What I got done for Christmas

New kitties Cosimo
and Necromantress (Nico)

Our dearly departed Lily

Not much. Let's blame work, specifically the two back-to-back weeks of intensive classes I taught in December. Also, kittens. Well, we can't really blame them, but they are cute so I wanted a reason to put in a picture. We also lost a member of the family last fall, our lovely lab Lily, so now we are a four people, four cats, and one dog family.






I got precisely two items completed for Christmas and one item completed from LAST Christmas. This Christmas I completed a Christmas wall-hanging for my sister and brother-in-law (forgot to take a picture!) and this bag for my mom. I really, really wanted to keep it. The bag pattern is #ps016 Charm Party Tote designed by Penny Sturges (I didn't square the bottom) and I used Moda's Max & Whiskers 5" charm pack. So cute and I had the perfect buttons for it. Sadly, I can't get the fabric anymore, but I have a small bit left over and a friend has found a few squares stashed away she is willing to give me. Maybe I'll make myself a really small bag.

Mom's bag, side 2

Mom's bag, side 1

Dad and his finally completed Pickles quilt

The item I got finished from last Christmas was my dad's Pickles quilt! Yes, it sat uncompleted for over a year. I finally finished quilting and binding it between Christmas and New Year's and gave it to him New Year's day. I told him it is for him to use during those times he doesn't want to risk damaging the heirloom quilts my mom has made him :-)

Re-boot?

So, my mom found my defunct blog last week. She just recently became a "convert to the dark side", as my eldest daughter likes to call those of us who enjoy the internet and social media. That discovery, of course, got me thinking about starting again. Over this past year I haven't found tranquility. Nor have I done as much crafting as I would like. But, whatever this life is, I'll take it, so I guess there is a certain equanimity in that. I'll be back with updates on the items I did finish over the past year as well as my ongoing organization project using some of Julie Morgenstern's methods.

No Sew News, Just Chocolate

So, another weekend has gone by with no sewing whatsoever. Getting this new semester started is part of it, but I've just been creatively blocked. With Quilting in the Snow coming up next weekend (guild retreat at Chena Hot Springs) I should have gotten some projects ready. Instead, I tested an idea for chocolate bark to bring out and share. The pan on the left left is dark chocolate lemon cayenne bark and the pan on the right is dark and white chocolate lemon bark . I went a bit overboard with the cayenne, dumping in some more before the heat of the test sample had a chance to fully register. Still delish!

I made my own candied lemon peel. Very easy, but it would be worth it to find a commercial source as it takes a lot of lemons. I'd probably double the amount I put in, but I'm lucky I had any to use in the barks this time. Jeanetta kept sneaking it. Next I want to try one with Kirsch and Chukar Cherries, one with Grand Marnier and candied orange peel, and one with spiced cranberries. Yum!

Christmas Part 2

So, despite what seemed like a crazy amount of sewing over the holidays, I had very little to show for it in the gift department. This little quilted bag went to my mother along with the Santa and his Reindeer wall hanging I'd made earlier. The "Pickles" quilt went to my dad. It turned out nice, but what a nightmare. It is still not quilted. The black background in the panel ran, turning the comic panels grey. I didn't want to quilt it that way so I gave it to my dad as a top, then spent a day soaking it in Oxy Clean and then washing it again in Retayne. That helped, but it still isn't bright white. It's sandwiched and waiting to be quilted now.

I was planning on knitting a scarf for my sister, but decided in the interest of time I'd dye one instead. I dyed two and we gave her the green, orange and purple one because Jeanetta liked the one with turquoise. I had never steam set dyes before, but we rigged a functional stovepipe steamer from stuff we had around the house. I only burned myself once! I'm still not sure if it worked the way it was supposed to, but after some rinsing I got the excess dye out and the rest seems set. We are excited to do some more dying.

Overall, I had a very balanced holiday. I did manage to get a few things made (even if now it looks pretty puny), but didn't kill myself doing it. Now I need to make plans for how to incorporate crafts into the rest of my year. Quilting in the Snow is coming up at the end of January and with the cold weather we are having (-35 degrees presently) I am looking forward to the hot tubs as well as the sewing. I also got a new serger for my birthday (from the one who knows me best). I haven't even taken it out of the box, but I'm excited and hope to use it for many things, especially garments.

Christmas Part 1

Ziggy with the Ziggy Quilt

First, what we got! You know you really love your dog when your mother makes you a quilt portrait of him. The Ziggy Quilt was a gift from my mom and dad (dad assisted in the design). Ziggy's tongue is pieced together out of the pink squares from a raw silk plaid (apparently mine) that mom found in her stash. The black fabric around his nose has cats on it and some of the light brown fabric has dogs. Ziggy has a pink heart shape on his nose, which they replicated in the quilt as well. The border is quilted in bones and balls with Ziggy noses in the corners (Lynneva insisted).

Daddy's wall-hanging -
with camo, of course!

My tray

Mom also worked with the girls on this quilted tray panel (doubles as a wall-hanging) for me and the wall-hanging for their dad. The girls did the painting on the tray as well. We are so lucky to have Grandma to work with the girls on projects!

Jeanetta and her tropical quilt

Lynneva's Alaska Scene

Finally, Mom gave the girls their new bed quilts. You can really see the girls' different personalities in their quilts. Jeanetta's is a tropical themed quilt from a set of Batik Beauty exchange blocks with appliqued flowers and birds and Lynneva's is an Alaskan themed quilt based on a wall-hanging pattern Mom enlarged for hand applique. It has a mouse, squirrel, and dragonflies in the border as well as the central scene. I didn't do quite so well in my Christmas sewing endeavors, but I'll show what I did get done next time.

Is Christmas over yet?

"Recycled" Christmas fabric bag.

The back of the bag.

Three days 'til Christmas and I've given up on several projects and added several others. It's gonna be a caffeine fueled holiday. This little scrap bag made using the selvages and scrap ends of the Christmas fabric I've been working with was made for our office gift exchange (the theme was recycling). It was a lot of fun to make and so I made another similar bag with the Yuletide Magic fabric for my mother (she doesn't read the blog so I'm safe writing about :). I'll post pictures after Christmas. Of course, I had to order some more Yuletide Magic fabric for myself. It should get here next week sometime. I wonder if I'll still be in a Christmas fabric kind of mood? I also completed a flannel raggy quilt for my coworker Sara's new baby girl, and a number of fabric bowls. This one was for another coworker who was the "Holiday Cheer Meister"for the office. Thanks Holly! I hadn't planned on making the baby quilt, but as I was looking for Christmas flannel in my closet I came across this kit, probably fifteen years old or so and it said, "pick me, pick me!" so I went with it. I'd write more, but I have to pack for our trip to Fort Yukon tomorrow. The big question: should I take my sewing machine and etc.? I have some knitting plans, which travel better, but I have so many sewing projects to complete and I'm not sure I can pull an all-nighter to get them done before I leave. We'll see. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Christmas fabric bowl.

Flannel raggy baby quilt

"Make what moves you" and "Post-project letdown"

Santa and his sleigh. Many of the panels and fabrics
include the words to "The Night Before Christmas"
which works well with our decorating theme.

As I was stressing with my mother this weekend over all the projects I had to get done she commented that most of them were projects that I didn't need to do, most especially the wall-hangings I was making to hang in our hall at work. She had a point and I thought about it quite a bit before realizing that I really wanted to do those wall-hangings! But why? They weren't intended as gifts and I certainly didn't need the extra projects. I just really like working with holiday fabrics during the holidays. I love the "Yuletide Magic" line and don't want it to be sitting around waiting for "someday". I really wanted to complete those little quilts in a way that I didn't want to complete the other "necessary" projects on my list. So, I did complete them and had a great time doing so. It is more productive to make what moves me than to create the "perfect" gift for someone. I do love creating something special with a recipient in mind, but I also tend to stress over it, and Christmas, when there are so many people to make things for, is not a time to be stressing over multiple special projects for special someones. I predict a lot of people will be getting holiday themed gifts this year.

Snowman, tree, and kids in a sled.

Quilted squares sewn onto
coordinated ribbon for a
 festive look.

Using my new found knowledge of self I continued to work on my unnecessary projects. After last weekend where I realized the Christmas wall-hanging I was making was a bit too big for a wall-hanging I decided to cut up another panel to make multiple smaller wall-hangings. I made one of the larger Santa and his reindeer panels (saving the other and enough of the coordinating fabric for later), six of the smaller panels, and then took the snowflake star panels and made little hangings using a coordinating plaid ribbon. I was up until 1 am Monday morning finishing them and the bindings are definitely a bit wonky, but acceptable for what they are. They are now hanging in our hall at the office, complimenting our "Santa's Stable" decorating theme.

Santa, sleigh, and reindeer.

The always helpful Ziggy.

Which brings me to my post-project letdown. I always experience it. As soon as a project done I lose the elevated mood I felt while working on it. This bothers me. I definitely need to work on understanding that part of myself and getting the lift to last more than a few minutes (literally, I'm down within minutes of completing a project - it's very odd). On the the next project!