Merry Christmas

So I know it is a bit early for New Years Resolutions - but looking back and seeing I hadn't blogged since September I think I need to work harder at this!  Facebook is so quick and easy that I do find myself posting quick little blurbs and pictures and projects there - and not here.

I can't post pictures of much of what I have been working on lately - since I don't know who is looking and I know some holiday packages have yet to be opened.

So I will give you this:












And this:

And heartfelt wishes for a Very Merry Christmas, and a Happy 2014
 

Decision made... UFO wrapped

Thanks to everyone for their help in solving my UFO dilemma.  It seems that there was not a lot of support for making the recipient finish it herself OR wait until next year... so that brought it down between telling her what she is getting - and not telling.

I opted for the not telling - and will keep everyone in on the fun as I reveal it to her bit by bit during the finishing process.  On Christmas Day I will post the little "IOU" I wrapped up for her - and then as I share clues, they will be posted here for all to enjoy.

Oh -and Abi is the randomly selected winner of the "thanks for helping me out" prize - I will be in touch with her via email to show her just what the gifty is supposed to be, and to get her mailing info for sending something along.

Thanks again everyone!

The Memory box... and a giveaway

On Saturday as my Munchkin (5) and I decorated our tree, he asked me why we had so many "things" to put on the tree.

I told him that they were not "things"... they were "memories" and that the box we keep them in is the "memory box."

I showed him the ornaments we got when Daddy and I were first married - and how seeing them reminds me of that time.

I showed him the ornaments we got when he was a little baby - and told him stories about his first Christmas.

I showed him ornaments that my Mom and the University women's group made when I was in high school and talked about how we looked forward to each new ornament each year.

I showed him ornaments from when I lived in Japan, ornaments that I had given to his Daddy because of a special event or hobby or interest, ornaments that people had given to me as gifts, ornaments that we had purchased on vacations or special trips, a teeny teeny tiny bear that my sister made that is not really an ornament but sits on an upper branch, and on and on. Needless to say decorating the tree around here takes a LONG time - and we are not done yet!!

We also talked about the ornaments that he made with Daddy at school on Friday... and that when he sees these each year as we decorate the tree, he is not just going to remember the beads and sticks and glue that put them together, but that it was a fun day with Daddy making something special.

One of my childhood memories was of the candy cane horse ornaments my mother used to make. I always liked filling the horses each year with a fresh stash of candy canes, and "discovering" uneaten candy canes when we undecorated the tree. These were also fun little gifties that I remember Mom making for friends and teachers - and each horse seemed to have its own personality.

I did not have a candy cane horse in my ornament box as I moved out on my own, but always thought of them every time I decorated a tree. Last year I finally made good on my efforts to figure out the pattern, and made some for the Munchkin's preschool class (photo above), and these are the same pattern that was mentioned in the Candlestick Horses post.

As part of Sew,Mama,Sew! Giveaway Day, I will be giving away a set of 4 "candlestick horses" (though they will probably be the ones cut out by electrical light and not by candle light) - colors may vary. I will also include the template and instructions so you can make your own.

To enter - please post a comment telling me about YOUR favorite ornament memory. One entry per person, please. (And if you don't celebrate Christmas, please share a special "object related" memory of your own)

Please be sure to include some way to contact you in your message - or be sure your profile is not set as "no-reply" (if I don't have a way to contact you, you won't be able to win!!). This giveaway will be open until Midnight on December 17th and is open to everyone - including international (I am in the US). I can't guarantee delivery before Christmas, but I WILL ship by the 20th, and after that it is up to the postal service.

So - what's in YOUR memory box?

(comments now closed -I will draw a winner later this morning. Thanks everyone for sharing such great memories!)

Merry Christmas!

Do Santa's Elves sweat???

I just braved the attic for the first time in about a week to work on some projects - it was bearable with the fan, for a while, but once I did a bunch of ironing and getting up and down from the sewing table, I was pretty much fried.

I did finish 4 pillowcases -can't share pictures because they are all for gifts and I don't want to ruin any surprises.

One more reason Santa put his workshop at the North Pole!!!

Mini Criss Cross Ornaments

Criss Cross coasters are so fun and easy to make - and I have been making so many of them lately - that I think it was a natural leap to consider using that same design for some little ornaments, so while working on my scrap bin management over the last few days, I trimmed up some 3" squares and gave it a try.

This was the result - the scottie dog coaster on the right is the normal size. I did not use batting in the middle of these - there seemed to be just enough bulk as is. The backs on some are muslin, and on some others are coordinating fabric, depending on the scraps I had on hand.

I plan to add some beads/buttons, tassels and hanging loops to these (will post a picture after embellishment is done) and use them either as part of my Christmas cards next year, or as package ties.

The rose colored one in the center is made from Chirimen - a funky ripply fabric with metallic accents that I got in Japan when I lived there. It's stretchy, so a bit harder to work with, but still gives a fun and festive effect.

I'd also like to do some round ones, but did not have a good circle template to mark this size.

These are a great stash buster, and if you have some cut and set aside for assembly they are good to fill a few minutes when you don't want to get into a bigger project.

Good Tidings

In typical Regina fashion, and despite an early and organized start to my holiday crafting, I am spending much of this post-Christmas week off from work finishing up some gifties that did not make it in Santa's first sleigh run.

First I will show you the BIG project -my MIL's Gingerboys quilt - which has the names of all the family members on it. (and yes, I did finish this the day before it was to be given)

Giving this was so fun - she has a quilt on the wall that my SIL made, and I pinned this one over top of it while she was in the other room eating dinner (it was a buffet so she did not notice I was not at the table - she ate last). About 45 minutes later she finally made her way back into the living room - she was checking on things and looking down, until she got to the middle of the room (I was peering in from the doorway behind her).

She froze, looked at the wall, and said quietly "where did this come from" - I hid behind the door jamb quickly as she looked around for the "culprit" but she saw me - plus I think she knew as soon as she saw it.

Everyone had fun finding their names and recongizing some shared fabrics, and the table runners to match that I gave each family were a big hit as well (forgot to take photos of those - oops).

Another giftie that DID make the first round delivery were these three journal covers.

The two blue ones are felt, and the initials are sewn on a pocket of matching felt using a technique I learned from Pollyanna.

The burgundy one is made from some kimono silk gifted to me by Mama Matsumoto - one of my host moms in Kanazawa. I added the ribbons for a bit of extra pizzaz, and just put some beads at the bottom.

The inside of these is just your basic marble covered composition book.

The next two little gifties have yet to be delivered -and since both recipients read this blog - well - SURPRISE!!!
Both baskets have criss cross coasters in them, as well as a few other goodies. The Scottie Basket has a Doggy Loggy Bag in it, and since the scotties live next door to me, it's totally selfish!!!

And now off to sew for ME - working on a fleece jacket for myself and trying to reset my brain from a 1/4" seam allowance to a 5/8" seam allowance. Not as easy as it sounds.

Santa is a bit snowbound right now - so these things will linger here for a few days longer before they brighten someone's January. There are a few other little projects done - poncho for Mom, another gift basket, pj pants for the Munchkin, and a whole pile of "Christmas" Cards to be written and sent.

But those can all wait until NEXT YEAR!!!

Happy New Year!

Crunch Time

So we are getting down to the wire - 14 days and one weekend left before the big day.

I have a bunch of stuff that needs to be finished and shipped out by next Saturday.

I have a few things that need to be finished by Christmas Eve.

I started VERY early this year (March-ish) but think I bit off more than I should have.

And I spent all day yesterday at a craft show that was a total bust.

Oh well - I now know what all my co-workers are getting for Christmas! :-)

Off to the attic now - will check in later.

Turtle of the Day - Mister Sparkles

Mister Sparkles only comes out at Christmas, although if I could find a good way to display him all year round I might keep him out.

I think I found him at Lowes or Home Depot or some other big box store that sells Christmas ornaments this time of year.

On a non-turtle related note, the ornament in the back is one my Sister Cindy made - it is terra cotta and on the heavy side.

Due to various tree challenges the past few years, this and about 5 other terra cotta ornaments, as well as a bunch of other ornaments, did not make it on to the tree.

This year - even after some LED light angst - we have tree success and I have nearly 100% of my ornament stash on the tree.

There is great joy!!!

Waiting for Christmas

Wayy back in March, or possibly even in February, I started a quilt project with a target of Christmas. It was a scrappy quilt, and the call went out to friends and family near and far for bits and pieces. I even hit up the quilt's recipient for some pieces, although she still has no idea what I am making, or even that I am making something for her. (And if she is reading this it is due to a miracle of dial up - so I think I am safe)

I was hoping for a Thanksgiving gifting, so she could use and display the quilt over the holiday season (it will probably be hung on the wall), but I came up a bit short on time (translation - I bit off more projects than I should have and ended up getting behind schedule) so this one will probably wait until Christmas for final gifting.

The top is done -I just need to measure and piece the back, sandwich the whole thing, and figure out how I want to quilt it. Since it will be hung I want to do something a bit closer together than the ties the pattern calls for, but I am not all that confident yet with my machine quilting, and know there is no way I could hand quilt this AND finish up a pile of other projects in the month we have left (Yup - it's in print - ONE MORE MONTH!!!) - I had better decide pretty quickly, though.

Anyway - here it is...
(the flash washed things out a bit I think - it is a bit darker overall than this)

Each one of the appliqued hearts will have a family member's name written in it.
And yes, those border squares are 1" each!!!

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the scrap stash on this one - especially Hubby, who donated three of his favorite shirts to the cause - bottom row far right, 2nd row from bottom far right, and third row from the top 2nd from left.

I couldn't have done it without ya!!!

Oh - and there are more blocks waiting in the wings for 4 other gifts and one quilt for ME ME ME!!! (but that one will wait until AFTER Christmas!)

Turtle of the Day - the Handyman

Each year I try to add to our Christmas Ornament collection with something significant for that year. When Hubby and I first got engaged, we went on a camping trip and took a day trip to Lake Placid. The snowflake ornament we picked up that year is a mainstay on our tree. We've added many along the years, and pulling them out each year is a little walk down memory lane.

So when we started doing major renovations on our house right around Thanksgiving one year- which included totally gutting the kitchen (4 layers of wall, 7 layers of floor, and tons of icky nasty gunk above the ceiling) I found this little handyman turtle by Harmony Kingdom. The tiny workbench says "Santa" and the head screws off to reveal a tiny little box.

Somehow he never made it onto the tree, though. He looks too cute sitting on the window frame. Maybe when the renovating is all done I will move him to the tree.