Under the wire......

I managed to squeeze in one more little family gift.........

I started out tonight to make a couple of potholders for my sister-in-law, Judy,

because she's invited us for Christmas dinner tomorrow. In my stash,

I found a panel for making a vest (by Debbie Mumm),

and was going to use the angels from the vest fronts, and just log-cabin piece

around them until they were the size I wanted for potholders.

Then, I noticed that down in a corner of the background fabric was a quote from the Bible.

It was wider than I wanted the potholder center to be,

but I cut it out and started playing around with it, figuring that if it came out too big,

I'd just turn it into a big center-of-the-table hotpad.

After adding a couple of pieces around it, I realized that it would make a much nicer mini-quilt to hang on the wall at eye-level, for encouragement and inspiration.

Looking through my batting scraps, I found a piece wide enough, and then began

my search for a back. The quilt is only 10 inches or so wide by about 8 inches long, so I could have just used a plain piece of color-coordinating fabric. But this is a Christmas gift, and the reason I like to MAKE THEM is so that I can give my heart in the gift. It's not to save money (and yes, we are having to watch the cash flow this Christmas, just like everyone I know), but I've always PREFERRED to give homemade gifts.........I wonder if people secretly hate that ! ? I hope not !

Anyway, I came across another Debbie Mumm piece, a pillow panel this time, with a garden angel on IT. I cut it out to be centered just the way I wanted it, and then was able to use the second pillow square to cut a sleeve for hanging. This way, the print matches up and is uninterrupted. I think that a person could even turn it around for Spring and Summer, and hang it to show the angel side !

I handquilted the little quilt with a big needle and big stitches and, yes, red thread, and then found (in the cabinet under the sink, blessedly) just the right size little curtain rod for hanging.

So, there.........one more little gift, just under the Christmas Eve wire.

(Much thanks to my girl, JodieAnn, who always tosses her scraps my way.........including extra panels of all kinds of things I wouldn't think to buy !)

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.........

AND TO ALL, A GOOD NIGHT !