Last year, many of you shared images of your handmade holidays gifts with me, and I wrote a blog post about it. I enjoyed seeing your gift ideas so much that I decided to do it again.

At the end of my last blog post,  I asked you to post in the comments what you were working on, I then emailed you asking for images.

You delivered! Thank you all for sharing your work with the rest of us.

Here we go.

Jean Etheridge has been busy making pillow books. It is pretty clever way to store your books and I know I like a pillow when I read in bed. Here is what she had to say about her project.

“I made book pillows for grandchildren. They are quilted on the front and back with a pocket on the front to hold a book. On the back, I used a zipper so the covers can be removed for washing.”

You can see more of Jean’s work on her Instagram @hsvjean73.

Barbara Post made some beautiful shibori. Here is what she had to say about her process.

“I ordered seven yards of treated for dying fabric and an Indigo dying kit from Dharma Trading Company. I cut the fabric into yard lengths and each yard into 4 pieces.  I hemmed each piece, then I picked four different types of shibori techniques and did seven of each design.  Finally I dyed them in the Indigo.” I love this idea–you get to learn a new technique while also making gifts!

Christmas Cowell shared the purses she made for her Sewing Club.

“I’m sending along a picture of some of the purses I made for my Sewing Club group. This group of ladies have been meeting every Wednesday (in Fairbanks) for over 70 years—seventy! Incredible women…still knitting, crocheting, sewing, driving, etc. My Mom was one of the founding members but she has passed away so I have stepped in, in her place. Talk about role models!”

How cool is that? The pattern is called Mini May by May Chappell .

Marla Varner is always busy making beautiful handmade gifts. For this holiday season, she made mug rugs, pincushions—I own one of these and they are awesome—and cardholders in bold beautiful fabrics. You can follow all of Marla’s projects on Instagram @pennylanequilts

Jackie Bailey is making Sweetpea Pods by Lazy Girl.  Love these!

Cindy Grisdela is making wallets using her own personal pattern. You can read Cindy’s blog or follow her on Instagram @cindygrisdela 

Pam Rocco made quilts for stuffed animals. This is such a cute idea and a great way to use up bits and pieces which Pam is legendary for doing.

And last but not least Carrie Griffin shared her handmade gift just in time. I literately got an email from Carrie as I was writing this post.

Carrie’s gift is a knitted tam The pattern is Gretel by Ysolda Teague. The yarn is Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran 100. You can check out more Carrie’s projects @bigalice_pix on Instagram. 

 

But wait, Carrie is not the last one after all. Check out these handmade holiday cards made by Stitchinggrandma aka  Mary Deeter. These are fabulous. You can see what Mary is up to on a regular basis on her blog. She is busy!

New reader Carol sent me an other holiday make on Christmas morning. She had to wait to take the photos until after the present was opened! She made a super cute zipper bag for a cat lover in her life.

Next up is Janet Rushant. Janet wrote a blog post about her makes which you can read here. 

She designed these lovely awesome placemats.

And this rug which I want.

Linda Doss made pot holders that morphed into cell phone bags. So cute!

What  have I been working on?

Well, I went to the Far North Yarn Store and accidentally bought a skein of Malabrigo Rasta  which I immediately turned into this awesome cowl.  I modified the pattern a bit. I cast on the same number of stitches, but I simply knit two purl two until I ran out of yarn. I highly recommend this project. I got no less than five compliments the first time I wore it!

This year, we welcomed the first of the next generation into our family. My grandniece Hazel will be celebrating her very first Christmas.

I made her a fleece flannel blanket. I am hoping to get seven more done this year. I am WAY behind in the baby blanket department. If you want to make a fleece flannel blanket, here are the instructions. 

And while I didn’t make this awesome handmade stuffed whale, Abigail Kokai did. All of her whales are made from up-cycled materials. I love them. You can see more of her work at Homer Whales  

I also purchased a small piece from local artist and friend Carrie Payne  Isn’t this incredible? She customized it to say “Hazel’s Believes in Herself.” I love this too.

Dear readers, thank you for reading, commenting, and traveling down the maker’s path with me. I wish all of you a wonderful holiday season and a delightful New Year. 

Can’t wait to see what happens next!

24 Dec This entry was published on December 24, 2017 at 3:28 PM and is filed under Just Plain Stories. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.