It was a lot of handmade gifts this year

I finished the vellum quilt of my daughters house. I’m just waiting for the mat and frame to arrive today. I tried to do the siding lines with embroidery floss, but it just looked weird so I decided to machine stitch them. It’s not a great idea to do machine stitching after hand stitching. It was not the best way to do that for sure, but I got it done. I do want to initial it with my initials as well as my dads initials since it was done on a drawing vellum of a house he designed. That’s all the words and numbers that you can see.

My girlfriend loved the Penn State gnome that I made for her. It’s pretty darn cute. It’s now hanging out with the the Christmas gnome that I made for her earlier this year.

The other handmade gifts were for my daughter and her fiancé. There’s the nuthatch ornament, the owl ornaments, the embroidered beret, and the witch gnome complete with pumpkins and tiny mice. It was a busy year! I still have to make a catnip mouse for our kitty.

Thanks for reading.

Chris

Changing gear

I fell while we were in Ireland and am still healing from that misstep. I’m still too sore to work on the Boston quilt so I decided to start working on the Christmas ornaments for our daughter. After last year’s adventure of creating 6 ornaments I was pretty burned out and decided I would work from a pattern this year. Last year I made these 6 ornaments. https://chrissquiltinguniverse.blogspot.com/2022/12/christmas-is-nearly-here.html  The ornaments last year were original ornaments. I had to create the pattern for them. 

I’ve made 4 owls so far and still have a nuthatch to make. They are pretty cute and are about 3.5 to 4 inches tall. 

Here’s a link to the pattern for the owls. I bought it on Etsy.

Pattern

As I’ve been making these I’ve kinda regretted that I did not create my own ornaments again this year.  I think I really enjoy that challenge. I already have an idea for next year. So the challenge will return in 2024.

Thanks for reading.

Chris 

Things I hate to do

There is certainly a long list of things I don’t enjoy doing. A few of them come to mind. Walking in this bitter cold weather is one of them for sure. It’s hard to enjoy walking when it feels like your eyeballs are freezing. The one that I’m currently thinking about is hemming pants that are too long. My MIL gave me 5 pairs of pants to hem for her that are too long. Of course it’s not the easy kind of hemming. It’s the kind that you have to cut a hunk off and then hem them. I know that it’s not that difficult of a task and I did one pair yesterday. To boot these pants are made of a knit fabric. I don’t enjoy working with knits. At any rate I will grit my teeth and do these hems. But a question that comes to mind while I’m working on them is why not buy shorter pants? I’m cutting off a piece that is 2 1/2 inches and making a hem that is 1 inch. So that’s 3 1/2 inches. So instead of regular length why not buy short length? Today I must put music on to pass the time while I hem.

On a more exciting note my daughter wants me to teach her how to sew clothing. I haven’t made anything for a long time in that arena, but I sewed clothing for decades. I did a lot of sewing back when patterns and fabric were inexpensive and clothing was expensive. I made most of my clothes. She wants to learn to sew because she wants clothes made of natural fabrics rather than the plastics that are in all the synthetic fabrics on the market. She wants skirts made of cotton rather than polyester. I have looked at patterns online and find that the number of patterns available through the traditional fabric companies like Butterick, Simplicity, or McCalls is a lot less than when I sewed. I just hope I can remember how to put in a zipper!

Here’s a photo of my two demented Santas. The one I got for Christmas is the taller one. Now my Santa has an older taller brother!

What activities do you hate doing?

Thanks for reading.

Chris

Christmas is nearly here

We are in Salem, Massachusetts at our daughter’s house. We left super early yesterday to get ahead of the storm. She love her ornaments and was really surprised that I made so many this year. They are already hanging on her tree. I even gave her the sketches that I worked from.

I do love Christmas and all the decorations. My husband bought me another demented Santa to go with the one I have. I did not take a photo of the two of them together yet. I’m guessing they are from the 1950’s. Here’s the one I’ve had for years. So now I have 2 demented ones. We’ve always called it a demented Santa. He did a search for demented Santa to find the one he bought. 

I do love Santas as you can see.

So now I’m starting to think ahead to 2023 and what I need to work on…..a rock and pebble class with Ana Buzzalino via zoom from Craft Napa in January, finish the Boston quilt, make a gift for my girl friend in February, make my recycle piece from my dads old vellum house plans, small window quilts for my class, ornaments for next Christmas. It will be a busy year! Oh yeah….what about the Halloween quilt?

Hope you all have a great Christmas.

Thanks for reading.

Chris

Linking to Nina-Marie https://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

Another busy week

This week I made two T.Rex ornaments for a friend. The character is Tex the explorer from a series of books she wrote with a former student. The student was the illustrator. The books are on Amazon. 

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Tex+the+explorer&i=digital-text&crid=37QM0MBIWZFJN&sprefix=tex+the+explorer%2Cdigital-text%2C94&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Here’s a photo of Tex on her small tree. She is sending the other one to her student. She was surprised and thrilled when I gave them to her yesterday.  You can also see the Jamie and Claire from Outlander ornaments that I made for her a few years ago at the bottom of the tree. 

Here’s Tex on my small tree.

Here’s the picture I worked with from one of the books. 

Our daughter sent a photo to me of her tree this year. They got a live tree. Most of the ornaments on the tree are ones that I made.  The Santa quilt over the mantle is one I made back in the early 1990’s.  I think it looks great in that spot. The tree skirt with the Santa faces I also made at that time as well.  

Thanks for reading. Now to make a catnip mouse! 

Chris.

Done with the ornaments! Doing a happy dance.

I don’t know if December 1 is a new record for being done, but I finished yesterday. Maybe back in 2020 when I had to mail them because we did not see our daughter due to the pandemic I got them done that early. There were plenty of years when I was working on them on December 24. I’ve always gotten them done before Christmas, however.

There were plenty of challenges with these ornaments. The small size made them really difficult to turn. I had to figure out how to make a cone hat and a cape. The tiny pieces were difficult to cut out. But they are now done except for attaching hanging cords. The largest ones are 7 inches tall. 

Here they are in the box I plan on packing them in for wrapping. Once our Christmas tree is up I will take photos of them hanging on the tree.

The Enoch King and black cat, Wert and Beatrice the talking bird, the Beast, Greg and Kitty the frog

So we are done for another year. I can’t wait to see her reaction to this collection of ornaments.

Thanks for reading. Linking to Nina-Marie. http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

Chris

3 down, 1 to go!

I finished another ornament. So now I have the Beast, the Enoch that now has the black cat, and Greg with his tea pot hat and frog. I think the frog is called Kitty. Greg also has a rock with a face that he carries in his pack. It’s about 1/4 inch across. My husband found the pebble and I painted the face.

I have the head done for the last ornament. I just have to make the body, cone hat, and cape. I'm trying to convince myself that it's not that much to do!

Thanks for reading.

Chris

Time to start making ornaments

Every year since our daughter was born I have made an ornament for her. She is now 33 so this will be the 34th year of this tradition. You can see all the ornaments here. This year I am really ambitious and will be making 4 ornaments from a cartoon they love called “Over the Garden Wall.” She had one of the characters called the Beast in her window for Halloween.

I am making 4 characters from the cartoon. I have drawn them out and now face the challenge of how to make them.  Here’s my sketch. I’m trying to figure out which one is the easiest one and begin there. Or do I start with the hardest one first? There is also a bird and a frog that each kid is holding they also have to be made. I haven't even drawn them yet. They will just be flat and probably made from Pellon 70 stabilizer and painted. The kid with the pointy hat also has a cape. The shorter kid has a tea pot on his head and a nap sack. The sack will be easy. I have to figure out the tea pot. Maybe I’m crazy?????? If I pull this off they will be amazing!

Well at least it will be a break from the Boston quilt.

Linking to Nina-Marie. Thanks for reading and have a great Thanksgiving to my USA friends.

Chris

It's been a while

I have been busy making my daughter’s yearly ornament. This year it is a pink power ranger from a TV show she watched as a kid. She even wore a pink power ranger costume for Halloween. 

I also finished the last 2 primitive Santa's. One is for our daughter and one is for us. As you can see I have lots of Santa's already. My daughter’s has a music box in it.

I’ve also been trying to make a good thin crust pizza. The crust I make is usually on the thicker side. This pizza was good, but I still need to make less dough to make a thinner crust. It has mushrooms on my half and mushrooms and anchovies on my husband’s side. I’ve tried, but I do not like anchovies. 

I haven’t made much progress on the Pittsburgh pieces. They had to go onto the back burner to get the ornament and Santa's done.

Here’s the one with the streetcar. I’ve been adding details in the front buildings, but I don’t have a photo to that. I think the streetcar looks great. So now I have to get back to work on these pieces. Then there’s the Boston quilt to finish. And then the Halloween one. I see 2022 as a busy year. 

Then of course I had to hem some pants for my MIL. Good thing my husband bakes the Christmas cookies!

Thanks for reading.

Chris

It’s that time of year

Now that the morning temperatures are in the 40's it says fall is coming and it's time to start thinking about what ornament I will make our daughter this year. I've been making her an ornament for Christmas every year since she was born in 1989. You can see all of them here. 

https://chrissquiltinguniverse.blogspot.com/p/cloth-ornaments.html

Initially I made them from patterns from the major pattern companies like McCalls, Butterick, and Simplicity. That would be a logical choice since I sewed clothing for most of my adult life from patterns from those companies. Eventually the patterns from these companies became felt and glue ornaments. I guess that was to cater to the non sewing crowd. That certainly did not work for me. I found a set of patterns for dogs and cats that I made for years. The internet provided plenty of ideas for ornaments. In 2006 I started making my own patterns for ornaments. The first one I made was Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas.

 

I have pretty much made original ornaments ever since then. They have been characters from movies like Star Wars or something from our travel that year. Last year was Baby Yoda wearing a mask to remember the pandemic. 

So what am I thinking about this year? I already have an extra body left over from making Outlander ornaments (Jamie and Claire) for my girlfriend Ellie back in February. 

I would hate a spare body to go to waste! So I'm thinking of making her the Pink Power Ranger. Our daughter was into the Power Rangers TV show when she was young. In fact I made her a costume one Halloween that was the pink Power Ranger. I wonder if her boyfriend was into the Power Rangers and whether I should make a blue one as well. Of course how do I ask her if he was without giving it away?

Here's what the pink Power Ranger looks like. 

https://turtlepedia.fandom.com/wiki/Kimberly_Hart

I usually start working on the ornament after Thanksgiving, but this year I might have to start earlier since we will probably visit her in mid November. It would be good to give the ornament to her instead of shipping it through the mail. I always worry it will get lost. Of course maybe we will be able to see her at Christmas this year which did not happen last year.

When we visit in mid November she will be in her new house. They finally managed to get a house in this crazy housing market. It's a 1770 house in Salem, Ma. It has tons of character and I'm hoping she will want some of our antiques to decorate it with.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/178-Federal-St_Salem_MA_01970_M40517-29493

Linking to Nina-Marie.

http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading. I have nothing to show on the Boston quilt. Fabrics have arrived and I've made some decisions, but not much has been accomplished. Maybe I will have more to show next week.

Chris

 

Just added. I am one of the featured fiber artists in the latest edition of a local art magazine.

The secret project revealed

Well my friend's birthday is today and I gave her the gifts I've been working on since the beginning of the year. 

First she loves Christmas. So I went with that as my theme. Second she is obsessed with Outlander. So how about some Outlander ornaments? 

I made a primitive Santa.

 

I made Claire and Jamie ornaments to hang on her tree. They are about 6 inches tall. My husband carved the dirk out of a skewer. The pin on Jamie's shoulder is an earring. I've made a lot of ornaments over the past 30 years, but found these to be a real challenge. The hair was the hardest part since they both have curly hair I had to make curly yarn. Jamie was by far the hardest due to all the clothing he has on from the kilt, to the shirt, to the vest, to the belts, to the boots. The buttons on the vest and jacket are seed beads. The belt buckles are buttons. Claire's shawl is made from an old knit hat. Like I said this was definitely a challenge.

By the way she love all of the gifts.

Thanks for reading. Now to clean up the disaster in my sewing room and finish working on 2 more primitive Santas and then the Halloween quilt.

Linking to Nina-Marie http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

Chris