Christmas Presents

This summer I resolved to finish 3 quilts by the end of 2011.  Big surprise, I didn't even touch them :(  But it's 2012 and I pulled out the clamshell quilt and got stitching.  If I sew for an hour a day, I might finish it by July... In reality it would only take a little over a month if I sew 3 clamshells a day.

I did make a few Christmas presents, so I wasn't just sitting around filling my Pinterest boards with cool stuff.  But I did not take very nice pictures of the things I'm about to show you, sorry.

For my nieces, I made a bean bag chair that also stores their stuffed animals.  Now I can keep making them dolls without my sister-in-law ruing the day she bought me those Aranzi Aronzo books.  I followed this pattern by Stardust Shoes, and modified one panel to be half mesh with a zipper up the middle.  It's big enough for a two year old to get inside, or for an adult to sit on the floor and play a bit.

I have two little girls in my life that are INTO American Girl dolls.  After searching every fabric store in town, sometimes twice, I settled on the fabric and trim for these Renaissance dresses.  Both dresses came from Simplicity pattern 2768, but I wish I had an American Girl doll to see how they fit.

I searched high and low for the fabric for this apron as well.  My mistake was thinking I would find the perfect fabric at one of the many quilting stores in town, and driving to each one with a 9 month old.  It took me weeks!  And not one of them had a black and white damask.  So to JoAnns we went.  The pattern is a fully lined and perfectly tailored design by Modest Maven.

I knitted this scarf for a grab bag present which my sister ended up with.  The beautiful pattern is Drifted Pearls by Sadie and Oliver.  (I made one for myself and have a better picture of the amazing cable design for another post.)  I'm a new knitter, and this pattern helped me learn many techniques.

Finally, a major failure of a Christmas present.  I wanted my daughter to create a messy masterpiece for my in-laws.  I put paper stickers on a canvas to make the saying I wanted.  Then she finger painted over it.  When it dried, I went to pull the letters off and the paper came off but the glue didn't.  So next time I'll use vinyl letters (even if I have to special order them).  I'll also use a background that's smooth because the paint seeped under the letters because of the texture of the canvas.  And I'll use bigger letters.  Or a smaller canvas. 

Plus, 9-month-olds don't know what finger painting is and you have to smear their hands all over the canvas for them.