My Christmas Sewing Gifts

I had a very special, sewing-themed Christmas this year. I received all the sewing items that I had on my Christmas list and a few more!  My daughter hand picked these fat quarters for me and tied them up into  special little packs. She knows how much I love fat quarter packs.

She also bought the little rotary cutter that I have been wanting to try. It is a pretty nifty little gadget but it is very sharp. I nicked my finger with it the first time I took the cover off. I think it will prove to be very useful for small, detail cutting.

Now this gift was a surprise from my daughter. She makes coasters with small tiles from the home improvement store. She also featured them on her blog. She used an assortment of sewing-themed scrapbook paper which she purchased at Hobby Lobby. She told me that these coasters are to used in my sewing room to sit my sweet tea on. She knows how much I love sweet tea. By the way, my other daughter gave me an assortment of lotion, shower soap, etc. called "sleep - night time tea" from Bath and Body Works. It is supposed to calm and comfort like tea before bedtime.

My husband bought me the photo book I had ask for, a subscription to Threads, Pants for Real People by Palmer and Alto, and a cute little sewing book that he found at a local bookstore which was going out of business. (Well, actually, I pointed him in the right direction.)  I have started reading the pants fitting book. I am determined to fine tune a pants pattern soon so that I can finally have great fitting pants because I certainly cannot find any ready-made pants that fit!

The decorations and the Christmas tree have been packed away and it's time for some serious sewing! What are your sewing plans for 2012?

A Little Christmas Gift Idea

I love collecting fat quarters, charm packs, etc. I don't usually have a project in mind. I just like to admire them sitting on my shelf until I run across a project I'd like to try. I'm assuming other sewers (or sewists, I'm not sure which it is) like to collect them also. These fat quarters are for my ASG sewing friends. We meet once a month to sew and to talk about sewing.

I cut the fat quarters from the M'Liss collection at Hancock Fabrics. To make the tags, I sewed buttons onto card stock.The eyes are french knots. I glued the red card to the green tag and punched a hole at the top for the ribbon. You could add a hat or scarf but I chose to keep it simple.

What are your favorite Christmas craft ideas?

A Little Sewing Tip

I ran across this tip on FreebiesforCrafters and immediately headed to my sewing room to label my sewing machine, serger, and lamp cords which are all plugged into the same outlet. I also passed along the tip to my husband because it seems like everything he owns needs to be plugged in. We're going to have to eat a lot of bread to get all his gadgets labeled!

A Little Christmas Sewing

I bought a yard of Christmas fabric last year at WalMart to make this little picture frame project at our monthly ASG meeting. We used a heavy interfacing sandwiched between layers and satin stitched around the edges. I inserted a picture of my daughters and displayed the picture with their Christmas baby pictures which I bring out every year to remind me of their first Christmases.

 
A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I needed something simple for a small dining table. I pulled out the leftover WalMart Christmas fabric and made a table runner. The centerpiece is the pot which last year's amaryllis came in. The greenery is from the pine trees in my back yard and the candle I have had forever. I couldn't get a good picture of this but, hopefully, after Santa Claus brings me my new book, I'll be a better photographer.

Last night, I picked up the leftover WalMart fabric once again and cut out 6 coasters for my 6 Holly Hobbie glasses. I bought these glasses about 30 years ago at a fast food restaurant. I think it was a roast beef place similar to Arby's but was called Rax Roast Beef. I have broken a couple over the years but my sister surprised me last Christmas with replacements which she bought on ebay.

I still have a bit of that WalMart Christmas fabric left. It is the yard that never ends or maybe just enough for one more little Christmas project!

Baby Gift Update

Update to the previous post......I decided to add a little burp cloth. I bought a nice, soft towel and cut a 10 x 20 rectangle. I rounded the corners and made a bias binding from another of the cute cowboy prints from Hobby Lobby. Okay, I'm done now. I must get back to Christmas sewing.

Little Buckaroo Baby Gift

I've been working on a baby gift for a little baby boy. His parents like horses so I thought this cute little buckaroo fabric from Hobby Lobby would be appropriate. The blanket is a 45 x 45 square of fleece. I made a blanket binding with the cotton horseshoe fabric. I used the same fabric for the cute applique which I found at PlanetApplique.com. Their machine embroidery designs are very detailed and professionally digitized. They have a few free downloads and sale items which you can try out.  I had a little fabric left over which I ripped into strips, gathered, and stitched to an inexpensive denim tote bag for baby's big sister to carry her little books or other treasures in.

Now it's back to Christmas sewing.

22 days and counting.