Merry Christmas!!! Homemade gifts are such treasures to create and to receive! This past year I have been practicing my sewing and piecing skills, so I have stitched up a few quilts, some to keep and some to share.

This pattern for this one is called “Triangularity” by Jeni Baker and the fabric is from the Rifle Paper Company (which by the way has so many wonderful products, from wallpaper to fabric to umbrellas). I had seen a similar design on a quilting post and just loved the fabrics.

You can order the Rifle Paper Company fabric from their website. I ordered fat quarters from a couple of different Etsy shops because I wanted small amounts of specific colors with splashes of other colors to add balance to the design.

I loved the nostalgic theme, highlighting favorite Christmas memories…going home for Christmas, attending the Nutcracker, visiting the Christmas tree farm, hopping in the car to look at Christmas lights and lots of holiday sparkle and shine.

The perfect throw to snuggle under during the Christmas season.

Our Christmas puppy at the front door – such a cutie!

This Christmas quilt was made for our son, Andrew, who just moved into his new apartment in Kansas City. I used my embroidery machine to made a label in the corner.

I thought Andrew would need some Christmas decorations for his new home, so I included some of his favorite colors, along with fabrics that had designs that would bring back treasured Christmas memories. So fun creating treasures! Merry Christmas!!!

Oh no! Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are all sneaking up on us! What projects do you have lined up for the holidays? I had ordered this “Let It Snow” mini-quilt several months ago and just finished it. Now time for the next project!

This “Let it Snow” kit was from Anka’s Treasures, several color variations are available and you can also order a printed or PDF pattern. This is after it was all pieced.

What a difference the quilting makes! Just makes it look so cozy and homey! Mary Kay Lambert did such an amazing job quilting this!

The quilting pattern is perfect! Looks like swirling snowflakes.

Always embroiderer or put a label on your quilts, to identify who made them and what year.

I loved the cute little home and Christmas trees with the snow flakes falling around them.

I decided to experiment with some holiday embellishments. I tried a variety of buttons and holiday decorations.

In the end, I decided to add just a few. The dog at the front door look Goldie, our dog when the kids were growing up. The little cardinal in the window and candy canes just seemed to complete the house.

Enjoy being creative! Sewing allows you be create treasures that can be

personalized. It is usually very relaxing and therapeutic (well – it can get frustrating

when you have to rip and redo!)

So be on the lookout for treasured gifts to make or holiday projects for your home.

Happy Holidays!

The kit and pattern are available at:

http://www.ankastreasures.com

Quilting done by Mary Kay Lambert, Allendale, MO

With a grandson as cute as little Berkley, it is so fun to create fun t-shirts for him using my Cricut. I am still learning, but I have experimenting with different brands of heat transfer vinyl and temperatures. Two brands that I like are HTVRONT and Siser, both available from Amazon.

Berkley, and his parents, love to garden and they put in a big garden this year, so of course, they will need a helper! As you can see above, he has his own personal garden too!

And the weather is warming up – so playing in the dirt is another favorite activity.

This little dinosaur was just too cute not to make.

Cute t-shirt that you could use scraps to make.

Berkley is one of the happiest little boys I have ever seen – so he is lots of sunshine…but he is also very active! Which is a good thing! We love to watch him play, learn and explore.

Those of you who have raised boys, know how true this is!

There are designs for kids’ t-shirts on the Cricut Design Space (Dinosaur and Wild One t-shirts above) and I have found so many cute designs to purchase on Etsy. They are inexpensive and easy to download onto your computer. Most of the t-shirts came from Hobby Lobby.

There are so many designs for adults too – – it is just more fun for me to create cute kids’ t-shirts. Have fun!