Happy New Year!

Phew!  Made it through the marathon of the holidays and back to reality.  It’s January 2nd and normally I’d be discussing my new year’s resolutions in the hope that committing to them publicly would force me to see them through.  I floated my idea of a single resolution to “do better” to my sister thinking she would be impressed with its cleverness and simplicity.  Instead she informed me that it was a vague and non-committal resolution and clearly not destined for success.  So now it’s back to the drawing board.

In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to do a little show and tell of the handmade gifts that my mother, sister, daughter, and I exchanged for Christmas. 

First up is the beautiful cathedral window pillow that my mother made for me.

Isn’t it pretty!  My mom is sooo good at cathedral windows.  Once upon a time she tried to teach me how to make a cathedral window wall hanging, but sadly I didn’t inherit the gene and my attempt is packed away in a closet. 

Here’s the gift that my sister made for me…

It’s a crocheted infinity scarf!  You loop it around your neck twice and it keeps you cozy and warm.  I love the puff stitch that she used and believe it or not, this is her first real attempt at crocheting!  Poor thing gave herself carpal tunnel syndrome crocheting one for me and one for my mom.  That’s love.

My daughter made this adorable wool applique wall hanging for me…

I just love that the snowmen don’t have any features except for their noses and how she tacked the scarves down with a sweet “x” stitch.  When I opened the gift my daughter said, “Aren’t you proud of me — I used real binding!”  I have to say that I got a little choked up.  Could it be that someday she may become a quilter after all??

Finally, here’s a shot of the gift that I made for both my sister and my mom.  I found this adorable pattern in the current issue of Primitive Quilts & Projects magazine.  The “Slim the Snowman” pattern was designed by Rhonda McCray of Farmhouse Threads. 

This is my sister’s snowman.  She loves the primitive look, so I used weaver’s cloth for the snowman, denim for the background, and a plaid wool for the scarf. 

Definitely plan on making one of these for my house too!

I’d include a picture of the pecan pie that I made for my dad, or the death by chocolate trifle that I made for my brother-in-law, or the cinnamon-raisin bread that my sister made for my husband, but sadly they are no more.

And now I’m off to come up with some better new year’s resolutions.  Happy New Year!