Christmas Presents

Well now that everything has been opened, it's time for a roundup of crafty presents for the year.  I love making things for my family and friends and it's one reason why progress on my big quilt was slow this past couple of months, but for me it's worth it.

First up are the annual ornaments for Mike.  I realized when I decorated the tree this year that this marks our 7th Christmas together, and it was fun to look back at past ornaments, most a snapshot of something he was into that year (and in many cases still).

This year I made a camera for him, specifically a Ricoh GR, which is what he often uses for street photography. It's a fairly understated camera, but I think that's kind of the point. Unfortunately since it was black-on-black, it was fairly hard to photograph, but you get the idea.

For Anna and Alex, I went the hand embroidery/bead route.  These were just about the only good thing to come out of the dreadful OSU-Baylor football game...  You'll see the chi-rho again, but on these I used some larger rock beads to fill the shape.  I was not pleased with how visible the thread was when I sewed on the large beads, but they were all very awkwardly shaped and I couldn't seem to find away around it.  I suppose it would have helped a bunch if I'd used a matching color of thread, but I'm no expert beader, so if anyone has any tips, please share!

While home at Thanksgiving, Becky said she really liked my daisy cross-body bag, so I made her one exactly like it (though with a different petal repeat).  She asked for inside pockets big enough to hold sippy cups, so I made up something I think will work (in that first picture below).  Between all the petal repeats on both bags and the bag linings, I've pretty much used up all my precious Jane Sassaman fabric.  It makes me happy to use it, but a bit sad that it's gone.

And finally, Raegan is very into American Girl dolls, so for Christmas her mom and dad made her a set of bunkbeds and asked if I'd make bedding inspired by this.  So I made two little doll quilts (both backed with minky) with matching pillows as well as mattresses.

Did you make or get handmade gifts this year?   I'm looking forward now to getting back to my art-  there are several show deadlines coming up, so hopefully I can make some progress on my big quilt.