I have the wonderful blessing of having 7 sisters-in-law on my husbands side of the family. We have a lot of fun together, and plan to keep each other laughing and hugging into our old age. Every Christmas, we give each other little somethings, and I used to give little bags of homemade toffee. The recipe came from my good friend Joni (the person who provides me with my most-used-tried-and true-recipes). This toffee is absolutely delicious, but I never have the time any more to make several batches during the holiday season, and of course we are all eating healthy and the toffee isn't health food. So, each year I try to find a little something to give or make just for fun. Admitedly we all enjoy our wine. In fact, we take the health benefits of red wine very seriously. So the past few years I have stuck with a wine theme for my gifts, and this year will be no different. Saturday in our Block of the Month class, I demonstrated a quick and fun Wine Tote pattern found in Atkinson Designs "Let's Do Lunch" book. It was a fun demo and was well received. (The only question the quilters had was just why I had so much wine sitting around my office. You see, I must be prepared in case I need a display prop...) Anyway, this little overlooked project in Terry's excellent table runner book is a perfect idea for holiday gift giving. I recommend you make one according to Terry's directions and dimensions and then play around with different sizes that would work for coffee, chocolate, bubble bath gifts...you get the idea. Any theme you like, this quick project is a fun way to give gifts with a personal and hand made touch!
Perfect fabric suggestions: Wine Bag: grapevine, wine and cork prints; Coffee: Jumpin Java or Bistro prints; Bath Bag: Fig and Plum feminine collection.
Don't forget to comment, and send your suggestions for favorite gift ideas!
Have a great week, I'm off to Florida with my husband to celebrate our 32nd wedding anniversary!
Quilt on!
Mary
Thanks for the great idea of using these bags for coffee! I have family members that don't drink alcohol, but they do drink coffee! I never thought of that idea before.
By the way, I found you through Terry Atkinson. I hope you had a great anniversary!
Posted by: Busy Little Quilter | November 21, 2008 at 11:27 AM