Oh happy day! It's my turn on this wonderful blog hop, and I couldn't have been much more excited about participating in this one. Not only do I love making small and quick projects, but I got to give one of them to a fellow quilter/blogger! I just love giving homemade gifts. Thank you very much to Marlene and Madame Samm for organizing this hop, I'm having such a wonderful time. And thank you so much to all the others participating in the hop, I am loving seeing all the great ideas everyone has! Be sure to hop over to my fellow ladies of the day, you can find the links at the end of this post.
First off, I wish to share with you what I received from Jill at Apple Avenue Quilts. I was so excited to see what she made for me!
What a beautiful wrapping idea! (sorry, I'm new to the idea of the use of ribbon. So every time I see something wrapped in it I get all excited :) )
I admire people with knitting skills, this is a beautiful washcloth Jill.
Buttons, yay!
And a couple great potholders, and perfect timing, I just had to retire a bunch because they were beyond saving. I think you can't have enough of these, especially if you entertain ever.
Remember to go to Moose Stash Quilting next to see what I made for Joan!
And here are some ideas I found only took me a couple hours to make:
The Mortimer moose wall-hanging I made last year, you get the idea, small (it's only 17"x17"), simple patchwork, and simple applique. Ta-da! Stinkin' cute wall-hanging. Then a patchwork pillow sham, a potholder using fancy fabric and flower shaped quilting, and some decorative stockings.
My great-grandma Pawlik inspired me when making these. She made a bunch for the ladies in our family about 15 years ago, and we still all put them up for Christmas. I'm hoping that will happen with my family when I'm a grandma someday!
Here are some more everyday-type gift ideas:
A project bag. I love the size tremendously and got the instructions from Jina. Not only will it hold all your sewing items you'd need, it is also the perfect size for a cosmetic bag, or to hold snacks on a car trip, or colored pencils and a small drawing pad... so many options!
A plastic bag holder. My grandma Kathy showed me how to make these on Sunday, thank you grandma! This one has already been claimed by my sister, which fits, she has a rooster-theme going on in her kitchen.
And a lap quilt. So this is the same idea as the self-binding baby blanket from Missouri Star Quilt Co, I just made it as large as I could while maintaining the 10" difference between the small and large piece of fabric. I also managed to get a layer of batting in there, it took some finagling...
John agreed to model my lap quilt for me, wasn't that nice?
While I'm happy with the gifts I created, I believe my favorite last minute gift is the sweetest, and that is homemade candy! Here's my dad's favorite recipe:
Chocolate Peanut-Butter Balls
1 C peanut-butter
1 C powdered sugar
1 package chocolate chips
Melt chocolate chips using whatever method you prefer. Double boiler seems to be the most popular.
Prepare a jellyroll pan by laying out a piece of wax paper on it.
Mix PB and sugar together, roll into 1 inch wide balls, and dip into melted chocolate. Place on jellyroll pan, and when the pan is filled place PB balls into fridge to set.
That's all there is to it! You could then make a fabric box like Connie talks about in this post, line it with parchment or wax paper and fill it with these yummies for a quick treat too.
Here are the other ladies who are showing their gift ideas today:
Pampered Pettit - that's me!
Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!
~Brandy
with love to Konnie the cat, we'll miss you this Christmas my furry little sister
