hopefully something rhetorical

I thought I would share the second installation of handmade Christmas.  Yes, I know Easter on Sunday.  Yes, I know that it is April, but I am slow.  This handmade gifting is still a little new for me.

So, without any further ado here are the gifts that went to the family from the midwest.

• Starting with my father-in-law’s quilt, this is truly a man quilt.  It is made with a cheater flannel for the blocks on the front, and it is bound, backed, and batted (wow, there are a lot of “b” words in quilting) with flannel.  After it was washed, it was this yummy, heavy quilt that would be perfect for a cold day.  It was hard to part with this one!  But, I did.  And, it is loved in its new home.

• The other quilt I “made” was for my brother-in-law.  I already posted about this one asking for advice.  Ultimately, I left it the way it was, and it was loved as well!  Now, I am just hoping that Sam will actually use it!
• Next, I made the my nephews crayon and colored pencil rolls.  And, as I posted before, I love these little things.  They are particularly great for little boys that want to draw.  And, mom is loving having a quick set of crayons to take to dinner.  I was most interested in the fact that the three year old put away each crayon after he used it!  That made Mom much happier with them too!

• To create a reusable gift bag for each kid, I just went to Hobby Lobby and got canvas and denim bags.  With a quick bit of fusible interfacing, I added a monogram for each child.  It was an easy way to gather up all their goodies.  And, I felt great that it wasn’t a huge tone of wrapping that just got thrown away.

• For my sister-in-law, it was a cute, cheater panel table runner.  There will be more of these in my future.  The pattern is super cute, and it was a great way to practice my stippling a little more.  (Sorry for the awful picture on this one!)

• And, finally, for my mother-in-law, I made a quick little apron to accompany her crafty gift card.  The apron is nothing overly complicated, but I really have fun doing these. It is the same pattern I used for my giveaway apron back in December.  They are just a dish cloth with a tie and some binding.  The colors on this one are pretty cool, and I was happy to be able to add a little something handmade with the rest of her gift.

So, that wraps up the midwest portion of the Handmade Christmas.  Now all that is left to show off is the stuff for my family!  I will post that soon, so I can finally get this all up and mark Christmas 2008 as actually done.