Everybody Loves a Handmade Gift...I Hope!

Can you believe I made it back SO SOON?! I can't, but as promised here I am to show you some things I've made for gifts. One of my best friends while I was growing up was my cousin. She was one of my main inspirations for creativity at a young age. I can remember summer days when she, her twin sister, my older sister, and I would lounge around playing cards and taking turns working on a butterfly latch-hook design, which I still have and is currently hanging in my daughters' room. She also made cute little swans out of looped yarn, a bar of soap, and some chenille stems, or as we called them, pipe cleaners. She could crochet and tried without much luck to teach me...I guess I just didn't have it in me to learn, at that time! :D One of my best memories with her is spending a week with her at her GrandMa Pat's. This woman was amazing..I can't remember exactly how old she was at the time, but to my younger self she was probably ANCIENT!! HA! Anyway, she would get us up at 4 a.m. to slop hogs and feed chickens and horses, then would feed us eggs and fried pork chops with maple syrup for breakfast. I don't remember her having a TV, but she did have one of those antique record players with the BIG horn-shaped speaker that you had to hand crank in order for it to play records that were at least a half inch thick!! We would listen to music while she and my cousin crocheted and I cut out bowties from fabric scraps for a quilt she was working on. We hand stitched alot of those bowties, but then she showed me the most FABULOUS sewing machine ever and taught me how to use it! It was an old Singer with the iron trestle peddle...no electricity used for this baby! I vaguely remember trying to sew the quilt blocks together..over and over because I messed up...ALOT!! Good times...and GREAT memories. So back to my gifts...

My cousin's daughter, her first out of FIVE children, got married last weekend in Mississippi. They have lived there, I'm not quite sure how long, but I regret that I have not kept in contact over these long years. All of her children are absolutely gorgeous and I enjoyed spending the limited amount of time we had talking with her and meeting her family. The wedding was simple and beautiful, very much like the bride! She has made everyone in our family so proud and is an extraordinary young lady. She graduated high school at 16, and at almost 21 has a degree in primary education, she just has to finish up her state exam to become a certified Teacher! So proud!

She had a set of placemats on her registry, and being the lazy, not-wanting-to-leave-the-house person that I am, I decided to make her some from my stash! She is using mostly browns and earth tones so I thought these would work ok! The paisley print is a home decor weight that I've used in many other projects, and is the backing for the place mats.

While we were in Mississippi, I got to meet my other cousin's new baby for the first time. She is sooooo cute with a head FULL of black hair...just gorgeous. I didn't make it to the baby shower, so I wanted to give her something.

I just did a cute applique on the front of a onesie...

And added a couple of ruffles on the back! This was my first time doing one of these...super simple with maximum cuteness!! I chose the cherry print because I had a cute grosgrain ribbon that matched it perfectly for a bow!

My friend Jane went to Houston to visit family and needed birthday gifts for her MUCH younger twin brothers...

They are into soccer, and having some fabric in my stash, I decided to do fabric letters again instead of embroidering their names.

Add some soccer grosgrain ribbon for a binding around the hood and you have some fabulous hooded towels!!

And lastly is an order for a family whose dad works with my awesome man.

First graders at their son's school need a book pocket that hangs from their desks.

I've never seen or made one of these before so I am hoping that it is what is needed. She gave me the dimensions, and what prints and colors she wanted. I just used some quilting cottons with a baseball grosgrain ribbon for fun, and used some pre-made bias for the ties. Hopefully it will hold up!

So that's all for now! I have a few more WIPs to finish, and some new things I want to start. The summer is winding down, and I've already started shopping for needed back-to-school things, but not nearly finished. Be well and until later....