A Handmade Gift

First, there will be no Tuesday Tips today. 

I didn't have the heart to ask anyone to even think about guest posting during this busy time.  But please join us next week for a fabulous Tuesday Tips guest post by the amazing and talented...

Oh you'll just have to come back.  It's gonna be so great! 

Anyways, do you often feel bogged down during the holidays?

I know I do.  There's always a million things to do.  With neighbor gifts, teacher gifts, friend gifts, family gifts, decorating, card sending, baking...well, it can get a little overwhelming at times.  This year, I set a goal to be finished Christmas shopping by December 1st.  We did go past our deadline a little, but having that goal definitely helped us be more prepared this year.  It gave me the extra time I needed to do the card and gift sending, the cookie delivering and the enjoying-the-Christmas-season-feeling that I so desired.  It even gave me time 2 days before Christmas to have an impromptu sewing session that resulted in my one handmade {family} gift.

I used scraps from my stash to make a little doll quilt for my daughter.  I couldn't resist these 30's prints that I recently acquired.

I cut one hundred 2-1/2" squares. 

I had to dig deep into my stash since I don't have a lot of 30's fabrics.  The red gingham back and green polka dot binding aren't 30's, but I felt they still kept the integrity of the quilt.

These two red fabrics featured above are ones that I collected from my grandmother {Gigi} so they add some sentimental value to this little gift.

I got all of the piecing done while my husband and daughter were out on a daddy/daughter date Friday afternoon.  I got the binding hand-stitched on that evening.  And  I got the very simple quilting done on Saturday {Christmas Eve}.  I finally got to take advantage of this Tiger Tape that I purchased many years ago.  The big stitch style and minimal lines that I actually quilted made it possible to get done in an hour or two.  I would have liked to have quilted it more, but seeing that it was Christmas Eve I knew I had to be realistic with my time.  Also, I sort of thought it would take over if I quilted ever row in both directions.  What do you think?  Should I go back and quilt some more lines?

A 20" x 20" quilt for little Izzy {the newest member of our family}.

So, did you do a handmade Christmas?

Either way, I hope you had a wonderful day filled with family and friends.

~ Amber