Let It Begin

Doing things in order is a thing, the kind of thing I usually do, which is why today, with Thanksgiving behind us, the Christmas season really begins. Yeah, I've had a few red-cupped lattes, and stashed some Christmas fabric destined for gift bags, but otherwise, that's it. Yeah, it'll be a very full December.

A couple of things I always try to fit in are handmade gift bags and tags. They're a whole 'nother thing I really enjoy. The making hasn't started yet, so for now, I thought I'd repost two of my favorites, both my own tutorials.

First, the Trim-Tied Gift Bag, which is handy, with the ribbon attached. My favorite is made with a linen-blend, as show below, but the tutorial tells how to make a lined version using quilter's cotton as well.



As for tags, I make mine with quilted scraps. Born in desperation one Christmas Eve, they're fun to make, and use up those festive Christmasy bits from your other projects.



So what's your favorite Christmas make, or what's on your list to do? And though I have a collection of tried-and-true gift bag tutorials, I'm always happy to learn of more.

On Trend

When I shared my Quilted Gift Tags last week, I had no inkling they'd receive such a stir! 

And then today, they appear in Sewing Trends with Rachael at sew, mama, sew. Go figure.

I haven't tried matchstick quilting on anything larger than a mug rug yet, but I am definitely enjoying that.

It's a technique the provides crazy good texture and I hope to try it on something larger in the new year!

Little Bits of Christmas

So what I'm going to share today is really simple. It isn't quite a tutorial, but an idea born out of desperation last Christmas Eve. I had run out of gift tags as I was wrapping gifts, and with a billion other things left on my to-do list, I grabbed what I had on hand and made do. Except what I ended up with was really kind of fun, and I liked it well enough to do again this year. So here you go, my reckless invention - Quilted Gift Tags.

Start with some plain shipping tags. I happened to have red on hand, but they do come in a variety of colors. For this project, I used the 4 3/4" x 2 3/8" size.

 Now I took what was left from a quilted project . . .

 and cut it into 2" x 3 1/2" pieces.

 I was able to get several rectangles out of my one 'scrap.'

Just stitch around the edges of your quilted bits right onto the tags and voila! Add some baker's twine (I cut mine 12" long for each.) and you're all set. There's plenty of room on the back side to write your gift greeting.

I'm thinking this project is random enough to join in for Really Random Thursday. You agree?
Also linking up with Finish It Up Friday.