My best friend has been wanting to be a mother for the past few years, and it has finally happened for her. I was so excited for her and the new addition to the family. She’s almost my sister, I’ve known her for 25-ish years, so this was super exciting for myself also. I finally get to be that crazy aunt figure in someones life.

I wanted her son to have a family heirloom of his very own, for it to bring comfort when I cannot be there to hold him. I made her a quilt for her birthday a few years ago, and I wanted there to be a tie between these two quilts. If you look closely at the fabric then you can tell its the same patterns but in blue instead of pink. It’s a little floral for a boy, but that’s alright. I’m sure in a few years he’ll get a super hero quilt too.

I also really love how I did the quilting. I had never done this type of pattern before, and while it’s simple it really gives it a great texture.

The backing is also the same color as my friend’s quilt, so I like having that symmetry also. It was really beautiful, and the bonus was that they both loved it and have used it since that little man was born.

I didn’t get an overall picture of the quilt before I had to mail it down to her, so I’m hoping I will get the chance to get more pictures of it when I see them at Christmas.

Sometimes there are those people in your life that are more than friends, more like family. Someone who has been there so long that you don’t think about them not being there. I had one of these and we lost contact for several years and recently we’ve picked up where we left off.

She’s been under a lot of stress lately and sometimes you need just a pick me up. I had planned to make this for her as a wedding present, but I decided her birthday would be better since it was sooner.

She’s a very girlie type, likes the pink colors and frilly things. So I chose pretty pink fabrics with some greens as well just to give it a little pop. I’m not sure of the dimensions, I forgot to measure before I left, but Husband (who is holding it in the pic) is almost 6′ so its taller than that since held it above his head, but wide enough to cover someone if they are laying down.

I chose a neutral backing, letting the top shine through. I wanted it to be very subtle, girlie, and traditional.

The quilting part wasn’t so bad if I do say so myself. I haven’t strayed farther than the stitch in the ditch method, but I think it really lent itself to the look of the quilt that I was going for.

She lives in a different state than me, so I shipped her a giant box of goodies to make her laugh. The quilt was wrapped at the bottom of the box, in Christmas wrapping I believe, covered in 15(?) other gifts. There were a few others that I made myself and I’ll share later, but this one was her main gift.

She loved it.

This year for Christmas presents I really didn’t have any money to spend on presents for anyone. I know the spirit of Christmas is supposed to be about giving and cherishing your family, showing people appreciation and love. To me the best way to do that is to make something for the people you care about.

I was really fortunate this year to be able to make gifts out of things I already had in my stash of stuff. Overall Christmas cost me a total of about $7. Which is really quite incredible for the gifts I did this year. Grandma’s quilt, quilted wall hangings, and some scarves. I do have to say the quilt was impressive but the wall hangings were by far my favorite finished project.

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