November Christmas Through The Year Strut Your Stuff!

Yep, it's that time again, time to show off what you've made this month, or email me with a pic if you don't dare show it off on your blog!  Like our sweet Mary from Quilting in the Sunshine State did, here's what she made:

It's a pincushion/thread catcher, isn't it great in that Maxine fabric?  Mary got the pattern from here.  She added a strip of velcro to the bottom of the pincushion and the top of the pad to hold it in place.  I think her friend is going to LOVE it!

I've added Mr. Linky to this post, if you've made a gift for someone this month, post about it and add your name to be in the give-away.  Or, as Mary did, email me the pic if you don't want to spoil a surprise.  Remember, you can join in any month, you don't have to be in on this from the beginning.  Link is at the bottom, email me if you have any problems.

So, American friends, how was your Thanksgiving?  Ours was just lovely - my mother-in-law came with baskets loaded with food.  I didn't get any pics of the day that I can share, except for my mother, who loves the camera and just has to make funny faces.  I know, you're all jealous and wish she was YOUR mum.  Too bad, you can't have her.




My favorite part of Thanksgiving is the few days after, when nobody has to cook and we fill up on leftovers.  My mum-in-law makes the most wonderful Waldorf salad, and it's my favorite part, I claim it all for myself.  I finished it off tonight.



Thanksgiving was also hubby's birthday, so there are also ton of really fattening delicious desserts left.  Like home made fudge.  Oh yes, I love this time of year.

Ok, here we go, link away!

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all of my American friends, I wish you a joyful Thanksgiving feast with your families - I've closed comments and will be taking a short break to celebrate with my own family.  See you after the holiday!

The Party Is Back On.....

in my sewing room.  All of this [well, not ALL].......



is becoming these.....



as seen in this book.....




Which was a gift from my darling Jenny.  Thank you Jenny!  Can you believe I've never done a log cabin before?  They're so perfect for scraps, and so much fun when you cut them with scissors and don't worry about straight lines.  I'm having a blast!

My sweet friend O'faigh sent me a package last week....



Oh what could it be!  I'm being a very good girl and not opening until Christmas.  But it's KILLING me.  I don't know how you swap girls do it!  Thank you dear O'faigh, can I start Christmas on Australian time?  *G*

And my darling Cyndi sent me a couple of books last week.....this one is so very special...



It's a KJV bible, and what makes it so very special [other than Cyndi sending it] is this....



LARGE PRINT!  I can read it, lol!  I have been looking for one of these forever.

She also sent this book - you may want to look away if you're hungry -



Not only does it have delicious projects in it, it has delicious recipes!





Doesn't that look too yummy???  There's a really cute pie carrier in there too, I've had two people request it already, lol!  Thank you sweet Cyndi!

I'm also working on a secret project, a rilly rilly rilly fun one.  I can't wait to show this one to you.  You can tell I'm from the McDonald's generation - I have no patience, I want instant everything!    My lazy days are over, I'm back in the swing of creating, and loving it again.  I'm ALMOST resigned to the dreaded four-letter winter word....snow tomorrow.....shhhhhhhh....

One more thing I want to tell you about.  Today [November 16, 2011] is American Censorship Day.  Today Congress held the first hearings on a dreadful internet bill that IS EXPECTED TO PASS.  Go here to read about it, then go here to read more and act on it.  This is NOT a bill to stop indecent acts...Facebook, Youtube, MySpace, Twitter and Tumblr would all have to shut down over it.  I'm thinking one of my favorites, Pinterest, would also have to shut down.  This is unacceptable to me, and I hope to any freedom-loving American.  Let your voice be heard!

Ok, off my soapbox, while I still have it.  I'm off to watch one more episode of Lucy, if I can stay awake.  See you all soon!

A Gift For You

Hi everyone, long time no see - I've been lurking around, but mainly staying off the computer.  I haven't even been sewing much.  Whole days have gone by just being lazy.  And have I enjoyed it!

Today I've uploaded Caroll's Christmas, my new mug rug designs for you.  These designs are named for Caroll at Attic Window Quilt Shop, who was instrumental in helping me start the Christmas Through The Year.  Thank you Caroll!!!



There are 7 designs total.



You can make the entire set to give as a gift, or just use one or two.  I first did them in different colored floss, then did the gingerbread men in redwork - love the redwork!  And that one will be for a very special friend for Christmas.  That's my November Christmas Through The Year gift.  Making them in redwork is much faster!

I've decided to name my patterns after my blog friends.  Christmas Through The Year was started for the purpose of having lots of gifties to send out to my bloggy pals, but this year is a tight one financially and I won't be able to send them.  Praise God, we have enough - enough food, enough heat, enough to cover all the bills - He has been so good to us - but there is no extra.  My blog friends have been so very good to me, and I want so much to give back, so I thought and thought about what I could do to thank you all.  And this is what I came up with.  I appreciate you all so very, very much, and love you dearly, so be watching for your names!  They won't be in any particular order, I want the pattern to reflect the person.

You can download Caroll's Christmas here.

It's thunderstorms today, grey and not terribly cold - Hermione was helping me take pictures of the mug rugs.  She thinks I'm silly when I tell her to get down.



I hope you enjoy my new pattern, if you make some I'd love to see them!

November Christmas Through The Year

It's time to kick off our November gift making.  Do you know who you'll be making for this month?  I don't, yet.  How about hostess gifts for any holiday parties you'll be going to?  That's what I'm going to do with my mug rugs. 

I have a couple of tutorials for you to start.  I haven't had much time to look, but here are two.  First, Wendy from The Crafter's Apprentice has a knitting needle roll tutorial that would be great for any knitter's you know!

And from Love Laugh Quilt, a lovely hexagon table topper.

I'm going to be taking a bloggy break.  Probably a couple of weeks.  I'll come back in about a week with the mug rug pattern for you, but other than that, I'm not going to be around for a bit.

Sue from Cypress, I got your lovely comments on my blog but don't have a way to reach you.  If you could email me, that would be great.  Look on my profile and click "email me".

See you all in a bit!

Christmas Through The Year October Winner!

And our winner is .............

number 3, O'Faigh!  Congratulations hon, I think I have your address, if not I'll let you know!  Thank you everyone for playing along!

I did finish my own gift, with 5 whole hours to spare.  I made a set of 7 mug rugs.



The pictures are horrid because it was already dark out.  The light in here is not the best, sorry.  Anyway, these are my own designs, and as soon as I get the pattern written up [give me about a week] I'll be happy to share it with you.

I wanted kind of big mug rugs....the one thing I don't like about them, is that you always have to set your mug on the prettiest part, and my name is not Grace.  So I made mine with a big square to put your cup on, and left the pretty part off to the side. 



After I had them cut out and the tops made, I decided using a light color was a mistake, being that I'm a spiller and all, and probably should have used a quilt block, maybe a star.  Do you do that?  Change your mind when it's too late?  I also don't care for the colors I used, and will be re-doing them in redwork.



Another mistake was that I tried to cheat on the finishing.  Rather than going to the hassle of making and attaching a binding, I decided to do the pillowcase finish.  I don't like it, and next time will use binding.



Lazy doesn't pay.


Because I pillowcased them, anything more than minimal quilting would have puckered something awful.  Yes absolutely these need to be made again, lol.


 


Maybe that will be my November project.  Speaking of November, it's here - almost 1am!  This coming weekend we'll be turning our clocks back, and gaining an extra hour.  WE NEED IT.  Less than two months to go now!  I'll be back tomorrow to kick off our November making!