18 December 2014

Yuletide finishes


 It's the Holiday Season

Perhaps you started handmade, heartfelt gifts for Christmas or birthdays and then got caught up and then life took over?  That is exactly what happened to me last year.  I was determined to not only complete WIPS started for the holidays last year, but I would also get them done before December rolled around.   I think mug rugs/snack mats and place mats are great for practicing skills or demo blocks.  They go together fast and like cooking in a microwave; "instant" gratification.  These two projects are also neat for trying out decorative trims or new products.  You can have a project like this pieced, sandwiched, quilted and bound in about two hours.  (If you are beginner it may be longer)  And like most quilters I get a wee bit giddy when I pull projects out of the dryer.

Although I did not complete my goal by getting WIPS done before December, but I am 98% complete with the Yuletide WIPS.
First Mug Rug or Snack Mat

The first is a mug rug in solid green and low volume prints, FMQ'ed with a meandering squiggle and a botched flower in the middle.  My FMQ skills are not the best, but I try.  (Perhaps that is why I have so many tops finished and they sit waiting.)

Used zig zag stitch to keep from rolling up in the wash
Mug Rug Back

I used stripey green to make a binding.  I also like the Christmas fabric on the back.


I also made four place mats using a QAYG method.  I picked various fat quarter Christmas prints and left over fabric from the stockings I made last year.  This is a great project for scraps or orphan blocks.  I also used scraps of batting trimmed from quilts and other projects. 

I used decorative stitches to decorate the place mats over a few seams.  I used red, white and cream-ish natural threads.  I used my walking foot to complete the QAYG.  

Four place mats posing for photos
Decorative stitching showing up on back - right side a chain of snow flakes
More decorative snow flakes

red zig zag contrasting with blue, green and cream

I just love those happy little trees!

I cut the binding on the bias, but it didn't give the effect I wanted. I also used some decorative stitching on some of the place mats. 
used zig zag to keep binding from rolling and add pizazz
Fitting PERFECTLY into poly envelope!

Have you ever focused on a handmade Christmas? 

Another general question - do you find that sometimes your phone camera does a fantastic job and other times all the pictures look like junk?  All pics taken with iphone.  One thing I did ask santa for was a camera so I can take pictures of stuff for the blog.

3 comments:

  1. I'm trudging through some old WIPs, including a quilt I gave (in an incomplete form) my brother A DECADE AGO! (It's still incomplete. Oops.) It must feel good to check off some of your WIPs. :-) I agree that these projects are a great canvas for trying things out. I recently did a mug rug for the sake of practicing doing turned edge machine applique so I could try it out before I do it on the "real" project. If you're looking for some awesome how to info on FMQ, you should check out Leah Day. She has tons of great patterns with videos and in 2014 she did a fabulous Building Blocks Quilt Along and the videos for those continue to be available. Thanks for linking up with me for TGIFF this week. Merry Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for stopping by. I enjoy looking at other's blogs and was inspired to share my creations with the world wide web

      Delete
  2. I did make a lot for Christmas this year. And I love your placemats. I want to make some sometime.

    ReplyDelete