Tag: yearofchristmas

A Year of Christmas

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Well, we’re here. The holiday season is upon us and I am happy to report that I did one of the things I set out to do this year. I pulled out my stash of handmade holiday items. My stash! Way back in January, I had the idea to dedicate some time over the year to making a little bit of a handmade Christmas so that I could enjoy handmade items around the house.

Looking back over 2020, I’m amazed I accomplished much of anything. I spent a solid month on a near complete crafting hiatus – I’m looking at you Animal Crossing. I knit more socks than anything else and I still have a sweater on the needles that I cast on in March. But! I set out to make 12 holiday makes – one each month. I fell off the month by month pace, but in the end I’m happy with the results.

I wound up putting much of my efforts into quilts and quilted things. I knew that I wanted to make a tree skirt and a Christmas tree quilt. I started both last January and finished them in the summer. Other than that, I just let the Christmas whims take me as they would. Let’s have a look back over the year.

January – Christmas Tree mug rug – free pattern by Threadbare Creations, various scraps (1)

February – Christmas Socks – A Homespun House in Whobilation (2)

March – Granny Square mug rug – block pattern from Lori Holt’s Granny Squared book (3)

April – Christmas socks – Plies & Hellhounds Yarn in Christams Like It’s 1882 (4)

Imagine a music montage here where I work on Christmas things but definitely don’t finish any until August.

August – Happy Christmas mini quilt – Pattern & scrappy kit from Maker Valley – (5)

September – Happy Christmas quilt – pattern and scrappy kit from Maker Valley, yeah I like her stuff (6)

September – Tree skirt – Joyful Jelly Roll pattern by Fat Quarter Shop, Little Tree fabric (7)

October – Christmas pillowcases – Kits from, you guessesd it, Maker Valley (8)

November – Joshua’s Christmas Quilt – Fat Quarter Pile Up pattern by Knot & Thread Design (9)

November – Astra’s Christmas Quilt – Fat Quarter Pile Up pattern by Knot & Thread Design (10)

November – Christmas Kitty mug rug – inner prim star unit from Prim & Proper book by Lori Holt (11)

November – Scrappy Stars table runner – Prim star blocks from Prim & Proper book by Lori Holt (12)

Well, there we go! I made it to 12 with that little mad dash in November. It’s been so nice to see these little pieces around the house. The cats are big fans of the tree skirt. I’m glad I made it a quilt, it’s been through the wash a bunch already thanks to all the sweet soft fur.

I’m going to tag in one more little holiday make, though. The kids decided they needed Christmas pijama pants to really set the scene. We are usually travelling to visit family over the holidays, so we’re really trying to brighten things up and make the holiday at home special. So of course, I relented and sewed them up some snuggly pjs.

December – Christmas plaid fleece pj bottoms – Walk the Plank PJ Pants by Patterns for Pirates (13)

Ok, now we’re done! I really enjoy setting a good arbitrary goal and getting there is just icing on the cake. I hope you are having a lovely wind down of this crazy year and if you celebrate one of the many beautiful holidays this season brings, I hope you are enjoying it. I’m getting ready to cozy up with my last day of advent knitting and dream up where my crafty heart might take me in the new year.

Happy {joyful} making!

Palate cleanser.

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About a week ago, I had really cleaned up and cleared out. Preparing for holiday making and the end of the year, I had it all planned out. I’ve got my little end of year to do list all written up, yarn caked, fabric pulled. Spoilers, the list has no check marks – I’ve needed a creative kick start.

I’ve been hemming and hawing with decisions about gift knitting, so naturally I put that on hold and started myself a sock. I’m only just a little sorry, but it did the trick.

This sweet pattern is Coast Range by Lindsey Fowler and the yarn is Stress Knits yarn in the Eucalyptus colorway. This color is just pure heaven! I’ve actually got a second skein tucked away for a colorwork sweater one day.

Sometimes when I have a hard time making a decision it helps to work on something that I don’t have to think too much about. The sock helped me settle down a little bit and now I’ve made a little headway on gift knitting. The one thing I’ve really been searching for is my sew-jo. To be honest, my sewing room has been a bit of a mess with little random bits and bobs that needed attending.

I had several minis laying around to be hung up – one of mine and two of Astra’s. We got hers on the wall in her room, I’ll have to write about her new foray into quilting – it’s been so fun! I also finally got around to hanging my Pineapple Mini. This corner of the sewing room gives me all the smiles.

On the other side of the sewing room, I’ve had a bit of a situation brewing. Cosi, like many cats, likes to be on top of things. Recently his favorite perch has been my pressing board, much to the its detriment. I’ll spare you the gruesome pictures of holes and batting everywhere, but let’s just say it needed an overhaul.

I’ve been putting it off since it’s not the most glamourous use of 2 yards of fabric but I finally relinquished this sweet Lori Holt floral and I’m so glad that I did. Definitely a bright and happy redo. Don’t worry, the board comes off the shelf and goes behind when not in use. No more cat-astrophes!

That shiny new pressing board finally got me in the mood to do a wee bit of sewing last night. I thought a quick, instant gratification project was in order and so… pillowcases!

I used a little kit and instructions from Maker Valley and honestly, it couldn’t have been easier. The whole thing takes a wee bit of pinning and pressing and literally three seams. Three! You even come out with some rather French seams on the inside.

All in all, from opening kit to finished object it took about a half hour. So I made another one. You guessed it, this was another kit. Holly of Maker Valley is a whiz at fabric pairings! I’ve got a few ideas for other fun pillowcases, this was a great pallette cleanser.

I’m very excited to have these paired with the Happy Christmas quilt on the guest bed this holiday season. My #yearofchristmas plans are really starting to come together. I think this makes eight finished Christmas projects!

I think I needed these little puttery projects to get the creative fires burning. I’ve got some weekend sewing plans that I am now super excited to get to. Finally.

Happy making!

Happy Christmas Quilt

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I really like pretty much everything I make. I know I throw around a bunch of loves, amazings, and gorgeouses around here but buckle your seat belt – I’m really about to gush.

Could it be better? I am honestly in love. This is the penultimate holiday quilt to me. I’m really pleased with how everything came together and the finished object is just bright and shiny and joyful.

  • Pattern: Happy Christmas by Holly Lesue of Maker Valley
  • Top: scrappy kit from Maker Valley
  • Back: flannel from Sugarplum line by Heather Ross
  • Binding: ginghma print from Lori Holt
  • Quilting: by Nicole of Kwilt It!

Let’s take a closer look at the quilting, that may be my favorite part – and I didn’t even do it! Nicole did such an amazing job, the pink thread is just too good! The pattern is called simple snowflake and the texture is perfect.

If you recall from a few days ago, this beauty has been sitting around the house just waiting for me to finish the binding on the back. I finally finished it up, and I’m really pleased with how this has turned out. These are my best corners ever!

I’m getting pretty excited to have some Christmas-y handmades around the house this year. If you’re keeping score, this is make #6 for my year of Christmas. Maybe I’ll catch up and maybe not, but I can’t seem to care when I’ve got this beauty and her baby bro in my house.

I really just cannot. How are they both cuter when they are side by side? I wondered if I was being silly making the mini version of a quilt I’d already done and I can say now that I have no regrets. Worth every stitch.

Happy making!

A summer update in two parts: progress

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As promised yesterday, I’m back to talk about all of my current works in progress. I’m focusing on the projects that are actually getting attention lately, so the languishing will continue languishing.

Back at the very beginning of August, I decided to try a new strategy with my slowest WIP and applique for 30 minutes every day. Overall this has worked really well, I made pretty steady progress on my Granny’s Garden quilt for several weeks.

I’ve finished fourteen blocks now. My routine got out of whack towards the end of August with some family stuff, but I’m working on getting back on track. Things have been a little more hand-sewing every day since I need to prep some more blocks, but I’m not mad.

I spent a bit of time with a practice piece learning the basics of big stitch hand quilting and once I was a little comfortable with a technique, I moved on to the real deal. I’ve basted my Norah quilt and started by quilting the center block. It is definitley slow going, but the look and feel is worth it.

I’ve been experimenting with machine binding to some success so I thought I’d give it a go on my Happy Christmas quilt. It didn’t go so well so I’ll be back to smaller practice projects for some more project. All I really got out of this try was a two hour date with my seam ripper.

I have since moved on to hand sewing the binding and this is my last corner! I have to say, the flannel backing makes for a pretty easy, smooth hand sewing experience.

Since I’ve been making such good headway with those other quilts, it seemed reasonable to start a few more, so here we are. This is a quilt pattern called Green Gables, a fun rainbow log cabin quilt in Liberty Fabrics. I “participated” in the block of the month club for this project from Duckadilly, but we should use participated loosely here. Let’s just say I’ve started, at least.

My other new start is another sewalong – the Quilter’s Cottage quilt by Lori Holt. She’s fast becoming a favorite designer of mine! This one is a weekly sewalong and I’m completey caught up and on pace! I am really proud of this project.

I decided to go ahead and assemble the quilt as I go – I’ve learned that assembly and sashing are my least favorite parts of the process. This method has the added bonus of fun in-progress shots like this one! I’ve only got 4 weeks to go, which will be the final row and some borders. I’ve cut out the blocks for the final row already.

A few months ago, when I finished the quilt top for my Fat Quarter Pile Up quilt – the kids loved it. Both loved the big blocks of pattern and the big throw size. Later on, Joshua specifically asked for a Christmas quilt and so I told them they could each pick out fabric and I’d make them holiday snuggle quilts. Once I finshed my bright and cheery version a few weeks ago, I spent a half day on a Sunday putting together their quilts.

This is Astra’s quilt – fabrics from the Polar Magic line from Lemonni.

And this is Joshua’s – fabrics from We Whisk You a Merry Christmas by Kimberbell. Seriously, this is the fastest quilt I can imagine. It’s a really fun canvas for some fun quilting and we went a bit nuts with the backing – you’ll see! My kids never ask for anything so I’m pretty happy to oblige when they put in a request.

Moving from quilts to blankets – my blanket grows. This is 55 rows out of a probable 120 or so and it’s folded into quarters width-wise. It’s postively massive. I’ve gotten much quicker with practice and have been putting several rows on each week. The nice thing about crochet is that it’s usable as a blanket all the time, so it’s cozy to work on.

And finally, I’ve got a pair of socks I’ve been working on. A few weeks ago I had some very stressful waiting time on my hands, so I grabbed the most rainbow skein of yarn in my stash and just started knitting. I got pretty far and didn’t have a tape measure or scales so I switched needles and started knitting from the othe side. I’m hoping to use all the yarn for the tubes and then I’ll cut in some contrast toes. Gosh I love a good rainbow. This is Color Study by Gauge Dyeworks.

I’ll leave with you a sweet shot of my crafting buddy in the quilt hoop. Cosi has been a constant companion with all this sewing going on. I think we’re all caught up and some of these things will be getting finished up soon, so until then.

Happy making!

A summer update in two parts: finishing

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As seems to be usual these days (this year) it has been quite a while since we last spoke. That always leads me to a bit of a conundrum as to what to write, whether to pick up where I left off or just give a current state of affairs. I’ve been thinking about my goals with this blog and one is to have a bit of a diary, so I don’t want to leave things out.

With that in mind we’re going to do this in two parts. Today, we’ll have a bit of a F.O. parade. We’ll just waltz down the memory lane of projects I’ve completed this summer. Tomorrow, we’ll have a (much longer) chat about what I’m working on. You’ll need your favorite beverage on hand for that one, I’ve got a lot going these days. Without further adieu, let’s dive in!

Back in June, I was deep into sock knitting mode and was pretty far along on this pair. They were finished in pretty short order and have been getting quite a bit of wear. The yarn is ONline Supersocke 4-fach Neon Color in colorway 1721 – deep, deep stash from about five years ago.

Continuing on the sock train, I knit another pair of Rainbow Connection socks! I really love this pattern and this yarn combination really spoke to me. I knit a pair of socks in this amazing self-striping yarn last year and I am pleased to have used up even more of it. The self-striping is Tiny Human Knits (I don’t think she’s dying right now) in Cumberbund and the main color is The Wool Barn in Eden. The pattern is by the Crazy Sock Lady.

It was around this time that much of time was taken up by a super secret project – details in my last post. Once that monster was shipped off to the long arm quilter, I began taking a look a around the sewing room, looking for a quick finish.

Enter my Happy Christmas Mini! I started this one in the spring and finished up the top and quilted it in May, intending for it to be my fifth project for my year of Christmas. Well, the year of Christmas has gotten pushed to the wayside a bit and I hadn’t finished any holiday projects since April – until I finally got around to binding this one. I tried out machine binding for the first time and was pretty happy with the result.

It was a bit of a learning curve, but I thought it was a good time to try since it’s just going a wall! Speaking of, I wound up using some old stash that’s not my fave for the backing – we’re not going to see it much while it’s hanging on the wall. I’ve been lax at showing the back of my quilts, but I like to see what people choose for backing, so here you go!

My quilting mojo was full tilt at this point in early August, so I started and finished this sweet little mini all over a few days. This was a kit I had purchased from Maker Valley, the pattern uses a single block from her Pineapple Love pattern. It was a really fast make and turned out pretty stinkin’ cute. As advised in the kit I used scraps from the top to make the binding and used that same black polka dot fabric for the back.

These socks were knit very slowly over nearly three months and, to be honest, I really only finished them because I needed their needles. The yarn is from A Homespun House in the Whale Belly colorway. They are lovely peachy-pink that is dreamy and I’m happy to have them in my sock drawer. I’m in this place where I want tonal and solid socks, but I don’t really want to knit them. Not that I’m knitting that much, but more on that soon.

My final F.O. for now is my Fat Quarter Pile Up quilt. Yep, this baby has been quilted and sitting around for months. I finally just decided to bite the bullet and machine bind this one as well, so it took me about 2 hours to finish it. It’s so bright and happy! I used a bundle from Mkaer Valley, some orange fabric for the back and some pre-made binding that was laying around here. Since I had it quilted by Nicole at KwiltIt! (who is amazing, by the way), this one only has about 6 hours of my time in it. Talk about a fast project! My machine binding was a little less satisfactory on this one, but I’m chalking it up to a learning experience.

Last, but not least, I crocheted a dishcloth. Something came over me and I decided I needed a finish in the crochet department since my blanket is, umm, taking a while. This is Spread the Dishcloth Joy, a free pattern, using Knit Picks Dishie Multi in Aquarium. Mine came out to be about 9″ x 9″ but I really don’t know anything about gauge in crochet. I used the recommended size hook and followed the pattern except that I don’t know how many rows I did. I went on until it was square and it seems to have worked out.

Well, there we have it. A summer’s worth of completed projects. I’ve been flitting around a lot between various projects so we’re less finishing and more progressing around here – but sometimes that’s how it goes.

Happy making!

Comfort food.

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I’m not going to dwell on world events today, suffice it to say that 2020 is not how any of us expected. I’m a cheerful introvert at the best of times, but I’ve been feeling quite withdrawn from everything over the last few months. I stopped writing here, I stopped posting on social media, and I nearly stopped knitting.

The only crafty pursuit I’ve been up to at all is sock knitting, and I’ve not even picked it up on some days. I do have a bit to catch up on with you here, as it’s been two entire months, but for weeks it has been socks and socks only. Here goes nothing, the last two months:

I finished my mini Happy Christmas Tree Quilt. This guy and the full sized one are sitting around here now, all quilted, binding attached — sometime I’ll get around to sewing the binding down on both of them.

Vanilla socks — “Electric Feel” by A Homespun House

Don’t look now, but this was another patterned sock finish! The pattern is Rhinebeck Roomies by the Crazy Sock Lady. I used Skein Yarn in the Early Morning Mist colorway.

Vanilla Socks — “Where does the good go?” by StressKnits

Joshua turned 15 in the midst of all of the quiet stay-at-home time, but we had a nice day. He had a mask wearing walk with a friend, we hung out and listened to records while I baked his cake (see below), and we just had a generally lovely day.

Ok, friends. This is hands down the best strawberry cake I’ve ever had. The recipe is pretty amazing. We enjoyed cake for breakfast for a couple of days after this and I’m not even a little sorry.

Yep, your eyes do not decieve you! Another patterned sock, another design by the Crazy Sock Lady! This is Heel Toe Do Si Do in Peachy Keen by The Cozy Knitter.

I cast on this cuff, started a pattern, messed it up, and started another pair of socks. Now that I’m almost done with those, I think I’ll come back to these. I actually think I might switch gears and knit this pair vanilla and cast on another pair of Rainbow Connection socks in something else for my pattern fix. This yarn is “Whale Belly” by A Homespun House.

Last but not least, the aforementioned other pair of socks. These have been surprisingly enjoyeable. This another pair of what I deem workhorse socks, turns out they’re awfully nice when you’re at the house all the time. This is yarn is ONline Supersocke 4-fach Neon Color in color 1721. This is some deep stash, so it’s nice to finally knit it up.

That gets us up-to-date. Thankfully, I’m feeling the funk fade a bit over the last few days. I’ve got a secret project for Astra for Christmas that I want to start and I’ve got 3!! quilts to finish (4 if you count the tree skirt). Other than that, I’m not minding the sock train one bit. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again — I’ll always come back to socks, my very own crafty comfort food.

I hope you are safe and well.

Happy making!

Once you get through the ribbing.

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I’ve often felt that once I get through the ribbing of a sock, it’s practically done. The rest it just seems to fly by. I don’t hate ribbing, but I don’t really love it so it is always nice to get through it on anything. I’ve recently realized that brioche feels a whole like ribbing: yarn forward, yarn back and all that jazz.

So, once I finished Marley, I looked around at my WIPs and realized I had created a little slice of ribbing hell. My first order of business was to finish up my other brioche project, Gully.

This is a pattern by Jared Flood, knit in Brooklyn Tweed Vale in the Cobbler colorway. I love the finished object, but knitting laceweight brioche flat is a bit of a slog. The texture of the yarn is a dream for the squishy brioche though so it was definitely worth it.

Once I finished the cowl, I was really down to it on ribbing. Two second socks to start and a massive hat brim to finish. I set myself a goal to finish all the ribbing on one big Sunday rib-a-thon.

It took me a hot minute, but I got it done. From there, it’s always so easy to pick up the socks and knit on them throughout the week. I woke up last Saturday and assesed my sock situation.

With last weekend being a long one for us here in the states, I set myself a new goal of finishing both pairs over that weekend. I’m not really sure how but I finished them both that day!

I just love love love this pair. I knew after seeing this yarn that I’d have to knit it up, being the avid rainbow lover that I am. Add to that the Beatles reference in the name and I was a goner. This is All Together Now, from Gauge Dye Works.

The other pair are knit out of Patons Kroy in the Mexicala Stripes colorway. I don’t love the pattern but they’re a bright and cheerful pair of socks. I knit these to have another pair of hardwearing utility socks and that’s just what they are.

Once I finished those socks, I realized I was in danger of getting to the end of February without finishing a Christmas project. I thought that if I started a pair of socks, I could likely finish them over the next couple of weeks. And so I cast on another pair of socks last Sunday, intending to at least get through the ribbing.

By the time I went to bed that night, I had knit most of the darned sock already. This sweet yarn is from A Homespun House, in the Whobilation colorway. Not wanting to burn out, I decided to cast on a new large project. I spent a great deal of time playing in my stash, scrolling throuh Ravelry and Instagram.

I finally decided on a pattern I’ve had in my libary for quite a while and with some help from Kevin, chose a yarn pairing that is a bit out of my usual comfort zone.

I started Sizzle Pop, a shawl pattern by Lesley Anne Robinson. I know, I know, it’s brioche. I just can’t seem to stop myself. I’m using Mood Ring by Hey Sister Yarn Co. for the background (grey) and Tough Titty by Stitch Together Studio for th emain color (pink).

I am really enjoying this one, but it does require quite a bit of focus and pattern reading. So that pushed me back into the arms of the Christmas socks and before I knew it, I found myself kitchenering up the second sock last night.

Who knew I had this much sock mojo left? Finishing three pairs of socks in a week had me looking at my stash yet again this morning. One thing that bugs me is all the caked up yarn I’ve got hanging around from projects that stalled out for various reasons. I’d like to get it all knit up, but that’s a big undertaking. So I pulled out a subset: sock yarn:

That’s 10 skeins of sock yarn that were caked up for various projects (mostly not socks) and then abandoned for some reason or another. I’m going to make these my next 10 pairs of socks, excluding Christmas socks. I already got started, casting on the cuff of the first pair:

The yarn is from Skein, in the Early Morning Mist colorway. I originally cast this on for a Spindrift shawl over Christmas a few years ago. I never picked it up again and frogged it last year during my WIP Wipeout. The catch with this pair of socks is that I’m (gasp!) using a pattern. The whole thing will essentially be ribbed. Who am I?

I might need to go cast on something garter just for a bit of sanity, but who knows. Maybe I don’t dislike ribbing as much as I thought.

Happy making!

(Mostly) Never before seen WIPS!

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Well, now that it’s been three weeks I suppose we’re do for a bit of an update. I’ve been all over the place. Between the new sewing room, kicking off the year of Christmas, and a healthy audiobook obsession – I’m been doing quite a bit of making.

I am reasonably confident that the only active WIP that has even made a blog appearance is my Happy Christmas Quilt, so let’s do a montage. The current state of affairs of my crafting is as follows:

I cast these socks on over our holiday trip. My goal was a pair of utility socks, I love Patons Kroy yarn for hard wearing socks. I’m not in love with the color combination (Mexicali Stripes), but the socks will do their job.

I made Kevin a pair of pijama pants last year out of this flannel and he asked if I had enough left over to make him a pillow for the couch. I barely did, but I think it turned out cute.

I finally started these gorgeous socks this month. This is Gauge Dyeworks in the colorway All Together Now. I had some yarn management woes and a great deal of indecision with what color I wanted to start with, but they are kniting up quite nicely. This yarn is a plump dream to knit with, by the way.

I finished all the blocks for my Happy Christmas Quilt and here it is all laid out. I’ve since sewn all the rows up and just need to sew them together. For the beady eyed among you, yes, I fixed the mistake in the border before sewing. Thank goodness! I am in love with this one.

I made the top for a tree skirt, too. I’ve been talking about making a tree skirt for years and have, unsurprisingly, put off purchasing one because of that. So we have gone without a tree skirt for a long time. No more! This is a jelly roll pattern, which I thought would make it very easy, but the bias seams got me in the worst way. That was tough.

Since I started my year of Christmas with a quilt and a tree skirt that may as well be a full quilt, I thought it would be nice to get a bit of instant gratification. Enter the mug rug. I love making mug rugs and micro minis. They’re like snack sized quilts. This one included a paper pieced tree, which was a new skill to me. It was pretty easy and quite fun. I love the result! This is a free pattern from ThreadBare Creations and I used scraps from the Happy Christmas quilt and a bit of random stash.

The mug rug is my first project and the January entry in my year of Christmas. I think we’re off to a good start!

In the last few weeks, I’ve been obsessed with a couple of audiobook triologies. Nothing makes me quite so dedicated to a long knitting project as something compelling to listen to. Enter Marley. I cast it on in October, but hadn’t made much progress until about 10 days ago. Now I’m now only a few rows until the finish.

I’m still only halfway through the current amazing trilogy, so I decided to start another long project. This is not my first try at crochet, but it’s definitely the farthest I’ve ever come. I’m really enjoying the rhythym of it.

So that’s it. Quite a bit of variety these days. I’ve got some non-holiday ideas for the sewing room, we’ll see when I get to them. I’m also hoping I’ll be back very soon with a finished shawl and maybe even a finished quilt top.

Happy making!

Happy, uh, Christmas?

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It is the new year and that means new projects, new ideas, and the same old me. Turning over the calendar always gets ideas sparking for me. Part of that is the general sense of new and fresh that surrounds the start of a new year. The other part is returning from our holiday trip. I don’t typically knit much and it’s usually socks, so the last few years I’ve been dying to start something new and big once I get home.

This year, I had my mind on holiday projects. Every year, I want to make something a bit Christmas-y but by the time my mind heads that way, it’s December and I default to socks. Now, don’t get me wrong, this has resulted in some awfully pretty pairs of Christmas socks. Did I mention I finished my latest pair?

This is CindyLou by Junkyarn. I love these. My dad called me CindyLou when I was little and this color just gives me the warm fuzzies. I cast these on as a bit of a holiday knit and finished them up this week. Anyway, pretty, speckly socks aside, I’d like to make more holiday makes. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to do much serious holiday crafting in December, so why not spread the love around?

That’s right, this year, I’m making Christmas all year long! Christmas knitting, Christmas sewing, Christmas quilting, maybe even some general Christmas crafting?!? I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, so I was able to hit up some holiday sales and bump up my Christmas stash in general. I’ve amassed some fabric and yarn for this endeavor:

On the list is a quilt, a tree skirt, socks, a holiday sweater (I’m looking at you, Julgran), mini quilts, scrappy little items, and maybe even a holiday outfit! I’m going to try to finish one Christmas item per month. Slow and steady with time to make other things throughout the year.

In classic style, I just couldn’t wait to get started. My first official start of 2020 is a Christmas quilt! Who cares if it’s January? I’m hoping to knock out this big old beast early so it can get quilted and finished. I’ve started the Happy Christmas Quilt by Holly Lesué of Maker Valley. I had a kit for it from Maker Valley and so I thought I’d get started cutting it out last night. It took no time!

Since that was so fast, I thought I’d go ahead and do a wee bit of sewing. You know, just to start. Before I knew it, I had all the green HSTs sewn and the presents and star done!

Sorry for the horrid lighting, but I was pretty excited at midnight last night. I can’t wait to get some more done on this fun quilt. I think this is a pretty good start to a year of Christmas making.

I just love the thought of pulling out handmade holiday items year after year, but they have to get made sometime. 2020 is the year for me: a whole year of Christmas.

Happy {holiday} making!