Christmas Garlands (& Runners Galore!)

Certain little elves have been hard at work, making Christmas garlands.

If you know these elves, please do not mention that you saw this post! They are super excited about this Christmas secret. I'd hate for them to accidentally spill the beans about who will receive their garlands. Spoiling the surprise would be so disappointing for them, and I would hate to be the cause! 

Back in September, Sally @ Wonky Patchwork showed a lovely Christmas Star garland made by her daughter, Venetia. (Sally's blog is delightful - be sure to snoop around and say "hi" while you are there!)

I loved the idea of making star garlands with my grandchildren, and happily the kids were enthusiastic, too! 

We decided to add hearts and gingerbread men to the mix. Yup. We like a challenge!

We hand drew the stars, but traced cookie cutters to make the other shapes. We made templates of all the shapes out of cardboard cereal boxes.

Making templates.

The two had great fun choosing scraps for their projects, and were ever mindful of the recipients' tastes. Fine tipped sharpie markers were used to trace shapes onto fabric. (My table bears witness, but I don't mind. Call me crazy, but I love seeing little reminders of a life well lived.)

Tracing shapes onto fabric.

I was impressed with the thought behind the design process. Each child had definite ideas about shape, colour, balance, and even the thread they would use to stitch everything together!

Laina's garland, ready to stitch.

We used craft felt as the base for the shapes. Cutting craft felt can be a bit tricky, so I helped Riley get smooth edges on his huge heart. As for the rest...a few signs that things are hand made just adds to their charm, in my opinion! 

Thankfully, Riley (6 years old) chose mostly stars, so it was easier going for the cutting AND the sewing.

Riley's garland, ready to stitch.

I don't have a picture of Riley sewing. He sat on the chair between my knees so I could operate the foot pedal of the machine and he could "drive". He did all the pivoting, steering, and reversing, but is a bit unpredictable, so I thought it would be safer for me to provide the "gas". 

Here he is, proud of his accomplishment!

After this shot, I pressed the heart flat!

And Laina's big finish!

Thanks for the inspiration, Sally!

Meanwhile...Runners Galore!

I'm working on a final stack of table runners for the Secret Santa program explained in this post. Fortunately, the deadline is not Dec 1st, as I'd thought. The program runs until Christmas Eve, so I can keep picking away at 'em as I have time. (whew!)

Ready to bind.

 Three have been requested for Monday, so I finished these ones today to be sure they are ready.

This deserves a happy, "WHOOP WHOOP!".
I'm extremely pleased with the way the table runners are turning out. Sometimes simple is best!

Linking up with:
Whoop Whoop Friday, at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finish it up Friday, at Crazy Mom Quilts
Fabric Frenzy Friday, at Fort Worth Fabric Studio


Try, Learn, Grow!
Carole

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