Treeful of Gifts

My mom has the nicest group of friends. They take such good care of each other, and are always going out to do fun things like lunch and shopping. When we visit, they go out of their way to drop by and see us, and bring little gifts and treats for Louie. I'm always wishing I had something special to give in return. I'm happy to say that this holiday season, I'll be able to show my appreciation for these great ladies with some handmade door-hangers.

This was such a fun, easy project!!! I downloaded the FREE instructions from YouCanMakeThis.com. It comes with a pattern and very detailed instructions for hand-stitching "Home for the Holidays" surrounded by dainty snowflakes. The design was created by my friend and favorite stitchery artist, Shelli. Also known as "Needle in a Haystack," she creates the most beautiful, whimsical, and meaningful samplers and motifs. For the longest time, I've wanted to sit in front of the fireplace and carefully stitch out one of her lovely designs. Alas, between child and work, I just don't seem to get that kind of quiet time. That is why I was beyond THRILLED when I found out Shelli was going to offer machine embroidery designs. It is the next best thing to having her stitch it out for me!

The "Home for the Holidays" machine embroidery design is actually available for FREE on YCMT's sister site, SWAKembroidery.com . Shelli has so many other charming designs at SWAK, I just had to try out a few more for this project.


This is the Joyeux Noel design. I adore the topiary and the holly leaves. I really want to make myself a decadent throw pillow using this design (someday...sigh).


This is my all-time favorite! I made two of these - one for my mom (because I wouldn't dare make these for her pals and not reserve one for her) and one for her Red Hatter partner-in-crime Selma.

The door hanger instructions suggested adding batting behind the stitching. I'm the worst hooper in the world, so I just hooped the stabilizer, and pinned the batting and the fabric on top of that. It worked beautifully! The light, airy, "prim" designs are really perfect for giving a quilted homespun look.

Not only did the design stitch out in a jiff, but the hangers went together very quickly too. I sewed them up "assembly line" style, and I used my 1/4" piecing foot. It is amazing how the guide on the side of the foot makes stitching so much more accurate (you'd think a 1/4" seam allowance would be easy for me by now, but I tend to daydream and wander all over the place).


My parents were actually here for the last 3 days, so my mom got to see these babies go together. She is thrilled with the results, and can't wait to give them to her friends.

Since my favorite babysitters were here, I was able to get a lot of work done. I actually started on a new pattern - YAY! I'm not quite ready to reveal what I'm working on, but I'll give a few hints...

1) It is for girls and boys
2) It is super easy to make
3) It is FESTIVE!!!

This particular garment is perfect for the holidays, so I am going to work my hardest to get it out before the middle of the month. I still have lots of gifts to make, too, so I'll be spending lots of time "at the bench," so to speak :) .