In November of 2013, we went to visit our Family in Tennessee. I had the idea that I would work on some mini mini quilts (table toppers. mug rugs, wall hangings, what have you) to give for xmas that year. I sewed diligently before hand and on the plane, but I couldn't finish them in time. When I did get them finished that xmas was over and the mini minis were far too Christmasy to give as late gifts. So I held on to them, and they were wrapped up for xmas 2014!

I made Four Trees specifically for my Mother in Law. It was the piece that I tried hardest to finish that year, but alas it wasn't meant to be. I used as many favorite scraps of red, xmas themed greens, and blues as I could find. The binding on the back got a little wonky. I used scraps of batting and quilted the mini densely with white pearl cotton. The only thing I added before gifting was a small label (which does not appear in the pics as they were taken way back at the beginning of 2014). This very small mini measures approximately 19" x 18 1/4".

Night Trees is an even tinier mini I made for my Aunt using much the same techniques. Although these minis are xmas themed and red and green, I tried not to make them too much about the holiday and more about the solstice. Night Trees measures approximately 16" x 12 3/4".

Night Trees back. Pardon all the cat hair in these pics.

I took all the pics shortly after they were finished in early 2014 and didn't look at them again until preparing for this post. If I had, I might have taken some more shots before they got wrapped. I hope everyone who received them as gifts enjoys the quilts as much as I enjoyed making them!

One Tree mini mini quilt is the smallest and most bright and was gifted to my Grandma. Most would consider this a "mug rug" I'm sure. I've never been entirely clear on what those are (over sized coasters?) and I like my work to have multiple uses, so whatever works, works. I'll have to see what my Grandma comes up with for it.

One of my first finished small pieces was a wall hanging using scraps of batik fabrics. I put various strips together and backed them with a mostly cream backing. I quilted it with cream embroidery floss in a diagonal pattern, and added little hanging loops. This piece moved around the house for a while and I thought to put it up on one of our doors. But I never felt quite right about it for some reason, so it never got hung. When I pulled the xmas minis out, I rediscovered it and thought to give it to my Sister in Law. That idea felt right!!

As well as these, some other hand made gifts were given this year. I felt very happy that many of our gifts were home made, and that much of our time in 2014 was used creating, not shopping. I hope to keep that tradition up, and that more and more of our days are for making things, for ourselves and for our families and friends.

Batik Wall Hanging back. I struggled with the little loops for this wall hanging, but ended up liking them.

I hope everyone enjoyed their 2014 xmas season and has a happy and healthy new year!