Need some ideas for quick and easy gifts?
These quilt projects allow you to use your skills, enjoy your favorite craft and be prepared for the upcoming gift giving holidays. You might like these projects so much that you will choose to make extras to have on hand so you will have gifts ready on demand.
Quilted lunch sacks are a great gift idea for co-workers or anyone who carries a lunch to work or to the park. You can make simple sacks that close with a snap or Velcro fastener. Or, make a loop and button closure. Use your imagination and create several different kinds.
This is also a great way to use up some of the larger pieces of your fabric stash. For the perfect finishing touch, use rhinestones or machine embroidery to add a name or initials to the quilted lunch sack.
Reusable grocery totes are another good gift idea. With the focus on being green, these reusable grocery bags are popular and responsible gift ideas for everyone on your list who has to shop. Make various sizes and give them in pairs – a large one and a smaller one.
For the fellow quilters on your gift list, make wrist band pin cushions. Use felt to make comfy bands and Velcro closures to make them easily adjustable. Make decorative cushions that feature flowers, lady bugs, butterflies, geometric shapes…just about anything!
Use leftover pieces of fabric or felt from your stash to make softies for the children on your list. Use leftover five or six inch squares in your stash to make stuffed blocks for small children. You may want to fussy cut some fabric motifs to create fun blocks or even applique or embroider letters or small designs on each side. . . just like the designs a wooden block would have.
You can also create journals for your writing friends by covering spiral notebooks with fabrics. If covering binders, you can quilt the covering as a book cover, then slip it onto the binder. Include a colorful pen and put in a gift bag – voila!
Towel sets are another quick and easy gift you can make. Piece a border for the bath and hand towels and stitch them on. “Quilt” the design to give added stability to the towel project. You can also do this with kitchen towels.
Other kitchen accessories like scented hot pads and pot holders are another quick gift you can make. They are so easy and quick that you’ll want to make extras to have on hand.
Key fobs are fun, small quilt projects to make for gifts, too. Start with a D ring. Cut a strip of fabric that will fit through the ring. Decide how long you want to make the fob. Do you want it to serve as a wrist loop, too? If so, make it long enough to hook through the D ring.
After determining the desired length, add the batting and backing, then quilt. Sew the quilted strip as a loop inside the D ring. To eliminate sliding, stitch a straight line through the loop just below the D ring. You can personalize with embroidery, heat fix rhinestones or applique.
In addition to being great and easy gifts to create and give, all these quick quilt projects are good items to sell at craft bazaars. Of course you won’t be able to personalize them before the sale, but if you have a small embroidery machine or a selection of iron on lettering, you can personalize your gift ideas on the spot. Don’t forget to charge a little extra for the added personalization!
For other gift ideas, visit my friend, Rose at Ludlow Quilt and Sew.
Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren
Master Quilter
