Weihnachtswichtelchen

"Weihnachtswichtelchen" is my new favorite word. I made a set of these little elves for Amanda and knew I would have to make a set for myself as well, so I used different beard shapes. I did not bother blanket stitching the faces, thought I did blanket stitch the edges of the bodies on the machine. I cut a couple layers of quilt batting to fit to use as stuffing. Conveniently I had matching felt, star buttons, and twine on hand.

Finished size: 2" wide at base x 5.5" tall

Woven Hexie Stamp Ornament

I followed a tutorial for weaving this ornament. I was able to do it without the special weaving tool, though I'm sure that would have been easier than using tweezers. I also used masking tape to hold it in place instead of pins. This is a scaled back version of the ornament in the tutorial. When I drew out the grid, I realized it would be a rather large ornament, so I made the strips 1" wide instead. It's still 5" across and 6" tall. I machine stitched the binding to the front and then hand stitched it to the back. The binding was probably trickier than the weaving, even without the special tool. It's a very reversible ornament. I used a button to attach the ribbon instead of a grommet. This postage stamp fabric was last seen in a hexagon shaped ornament in 2018.

A Trio of Sequin Balls

 

This is not the most original Christmas ornament design, since I made a sequin ornament for Amanda last year. However, the first ornament I made did not work out, and I didn't have much more time to be creative since we were moving again and I needed to get this year's ornaments in the mail before that happened. Perhaps I will try the other design again next year and see if I can figure out where I went wrong when I have more time. As for this year, she will probably be more excited about the box I'm wrapping these in!

Red and Purple Purse

After Claire requested a purse, I asked if Lucy needed one too. Julie checked with her and of course she did. I expected she would want one like Claire's, but no, she requested one "all purple and red." This one is more "red and purple," but I was working with what I had to find coordinating red and purple fabrics. Most of my purples are very monochromatic, so the lining is purple. I didn't think a purple button was sufficient, so I added the rick rick. I doesn't match the button perfectly, but it adds a nice pop of purple.
 

Pink and Gold Unicorn Purse

Claire asked if I could make her a bag in this style, but with a pinker fabric than the one I originally made for her when she liked red. I sent photos of the pink fabrics I had on hand and she chose this one with gold unicorns on it. I added some gold rick rack I had left over from my tree skirt. I don't think it needed it, but I was adding rick rack to Lucy's, and I wanted to make them as similar as possible. I usually top stitch after the bag is completely assembled, but in this case I stitched the rick rack on before I sewed the two sides together and just left it at that. The magnetic closure seems to work just as well. I would've liked to find a gold or unicorn button, but that can be changed out later.

Unicorn Stockings

 

These unicorn fabrics have both shown up in other projects. The pink unicorn fabric was the back of the unicorn doll quilts, and I used the purple unicorn fabric for Lucy's bed sign.

Mermaid Stockings

 

The Christmas stockings were hung in Lucy's bedroom and when Julie told her they'd be coming down after Christmas, she said, "No! I love them!" This prompted me to make some non-Christmas-themed stockings she could keep up after Christmas.

Reindeer Stockings

This is my favorite stocking design from this year's batch. I still have plenty of this fabric if I come up with another use for it.

Christmas Tree Stockings

 

As I was making these I was really regretting choosing so many applique designs, but I really like this one.

A Trio of Stockings

The appliques on these stockings all came from the same fabric. I had prepared the designs for applique when I made stockings in 2019, but I never got around to finishing them because applique is a bit of hassle.

Snowmen Stockings

 

I have previously made stockings with snowman fabric, but this one is a little cuter. I debated how to center the snowman design and ultimately decided to try to fit as many on the stocking as possible, rather than put one in the middle.

Penguin Stockings

I made some mini stockings in 2019, but I last made mini stockings for Claire and Lucy in 2017. Even then, I had enough for 2017-2021, so there wasn't a lot of motivation to make more, even though I had plenty of potential fabric. As it turns out, Lucy was obsessed with the mini stockings this past Christmas. I included the annual stocking as their first "Countdown to Christmas" gift, and she was sad when she didn't get another one the following week, so that motivated me to finally makes some more. I'm now good through 2028, so I've got to stop. This penguin matches the red set I made in 2017. 
 

2021 Goals

In 2020, I completed one quilt that was on my list of goals and started a second quilt that wasn't on last year's list. I did not complete it, so my first goal for 2021 will be to complete that quilt!

Goal 1: Butterfly quilt

I settled on a design, picked out fabrics, did a bunch of math to make sure I had enough fabric, and made a bunch of half-square triangles. Then I didn't feel like trimming them (300 or so?) so that was where I stopped. In October I asked myself what would motivate me to trim them, and I decided the answer was a 6.5" square ruler. Now I am looking forward to getting back to this project.

Update: Finally done! February 2023

Goal 2: Rainbow quilt

This is its third year on the list. I am contemplating a log cabin or pineapple block design. I haven't done any actual planning yet, so this is tentative, but at least it's a direction.

I'm not putting the cherry quilt from last year on the list again because it seems very unlikely that I'll be able to buy fabric for it.