Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Christmas 2018 finishes


Happy New Year! Everyone still has all their Christmas decorations up, right? Good, because I'm sharing my holiday finishes today.


For the first time in many years, we got on an airplane during the dreaded winter holiday travel season. But the reward for enduring crowded flights filled with sneezing travelers was getting to visit family and friends. I decided to make zipper pouches to give to the folks we were visiting. Nothing big, just small tokens of affection. It was fun to select fabric for each person and quilt up the bags. Sewing with zippers is definitely not my favorite thing, but I feel like I'm getting the hang of it now.


I added a few little suprises inside the bags. This one for my Dad has beer fabrics peeking through the zipper.


This horse bag was given to my Mom, and has music notes inside. She and her husband both sing in choirs, so I put the same fun fabric inside his gift.


A dear friend lost her beautiful tuxedo kitty a few months ago, so I made her a bag with holiday kitties to cheer her up. The little paw prints inside honor the prints our pets leave forever on our hearts.


And speaking of cats, I made this little holiday wall hanging for above our bed. It uses six panels of Debbie Hron fabric. 


The little contented Christmas cats have such sweet faces! The central square is all part of the panel, and I added borders to make a star shape.


My husband really likes this paisley print, so I used up all my scraps of it. The quilting is simple stipples in the borders, SITD around the stars and squares, and outlining of each cat.


The reason I needed a new wall hanging is because this is the first year we've had a Christmas quilt on our bed! Sorry for all the dark photos, but our bedroom is incredibly dark. Our windows are only 8"x18" and the walls are dark wood. Great for sleeping, but lousy for quilt photos.


The wall above the bed usually holds my Postcards from Ikea piece, which is rainbow bright. It didn't look right with Christmas red and green, so Contented Christmas Cats chased a squirrel (or maybe vice versa?) and a more coordinated look was born.


The bed quilt was actually finished months ago during Christmas in July, and put away until December. The flimsy dates back a whole year. I quilted the scrappy cream background with big feathers, and the darker red and green areas with a stipple.


The binding is a black and white stripe, and the quilting in the red border is simple straight lines. After all those feathers, I was kinda done with the quilting to be honest. I should probably do borders first before I run out of steam.

 

The back is solid green fleece, and I used no batting in this piece. We are usually somewhere warm for the winter, so this weight is just right for us.


The fleece shows the shape of quilting really, really well. But it completely hides the individual stitches. The bobbin thread is off white, and you can't see any white at all on the back! Gotta love that thick, forgiving fleece. 

When we return to the boat this week, it will be time to pack up and put away our Christmas decor until next year. Meanwhile, we're enjoying everyone else's holiday lights and trees. I hope you all had a wonderful season. Onward to 2019!


19 comments:

  1. Love the cat fabric....Clyde does too! I really missed my little Bonniecat this first Christmas without her.

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  2. I love the Christmas quilt and hanging! They look great together! I didn’t put up any Christmas decorations- they year end just go away from me. Looking forward to a little more focus at this time next year, as I do miss them. Glad you were able to with family, but I am sure you are looking forward to returning to the boat and to warm weather and mild seas. Happy New Year!

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  3. lovely to put a Christmas quilt and hanging up ….. I should do that too... this year I didn't put any decorations except the few new ornaments I received... very lazy....

    I love all those zippy purses... I really need to get my brave pants on and do more of that sort of thing...

    Hugz

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  4. Our decorations are put away once again but the white lights on the back fence are still on every night (and will be into February when the deep early darkness begins to recede). The front porch lights are on for another couple of days until things dry out and they can be put away without raindrops. Lovely Christmas quilt and wallhanging!!

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  5. Those little pouches are great gifts, and your thoughtfulness in choosing fabrics makes them even more special. Good for you, getting a Christmas quilt done for your bed! That's something I'd like to do someday, but it's down a few notches on my bucket list. I like the kitty wallhanging too. Sorry to hear about more family health issues, and about having to travel during the holiday season. I'm sure it feels good to be home!

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  6. Wow, what great feathers, Louise!!! Great job on the zipper pouches. I always enjoy looking through all your projects. Happy New Year!

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  7. You've been busy! Love your log cabin Christmas quilt.

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  8. Hopefully your holiday travels weren't too bad. Love that you were able to put some holiday decor in your boat! So thoughtful of you to pick fabrics that pertain to the receivers of the pouches. Cheers to 2019!

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  9. The personalized pouches were a very nice gift idea. A friend just lost his cat, so I’m going to pass on the saying about the paw prints.

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  10. I think zipper pouches make the best gifts! It's definitely fun to choose the perfect fabric for the person you're giving it to, too. I enjoyed seeing your holiday finishes, Louise! I just finished quilting something with fleece backing, and I think the back looks better than the front, lol!

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  11. Great post! Zippered pouches make such wonderful little gifties! Love your wallhanging and Christmas quilt! Festive and cheery!

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  12. Your kitty wall quilt is the perfect accompaniment to the Christmas quilt. And isn’t fleece amazing? I love everything you made (the zip pouches are adorable and perfect gifts!!). You’ve been so productive. I hope you enjoyed the Holidays and that no nasty germs follow you home!

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  13. Those bags are all lots of fun. Your holiday decor looks fantastic. Hopefully you got to enjoy it a bit before you headed out for your land locked holiday.

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  14. What a cute photo of Angel with the kitty cushions, she looks very, very comfortable. Bet everyone enjoyed their gift of zipper pouches.

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  15. I'm glad you enjoyed time with family and friends over the holidays. Your Christmas quilt is beautiful. My few just went back into the closet today, and the tree ornaments are on a table upstairs waiting for me to figure out how to fit them all back into the storage bins.

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  16. Yes the fleece makes for a fabulous backing on many levels: cuddly and awesome definition for just two! Love that Christmas quilt on your bed and the kitties leaped up on the wall instead of Postcards to add to the festivities. :-) Wonderful quilting; aren't feathers just the best?!

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  17. Love your Christmas quilt! The pattern looked log cabin, but it's not. Love!

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  18. Yay! for gifts, a new wall hanging and your GORGEOUS Christmas quilt. Love, love, LOVE your big, floppy feathers!! Your fleece backing with no batting sounds like an interesting idea. Will have to try it sometime. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  19. What great gifts! Choosing special fabrics for each person can be a challenge for some people, I bet. Every time they see them they'll probably think of you and smile. I do love the stripes you used to bind the Christmas quilt. So fun!

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