Post-Christmas Review of Pre-Christmas Projects

We back from a wonderful Christmas in the Caribbean last week. I find myself pining for Puerto Rico, once again. For the longest time, I couldn't picture us settling in any one place. But now, each time we come home from Puerto Rico I miss it like home. Though I miss "home" where my mom and the rest of my family are, I don't have the same feeling of constant welcome and easy getting together that we have from my husband's family in Puerto Rico. I also suspect that I won't be able to settle somewhere that isn't at least somewhat exotic for me - and until my dreams are in Spanish, I think Puerto Rico will still have that foreign charm I need.

I started this embroidery from Anna Maria Horner last January (2012) and by October, it was finished. It was hard to decide what to do with it, until I realized that my mother-in-law loves embroidery, especially classic designs.

I made the traditional look a bit more modern with a black flower and bright details, adding a gray quilted border so that the pillow could be a bit bigger.

the back, with loopy-swirl quilting

 

I also made a pillow for my friend's little girl, whose birthday was close to Christmas as well. It's from the pillow pocket pattern I used before, but without the pocket. I hand-quilted her name on the front, and it came out quite light in this picture, so I went back and added more hand-quilting to the name in darker thread to make it pop more (not pictured). 

the back, with meandering quilting

 And finally, a project for our own Christmas decorations - a wall-hanging. This was an idea that I had pinned after Christmas last year and was keen to squeeze it in - even if it wasn't finished in time to hang on our own wall. I also made a similar version for my sister-in-law, who adores all things handmade. I love it - modern, yet retro, and kitschy, and kinda Scandinavian.

Quilted with stars up top and swirls from the bottom

Now that we're back and I have two more weeks of freedom until I'm strapped to the computer again for classes, my mind has turned to my new projects. On the eve of our departure for Puerto Rico in mid-December, I started a new quilt for my niece Kaitlyn (because packing was of no concern to me, obviously - this also explains why I packed a bunch of tops and only one denim skirt for bottoms). I was also finishing up Christmas gifts that I would be bringing down.

I've wanted to try this star-burst pattern for months, and I am loving the scale and simplicity of the contrasting fabrics against each other and the white background fabric. This is my current obsession.

Pedro/Santa also bought me a couple of skeins of German wool yarn from a Christmas market in Stuttgart last month (along with sewing books!). These have a date with my dusty crochet hook. I'm thinking HAT. For me! And maybe one for my sidekick.

Scandinavian Christmas Crosstitch

While briefly scanning the magazine rack at the grocery store, something very surprising caught my eye. I usually ignore the knitting and crosstitching magazines, but when I saw the cover pattern on  the Christmas issue of Crosstitcher, I didn't hesitate to put it into my cart. I so wholeheartedly love the simplicity of Scandinavian color and design, and this pattern was just want the twelve-year-old crosstitcher inside of me had been waiting the past twenty years for.

In fact, the last time I did a crosstitch project, it was something like a little bunny rabbit sitting on a tuft of grass with the words, "God Bless This House." Not really something I would be sewing these days to hang up in my house. But I absolutely loved the process of crosstitching - the mind-numbing counting of squares and the tedious sewing of little X's reads as pure pleasure to my obsessive, goal oriented mind. Plus, I get to do my favorite lazy winter evening activity: watch a DVD box set and just stitch away. 

 

 

Though I adore this finished design - it goes perfectly with my decor! - I decided to give it to my mom for Christmas. I think she'll love it. Plus, I have a four-year-old who tends to spill on things a lot, and the delicate crosstitch here isn't going to like getting frequently washed.

 So, as with most things I make and ship off to far away lands, I took lots of pictures to remember it by. Tomorrow it's off via Santa Express.

 I foresee a few more crosstitching projects like this in the future. For now, I'll look at these photos and remember those deer as the outlet of all my outraged energy while watching the US Presidential debates.

For back-issues of Crosstitcher, see here.

Christmas Tree Skirt

I've been working on this Christmas tree skirt since yesterday. My daughter and I were both stuck indoors for the last two days because of a nasty cold, and this was a great way to keep my mind off my sore throat. I got the idea from the lovely lady at Tall Grass Prarie Studio (find the tutorial in the right-hand margin of her page). I don't have a Christmas tree skirt in my Christmas décor, but I do have some leftover holiday fabric from the stockings I made last year. I also wanted to try my hand at some new techniques, specifically the "wonky star" and these cool trees. I have a bigger quilt project in mind with a tree theme, and now I think I have the confidence to go for it.

This skirt is still a work-in-progress, but I was so excited by how it is turning out that I thought I would share. It's been a while since I have enjoyed every moment at the sewing machine, and this project totally put me there.