For Christmas this year I made three quilts, one for each of my nephews and my niece. For each one I thought and planned out the pattern, the fabric, and the quilting to match their personalities the best I could.

Over the next three posts I will give you the details of each one, I hope you like them! Today is my youngest nephew L’s quilt.

L’s quilt is a variation of a log cabin pattern. I used a charm pack for the squares, and a jelly roll for the strips.

The fabric is Moda’s Shirtings 1875-1900. It has sweet bicycles, baseball bats, cuff-links, and other small patterns on it.

I don’t know if it is because I spent so much time with this quilt, but these colours just really made me think of L. He is a level headed kid (the blues, creams), with just a streak of…trouble (red).

The quilting is Wind Swirls, done with Laura’s Statler Stitcher. I bound it in red, because I thought that gave a really good framing contrast.

I pieced the back to use more of the awesome fabrics, and to make it more interesting.

I think it was a hit, because he slipped away from the table at dinner and was over playing with it in the living room. Folding it up and looking at it. That is a pretty big thank you from a 7 year old.

Each of the three quilts had one thing that was my favourite, and in this case it was definitely the fabrics. I think TJ kinda wanted to keep this one – I am definitely going to have to make him one soon.

When I was a little kid, my dad had these really funny looking mittens. They had an extra finger part, so that your index finger was free from the rest of your hand. Dad explained that they were for hunting, so that you were able to use the trigger without having to take your hands out of the mittens. His Mom, who was from Newfoundland, had made them for him.

Unfortunately I never got to know my grandma before she passed, so I never got any of her patterns. I was surfing around Craftster one day and low and behold I found this post! I was so excited I could hardly contain myself.

Guess what my dad got for his birthday this year?

My very first fair isle project. I used Berroco Peruvia, so they are super soft. I also used the method of fair isle that has you weave the floats, so there are no long floats on the inside to catch your fingers on. (Can you believe I forgot to take a picture of the inside??)

I don’t know why I had never tried fair isle, it is super easy once you read the instructions. The hardest part was finding a way to wrap the yarn I was holding in my right hand around my fingers. I knit continental and I don’t really wrap the yarn – I just sort of smoosh it between my hand and the needle for tension.

He was surprised, and I think he liked them. TJ really liked the look of them (minus the extra finger), so I think he will get a pair of fair isle mitts at some point too. I can see the practicality of the extra finger though, even if not for their original purpose. It would be so much easier to grab things in my purse!

It’s fun knitting old patterns like this. A nice connection to my history.

I received a thank you card yesterday from the person I knit this little sweater for. She said she had been searching for the perfect outfit to bring her baby girl home from the hospital in, and that this sweater was going to be it. How sweet is that? I really do feel honoured. It’s nice to know that people appreciate handmades the way that I do.

And as I hinted to in my last post, I was so honoured to receive a wonderful handmade for my birthday this year.

My Mom made me an absolutely gorgeous crocheted afghan for my birthday. I mean seriously, look at this beauty!

Isn’t it incredible? And it’s 100% wool, my favourite thing! I cannot imagine the number of hours that she put into this piece.

It has different textured squares that are all joined together. And this baby is HUGE!

Thank you sooo much Mom, it is truly one my favourite things I have ever received. It will have a place of honour in my bedroom (which I am in the midst of completely redecorating). I have already used it on the bed at night several times. It’s so cozy!

At Christmas we do a draw of names between all of the adults. This year I was lucky enough to get my mom. On top of being a great person to craft for, my mom is a crafter herself.

I had noticed the last time I was home that my mom was using a combination of old bags for her crochet projects. I had the idea to use some of the same fabric I had used to make her hook roll a few years ago to make her a bag.

And since I love Laura’s Statler so much, why not quilt it?

I quilted the fabric before I sewed the bag using a posy pattern. Then I folded the fabric in half, using french seams, and tucked the bottom corners in to create some depth.

It is quite a big bag, but that is needed when you are making wonderful things like afghans (more on that in the next post). I used some leather handles and a heavy duty snap, and then I hand bound the top of the bag the same way I would do a quilt.

I am pleased with the result, as was my mom. I think I need to make one of these for myself now, just in a different colour.

Not only do I have a new blog, I got a new job! A new knitting and quilting store called the Crooked Stitch opened in Rocky Mount last week, and I am working there a couple days a week. I absolutely love it. Whitney, the owner, is awesome, the shop is cute as a button, and I get to play with fabric and yarn all day. What isn’t to like? It’s really neat to be able to say I love my job. We are teaching a ton of classes too, so if you know anyone in the area that is interested in learning to quilt or knit, or is already experienced and would like to develop their skills, let me know. We are always looking for new class suggestions as well.

I did quite a bit of crafting for the Christmas season this year, and I am really happy with how everything came out. The first project was this sweet little toddler backpack.

The pattern was super easy, and I was able to use some of my favourite fabric left over from the circles quilt I made in the fall.

The pattern instructs you to use interfacing, which helps to stiffen it just enough

I also liked how simple it was to sew in the straps and get the whole thing assembled.

I got a lovely email from my friend that her little guy put it on right away, and wore it around the house for an hour. And then he packed it up with his Thomas the Tank Engine toys to take over to family dinner.

A carry all for sweet little things.