The various things I made for Christmas

I am really behind sharing my projects! I made things for Christmas, but as usual, I didn't get to photograph them. My favorite items were the crochet edged pillowcases. I made 3 sets for 6 pillowcases in all. They looked great! How could I have neglected to photograph them?

I used THIS BOOK and the edges looked even better than those in the article...

Also for Christmas gifts, I made some reusable shopping bags from my fabric stash. I saw this pattern for a fabric produce bag online at Daisey Janie. That was an excellent pattern and I made 6 bags from it as gifts for an early holiday gathering we had a few weeks before Christmas. Alas.. I really craft in a rush for Christmas and I didn't photograph those either. The pattern conveniently uses a fat quarter and ends up quite narrow. Perfect for a produce bag, but I thought I could try modifying it to achieve a more useful size.



I used a full half yard and got this perfectly sized bag that measures 15 inches high by about 17 inches wide. I love that these bags roll up neatly when not in use. I also love the way the sales clerks respond when I pull these out to use them: "Nice bag!" "You made it?!" Sure! It was easy! You could do it too!

I've made a lot of reusable bags, but this is by far my favorite pattern. I made these two for me and another set of 4 for my mother-in-law. The fabric I used for hers was quite nice, but you'll just have to imagine it.



Take a look at this beautiful Queen Anne's Lace Scarf by fantasticmio on Craftster. When I saw that, I simply had to make one EXACTLY like it for my mom. I also got another colorway of the Bernat Mosaic yarn to make one for my Mother-in-law. They turned out terrific and that is a really nice yarn. This is the one by fantasticmio, but the one for my mom looked pretty much exactly the same:



My mom understands my crafty urges and she got me some cool yarns for Christmas. I've been playing around with them. First I made this Worm Scarf from a pattern by Julie Weisenberger using Lumpy Bumpy Yarn by Charlene.



I think there is a smudge on my camera... This yarn is really funky and squishy and I love the way this scarf turned out. I've been wearing it a lot since it is really wintery where I live.

Mom and I were really on the same wavelength in our yarn choices because she also got me this rainbow colorway of Mochi Plus yarn which is very much like the yarn I used for her scarf except Mochi Plus is wool and Bernat Mosaic is acrylic.



Since I already made two Queen Anne's Lace scarves, I decided to try playing with some of the motifs in my crochet books. This is my first try. It is maybe a little too lacy, I am not sure..

Once I started playing with crochet motifs, I pulled some stuff out of my stash to try this little clover pattern:



Here is the center:


And four motifs crocheted together:



Pretty cute, but my daughter turned up her nose and declared, "I don't like it, Mom." I like crafting for the seasons and holidays, but this may be just a little bit overboard to make a scarf like this for St. Patrick's Day.

I did even more crafting for some articles at Craft Critique. More on those later.

Small Treat Totes

The pattern for these was in the fall issue of Quilts and More. You can get the pattern online HERE. As soon as I saw them in the magazine, I knew I had to make them. They are called Small Treat Totes by designer Monica Solorio-Snow of Happy Zombie.



They came together really quickly, but I don't really notice the passing of time when I work on certain projects. I am not sure what I will use them for, but they are super cute!

Advent Garland

Since Jenny at Allsorts is revisiting this project from the past, I thought I'd share my version of it too. Back in 2007, as soon as I saw her felt pocket garland, I had to make one, even though I scarcely have room for any more holiday decorations. We don't have a mantle, so I have to get creative about where the stockings and garlands go.

Here is the Advent garland hanging over our old sorry sofa. I used to try to mask the pitifulness of that sofa with pretty blankets and pillows, but it was really bad. This is the post I wrote on the glorious day the garbage truck came and took it away.

Her pattern has some cute printables that you take out of the felt pouches each day, but I made a variety of seasonable felt applique disks. I loved making these and could scarcely stop until they were all done.

My kids actually agreed that we didn't need to stuff the envelopes with candy too. There is hardly ever a shortage of treats around here.

We celebrate Advent, but Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends and readers!

Hoopla Round 2

Look what Luckdragon stitched for me in the Embroidery Hoopla Round 2 swap on Craftster!

I love the french knot lei on the little boy. She did a little bit of crayon tinting and it makes a very nice effect. I also like the thick texture of the girl's hair.

I just signed up for round 3 of this swap. This one went very fast and was a lot easier than the Tea Towel Tours I used to co-organize. Those were an extravaganza of messages, mailouts, and communications. This is a simple exchange with no extras. I imagine a nice display wall of hoops as I do more swapping. I have a lovely collection of fully decorated tea towels from my last several embroidery swaps, but those are hard to display.

Check out this link with just the image posts from the swap and you won't have to read all of the chit-chat.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's not a turkey, but it is the owl I stitched up for Luckdragon in the Hooplah 2 swap on Craftster. She made me an adorable pair of children, but since that isn't very autumn, I'll post it later.



Luckdragon indicated that she likes owls, and it so happened that I felt like stitching one. This is from an Aunt Annie's transfer pack. I've stitched from this package before and that owl also went out in a swap. One day I will stitch up an owl to keep. I palnned to do a colorful owl, but somehow it ended up in earth tones. I did lots of color changes this time.

I also put a quilt block on the back.


My daughter surprised each of us this Thanksgiving morning with little turkey drawings. Here turkey sees November on the calendar and observes, "My time is almost done!":



On this one the turkey is on a coffin platter ready to be buried in the ground, "Dinner too old?" Live turkey notes, "I'm just glad it's not me!"


Here the cow and the turkey have protest signs encouraging chicken meals. Frustrated chicken realizes, "Everyone's against me."


We are going to Grandma and Grandpa's for our meal this afternoon. Mom already called this morning with a turkey emergency, but I am confident that our bird will be delicious. Until just the last several years, we all went to Iowa every year for the holiday and never did any cooking, so we are still working out the best way to do the meal.

Have a great day! Tomorrow is shopping day! We always go to antique stores and stay away from the big sale craziness.

Vintage from Grandma Part Two

This is a continuation of my last post. I suppose it will come up in your blog readers in the wrong order. You do use Google Reader, don't you?

I got a nice stash of vintage laces and embroidery at a family reunion from my Aunt Lavina. These are things that belonged to my Grandma, Leonace Burrell McKee when she was young. Here she is with my grandfather, probably when they were courting. They married in 1930:
There are some nice embroidered linens in this section of the collection. Times were tough for folks back in those days and Aunt Lavina told me of a story she remembered about a full set of embroidered sheets. After they were completed, I guess they were too scratchy and uncomfortable to sleep on, so the pretty embroidery had to be pulled out because there wasn't any money to buy a different set of sheets. Can you imagine? That was just the way it was, I guess.

Look at those perfect satin stitches!


These pieces are cut off of the ends of well used pillowcases.













Aunt Lavina and Uncle Larry have traveled the world and Lavina has collected linens and needlework from cultures everywhere she has traveled. She showed me her beautiful stash of stuff, but I didn't have time to photograph it. I am so happy she gave me these lovely things from the tradition of needlework in our family.

My mom has been giving me my stuff from when I was little. Handmade doll clothes, Joan Walsh Anglund dolls, a very old Raggedy Ann. My loved teddy bear.. not all of it is worth posting, but those vintage dolls... I've got to take some pictures of those to share..

Grandma's Vintage Part One

It's November already! I still haven't planted my bulbs, but the garden and yard are all cleaned up and I usually don't really get to that until the spring thaw.

We had a fun Halloween, but my son at age 13, didn't even go out this year. My daughter's ice cream cone costume was a hit, and she loved all the attention. I got way too much candy again this year, but I found this yummy recipe for Shortbread Candy Bar, which was originally in Everyday Food. Ours shortbread candy bars are topped with Snickers and Milky Way and are way better than the candy alone.

So I've got to catch up and post all the vintage things the family has been giving me. Back in September at a family reunion, Aunt Lavina gave me some very special handmade laces and hand sewn items that had been my grandmother's when she was young.

She passed back in 1997 after suffering from late onset Alzheimers. I remember her as one of the sweetest and kindest women. She was an elementary schoolteacher before she married in 1930. We have generations of schoolteachers in our family.

Okay, so let's get to the pretty stuff. These are hand crocheted borders for pillowcases. Someone pulled them off the case to save them.




These are borders that were rolled up into strips:


Look at the elaborate detail:


Now, we aren't sure that these were actually made by Grandma, but they did come from her stuff. She was always busy with sewing and crochet. They certainly are of an old vintage.





This is a yolk and a collar that they would wear to pretty up a simple dress:


Look at this beautiful handmade dress. So delicate and lovely.


And this pretty underskirt: