It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

6 inches of fresh snow on the ground is putting me in the holiday spirit!  I just checked the calendar and we've got a bit over 5 weeks until Christmas—plenty of time for some holiday sewing!  If you're looking for some ideas, here are a few of my latest Christmas projects:

The first is my "O Christmas Tree" advent calendar.  I originally made the calendar with muted flannels and assorted colors of felted wool to give it the warm, traditional look that I love.

But then I realized that the calendar would be equally cute made with a bright green tree and red, pink, and turquoise felted wool:

I'm not sure which I like better, so I may just have to hang both of them in my house this year—in different rooms, of course!  If you'd like to make your own advent calendar, you can find the pattern on my Etsy shop.

Next up is a sweet stitching project called "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas."  I made two versions of this project as well.  One is a little hanging quilt—perfect for a door knob, a cupboard knob, a hook, whatever you like!

The second version is a darling pillow:

Both versions would make great hostess gifts!  You can find the pattern for these little cuties in the November/December 2018 issue of McCall's Quilting.

And last, but definitely not least, are "Jolly Janglers," my felted wool snowman ornaments.  

These ornaments are so simple and easily made with scraps of wool and homespuns from your stash. And you can give each it's own personality by embellishing them with different buttons, tiny jingle bells, or embroidery.  An added benefit:  finding the little branch arms will get you outside enjoying the wintry weather!

You can find the pattern for these irresistible ornaments in the November/December 2018 issue of Quiltmaker.  I challenge you to just make one!

All of three of these projects require a bit of handwork, which in my mind makes them perfect for this time of year.  What could be better than stitching a snowman or embroidering a felted wool penny ornament while enjoying a holiday movie—cocktail optional?!  Bliss!

Happy Stitching

— jen

In Search of Christmas Spirit - Day 9

Day 9:  Ornaments

Here's a conversation I overheard last night between my daughter, Grayson, and my oldest son, Ethan.

Ethan:  "Why don't you want a snow day tomorrow?"
Grayson:  "Because I have a play to get ready for."
Ethan:  "That's just un-American."

So they may not want to bake cookies or make ornaments with me anymore, but the upside to having teenagers in the house is that they are laugh-out-loud funny!

Poor Ethan, he didn't get his wish and the kids went back to school today.  And I channeled my inner every-woman, climbed on my husband's tractor, and dealt with the 4 inches of slush in the driveway.  My sister-in-law and great friend Leisa asked to see a picture of the tractor and here it is...

Feeling pretty high on girl-power, I spent the couple of hours I had before hockey practice on today's Christmassy activity:  working on Christmas ornament ideas for my upcoming submission deadline.

And speaking of Christmas ornaments, here are some of my past designs, all of which have been featured in Quilters Newsletter's Best Christmas Quilts special issues:

First there were my Calling Birds:

Then came my Gift-Wrapped ornaments:

And finally, my Tiny Trees;

All this talk of ornaments has me thinking of a couple of fun ideas for ornaments that I made with my kids -- obviously before they were teenagers.

First of all, the kids and I used salt dough and half walnut shells to make babies under blankets.  Just remember to slide a hanging hook into the salt dough before baking and to spray the ornament with polyurethane after painting.


To the left is my daughter, Grayson.




Next is my son, Ethan.

And finally, my son, Brian.

The kids made their own versions of these ornaments.   

Here's Grayson's bunny:  

And Ethan's teddy bear:  

And finally, Brian's teddy bear:    

And while we're on the subject of walnut ornaments, check out our walnut strawberries!

If memory serves, we got this idea from a book called "A Yankee Christmas."  Paint whole walnuts red or burgundy and dot with gold or black paint to mimic seeds.  Then spray with polyurethane to preserve the walnuts and use hot glue to attach a hanging string and green felt or wool leaves.

Can't you just feel your Christmas spirit growing?!