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 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!

Criss-Cross Coasters

Last week, at our monthly American Sewing Guild meeting, we made criss cross coasters. Each coaster requires 6 charm squares to complete. Just google criss cross coasters to find a tutorial. I decided to make mine a little smaller so I cut 4 1/2 in squares which finished to a 4 inch coaster. This is a super quick project and looks great tied up with a ribbon or strip of fabric.

 

We will be donating our coasters to WKU's Family and Consumer Science Alumni Group. This is the 100 year anniversary of the Family and Consumer Science Department. They are sponsoring a quilt exhibition at the Kentucky Museum on WKU's campus and the coasters will be sold among other items to raise money for the scholarship fund.

Have you found any new project ideas lately for charm packs?

Charm Pack Coasters

In my search for charm pack projects, I ran across a simple quilted coaster tutorial.  Sometimes simple is best. It is not written for charm packs, however, it is easy to adapt. I used the 5 inch charms and ended up with a 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 inch coaster. I plan to make lots more for myself and also for gifts. Maybe I'll make them in seasonal prints to change up for the holidays. Wouldn't they be great with monograms in the center? The possibilities are endless.

I'm off to search for more charm pack projects!