them "to find JOY in the season".
After completing my "Joy" projects and thinking I had some
extra time on my hands (not really) decided to check back and
see if there was anything new on my Australian site. Lo and
behold another project! I couldn't resist quickly stitching
up this little sampler in redwork, especially when the designer
said it would only take about 1 1/2 hours. It was quick and
turned out cute. I made it for me, but it is now on my list
for next years gifts for family and special friends.
For my sister I did the English Paper Piecing of "Grandmother's
Flower Garden". This pattern was in a magazine I had purchased
some time ago. I did it in burgundy, navy, and tan. The
embroidery has little buttons in various shapes for flowers.
It is a fun project and one that you can carry with you to
appointments, etc.
Now that these gifts are completed, wrapped and mostly given
out, I wonder what to do with myself. It's not that I have
nothing to do as I have my little Christmas stitcheries to
complete and all the other projects that are in varying stages
of completeness. I guess it's just that there isn't the
pressure to keep me going. But, I will get the little
quilt done and post it.
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