A few Christmas finishes...

Late to the party with regard to sharing these, but I made a few non-quilt pieces for Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

The first project was a set of three placemats, double-sided, for Halloween/Thanksgiving on one side:

 and Christmas on the other:

My other project is a set of three quilted placemats.  I had planned to make a set for fall (Halloween and Thanksgiving), but as always, I am a little behind in the craft calendar, so when I finally decided to make them, it was somewhere around early November.  Killing two birds with one stone, I ended up making reversible mats, with pumkins in fall colors on one side, and Christmas-themed wrapped present blocks on the other.  Each of us picked out our favorite fabrics for each season and I went to work.
We all picked out fabrics, and our little one ended up liking mom's finished product, so that one became hers, of course!  My only regret is not finishing them until about a week before Thanksgiving, but now we have them for the long haul :)  On the Autumn side, I love the little pumpkins, especially the one with spiders on it.  Since my wife hates bugs of any kind, I like to put this fabric in here and there to tease her a little (I snuck a little piece of it down by here feet on our duvet cover!)  I also love this cool gold-accented binding fabric, which can be seen on both sides, of course.

I made our little one a stocking last year, and though we spent Christmas with my family in Minnesota, we brought it along.

I used three of my favorite Christmas fabrics on this one: the Russian nesting dolls, the packages, and the crimson fabric with gold Christmas greetings.  Was also one of my first projects to use the Bernina's stitch regulator!

Finally, I made a Christmas tree skirt!  I used this tutorial from the Paul's Block Party blog, which was clear and simple, and I highly recommend it if you like the layout.  Even if you don't, it will help you set up the triangular block, and you can put whatever you want in it.

Here the pieced top.  The background is an antique white, which I felt make it a little warmer, and might not show water stains from watering the tree so much as a true white.

                                                                                         

I cut the center hole a little bigger than the tutorial suggested just to accommodate my large tree stand.  I also didn't close the circle with ties or anything, as I don't think that's necessary (unless you live in an earthquake-prone area :)).   

Here are close-ups of a couple of the trees.  I especially love this weird, wood-like patterned fabric I used for the tree trunks- a fabric which I have had no use for until now.  Sorry for the images being a little too artsy (read: out of focus)- it was dark and cozy and Christmas-y, and I was too lazy to set up the lighting for the shots.  Truth be told, I finished this project on January 7, which is technically Orthodox Christmas, so I just made it in time!  This is my favorite block, which is a Matrioshka nativity print I got from Joann Fabric.  With a Russian wife, I can always find a use for any Matrioshka-themed fabrics.

There are even a few stray pine needles for to keep things festive!