The GE Designs Advent Box: A Holiday Sewing Tradition, Year by Year

Most advent calendars hand you 24 small surprises in December, and plenty of them end up in a drawer. The GE Designs Advent Box takes a different route: four wrapped packages, one for each week of Advent, and each one opens into a complete project you finish and actually use. Gudrun Erla reveals every project live on Tipsy Tuesday, so the whole quilting family sews the same thing in the same week.

2026 is the seventh year of the box. Here is how it works, what is coming this year, and every project from the six years before it.

How the Advent Box works

Inside the box are four individually wrapped packages. Each one holds a complete kit for that week's project, plus an exclusive gift item tucked in with it.

You open one package a week. On the matching Tipsy Tuesday, Gudrun walks through the project live, step by step. After each show, the video tutorial is added to your GE Designs account automatically, so you can rewatch it whenever you sit down to sew and keep it for good.

The projects are quick by design. Advent is a busy month, and a finish you can get done in an afternoon is the kind that still happens in December.

The 2026 Advent Box

The 2026 Advent Project Box is open for pre-order now, and boxes ship in November, ahead of the first reveal. The four live reveals are set for these Tipsy Tuesdays:

• November 24, 2026
• December 1, 2026
• December 8, 2026
• December 15, 2026

What is inside stays a surprise until each package is opened on the show.

Past Advent boxes, year by year

Every Advent project leans toward something useful: things for the kitchen, the table, and the gift pile. Here is every year so far.

2020: where it started

The first Advent projects were four quick makes, shown on Tipsy Tuesdays from November 24 to December 15, 2020:

• GEasy Napkins, self-binding napkins that finish at 14-1/2 inches. One and three quarter yards of fabric makes a set of four.
• GEasy Bottle Gift Bag, a fast reusable bag for wrapping a bottle, with an option to machine embroider the front before you sew it together.
• GEasy Trivet, a heat-resistant trivet built with Insul-Bright that doubles as a table topper, candle mat, or mug rug. Gudrun left the binding off so it would lie flat.
• GEasy Woven Hearts, a no-sew project for all ages.

2021

An apron, origami-style fabric gift bags, a travel pillowcase, and an easy placemat.

2022

Four projects revealed from November 22 to December 13: the GEasy Bowl Cozy, made quilt-as-you-go; a zipper bag finished with clip strips; a pot holder; and a gift bag. The Bowl Cozy comes with one rule worth repeating: if it is going in the microwave, everything in it has to be cotton, the fabric and the batting both.

2023

A wool felt and cork case for a tablet and glasses, a tissue box cover, a table runner that doubles as a trivet, and a zipper bag with a mesh pocket.

2024

The 2024 box sold out, and its four projects were shown on Tipsy Tuesdays from November 26 to December 17, 2024:

• GEasy Potluck Carrier, which carries a casserole, bowl, or cake plate to the party and then turns into a table topper once you arrive.
• GEasy Snowglobe Mini Quilt, a snowglobe wall hanging or table topper.
• GEasy Double Oven Mitt, a potholder and oven mitt in one, with a pocket for each hand and a padded middle for heavy pans.
• GEasy Rope Bowl, which turns cotton rope into sturdy bowls for organizing or gifting.

2025

The sixth box leaned into hosting: a casserole carrier with a matching trivet, packed with a pair of serving spoons; a Tipsy Topper and coaster set that came with a cocktail jigger and a booklet of cocktail recipes; thread-painted ornaments with their own embroidery hoops; and coffee cup sleeves.

Sewing along without a box

The box has sold out in past years, and not everyone wants the full kit. Past Advent patterns are sold on their own in our Advent Projects collection, many with a step-by-step video tutorial, so you can make them with your own fabric.

If you like to get a head start on handmade gifts, our month-by-month guide to planning your handmade Christmas gifts lays out what to start when, so December stays for the fun projects.

The first reveal is Tuesday, November 24. Pull up a chair, open package one, and sew along with Gudrun.