Christmas present post-view (is that a word? haha)

I had a super long list of things I wanted to make people for Christmas and that list only shrank a little by the time the holidays arrived. Fortunately my friends love me and do not mind that their presents are coming way after Christmas - because really, who cares when it comes... a present is a present right?! :-D

I was however able to get a few completed on time for family which made me happy. I didn't want to post about them and give away the surprise before Christmas but then I completely forgot to post about them at all! Sheesh...

First up we have the placemat set I made for my in-laws who live in Germany. I wanted something artsy but classy - not too modern with bright colors or cheesy Christmas characters.  I think these turned out pretty darn cute if I do say so myself... and I do!

 This was the first time I deviated from my go-to "stitch in the ditch" and decided to quilt some diagonal lines. SO happy that I did - it adds another dimension to the pattern and gives it an artsy edge which for me takes it from "home-made" into the realm of "hand-crafted." 

(Can you see my big fuzzy dog hiding in the hallway with the bright glowing eyes? haha awww Winston)

Next came the blanket I made for my mom. Imagine composing music as a present for Mozart ... that is how I feel about making crafty things for my mom. She is AMAZING and knows how to make just about anything I can find in a book, online or in a store. She taught me everything I know and bought me my first sewing machine for my MA Graduation in June 2010.

I wanted to make something special for her that was just screaming "Mom!" - which is how I feel about most of my "made with a specific person in mind" creations (aka everything so far? haha). After a lot of browsing and some really sneaky inquiring to get her opinion on different fabrics - this is what I came up with:

Everytime she and I are looking at fabric we have this running joke that "if it has large tacky flowers on it - mom will love it!" While that MAY be true sometimes, haha, she really does like flowers and pink so I knew immediately that the Bliss line for Moda in reds and pink would be perfect for her. I wanted to highlight the beautiful fabrics but also work in some fun piecing and this pattern won the job.  

I also decided to make her some fun Christmas pillow covers from Moda's Crazy Eight line. Fortunately 2 Turnovers make 4 pillows with some left overs, yay! I made the more traditional pattern for my mom:

 And the funkier pink/light blue pattern for myself (in the middle below).And if you are wondering why the pillows look a bit strange (aka lumpy) its because I had some issues with Joanns and ended up filling the pillows with stuffing to wrap them up for her - and then made pillow forms with her afterwards. Lets just say I wont be buying pillow forms from them EVER again if I can avoid it! Grr...