Christmas Inspiration

I don't do a ton of holiday sewing, but I was surprised to look back and see that I had quite a few to share! And this doesn't include the tree skirt I made (that I never photographed) or the first stockings that I made for my family years ago (which were EPP and that I did not love). 

Each of the projects below links to the original blog post. The only holiday-related sewing I did this year was the Ivy Quilt that I made several months ago so I have been done with my Christmas sewing for months!

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The Ivy Quilt in Jolly Darlings

You guys know I am a huge Ruby Star Society fan and I love that they are continuing their Darlings series (check out my Darlings and Spooky Darlings projects). It's so fun to see some of the same prints reimagined in different colors and collections — they are so cute! The snowmen! The deer! The snow globes! Jolly Darlings was perfect for the Ivy Quilt.

I also really like that Jolly Darlings is a holiday collection that uses a fun mix of colors. In addition to the normal red and green, there is plenty of blue, pink, and warm gold colors as well. It's holiday themed without being HOLIDAY THEMED.

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Christmas in July - A Holiday Nancy Quilt

One of the reasons that I rarely make holiday quilts is that I start them, get distracted by something else, and then all of a sudden the holiday passes and I never finish the quilt. It has happened on almost every holiday-related quilt I have made.

 

A couple of years ago, I started a Christmas version of my Nancy quilt pattern a few weeks before Christmas and you will never guess what happened . . . let's just say that there is a reason why this blog post didn't show up two years ago. The finished quilt top has been sitting around for 2 years and I just recently got it quilted and bound.

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Stocking Stuffers for Quilters Roundup

Updated Dec 2022

Do you stuff your own Christmas stocking? I stuff mine, my husband's, all three of our kids', and even the dog's and it is absolutely one of my favorite parts of Christmas. Big gifts are great, but I like to find some small, meaningful gifts to put into the stockings.

The funny thing is that I always have an easier time filling everyone else's stockings and a really difficult time trying to do with mine. I usually end up with chapstick and a new tube of nice mascara and a box of Andes mints, but that's about it.

This year is going to be different and I am going to buy myself some nice quilting-related items to fill my stocking. Since I am doing some shopping for myself, I thought I would share some of my ideas with you. Some of these are things I have (and love!) and some are things that I want.

Notions

Notions make great stocking stuffers because they are useful, they are (usually) pretty cute, and they are small so they fit nicely in a stocking. 

1. Thread (Aurifil 50 wt. in Dove Gray is my favorite)

2. Nice thread snips

3. A pink(!) rotary cutter
4. A pin bowl 
5. Binding Buddy
6. Pretty scissors
7. Sewing machine cleaning kit
8. Super cute tin
9. Seam ripper
10. Needle Nanny

Quilted-Related Enamel Pins

I have recently gotten really into enamel pins - they are so fun and there are so many cute ones out there!

1. Sewing Machine Enamel Pin

2. Needle and Thread Enamel Thread

3. Built to Quilt Pin

4. Fabric Scissors Pin

5. Quilt Star Pin

Do you have any stocking stuffers on your wish list this year? I would love some suggestions in the comments!

I also maintain a list of my favorite quilting supplies here if you are looking for more ideas ;)

None of these items are sponsored, but there are affiliate links in this post. Affiliate links help support this blog and keep it going. Thank you for your support!

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A Zola Christmas Quilt

As much as I love Christmas quilts, I don't love that they have to be stowed away for the majority of the year. So, when I decided to make a Christmas quilt this year, I needed it to be just kind of vaguely Christmassy so that it would fit into my living room year round.



After some planning I decided that I wanted a couple of things:
1. To use my Zola Quilt pattern because it kind of resembles wrapped gifts.
2. To use a variety of solids that didn't scream Christmas.

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Christmas (in July!) Pillows

I finished these pillows a couple evenings ago and then put them in my living room so that I could photograph them. When I woke up the next morning, I heard my daughter say, "Why are there Christmas pillows on the couch?" Ha ha, excellent question.

Making Christmas projects in July makes a lot of sense - every year I intend to make a holiday project closer to the season, but it never happens. October/November/December are a blur every year.

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Sugarplum Quilt

I knew that I wanted to make a Christmas quilt this year but there were SO many gorgeous fabric choices! After some debating, I decided to go with Heather Ross' Sugarplum collection.

These fabrics were just the best to work with. So pretty, so soft, so sweet. Especially the peppermints and the mice and the polka dots and the plaid . . .

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Stocking Stuffers for Quilters

Do you stuff your own Christmas stocking? I stuff mine, my husband's, all three of our kids', and even the dog's and it is absolutely one of my favorite parts of Christmas. Big gifts are great, but I like to find some small, meaningful gifts to put into the stockings.

The funny thing is that I always have an easier time filling everyone else's stockings and a really difficult time trying to do with mine. I usually end up with chapstick and a new tube of nice mascara and a box of Andes mints, but that's about it.

This year is going to be different and I am going to buy myself some nice quilting-related items to fill my stocking. Since I am doing some shopping for myself, I thought I would share some of my ideas with you. Some of these are things I have (and love!) and some are things that I want.

Notions

Notions make great stocking stuffers because they are useful, they are (usually) pretty cute, and they are small so they fit nicely in a stocking. 

1. Thread (Aurifil 50 wt. in Dove Gray is my favorite)

2. Nice thread snips

3. A pink(!) rotary cutter
4. A pin bowl (It will be a little heavy, but it will fit!)
5. Binding Baby
6. Pretty scissors
7. Sewing machine cleaning brushes
8. Super cute tin
9. Seam ripper
10. Needle Nanny

Quilted-Related Enamel Pins

I have recently gotten really into enamel pins - they are so fun and there are so many cute ones out there!

1. Pink and Red Fireworks Block

2. Fabric Only! (Fabric scissors)

3. Hello My Name is Quilter

4. Measure Twice, Cut Once

5. IG Love

6. Embroidery Hoop

7. Maker

8. Ohio Star

Fabric/Patterns

As fun as all of the quilting accessories are, we are really all in it for the fabric, right?

1. Bonnie & Camille Handmade Mini Charm Pack

2. Tula Pink All Stars Charm Pack

3. The Libby Quilt Pattern

4. Far Far Away 2 Fat Eighth Bundle

5. Add it Up RSS Basics Fat Eighth Bundle

6. Compass Star Pattern

7. Ruby Star Society Anagram Jelly Roll

8. Meadowland Pattern

Do you have any stocking stuffers on your wish list this year? I would love some suggestions in the comments!

I also maintain a list of my favorite quilting supplies here if you are looking for more ideas ;)

None of these items are sponsored, but there are affiliate links in this post. Affiliate links help support this blog and keep it going. Thank you for your support!

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Personalizing Stockings with Raw Edge Machine Appliqué

I thought I would share a little tutorial about how I personalized the Christmas stockings that I recently made for my family.  There are about a million ways to do this, but this is the easiest method in my opinion.

Supplies:

Unfinished Stocking

Wonder Under

Fabric for the letters

Thread that matches the fabric

Iron

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New Christmas Stockings

The day after Thanksgiving we started doing a little Christmas decorating around our house. When I pulled out the stockings, I remembered that I still hadn't made one for my two year old. And our exchange didn't have one. And everyone seems to think that the dog needs one.

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