Snow!

The weekend has been busy finishing up the gifts. I made the requested coasters and another potholder. Also finished making all the gift bags. In between finishing up the gifts, I tried to clean a little, take my daughter shopping for a specific shirt, had a great visit from an old friend, and a birthday party, before our holiday gathering. So I didn't get a chance to watch the news or go grocery shopping, or recharge my camera battery. I took my recharger with me, and left it there. There are some pictures on the camera, which I will show you another time.

The weather was warm for winter, and most people were out with sweaters instead of coats. We had our holiday gathering. Most people were happy with their hand made gifts - the fuzzy blanket (I did manage to applique a name on it), and the framed name were most appreciated. The person who received the apron gave me and another person an apron kit.

Then, someone said, "look outside." It was a winter wonderland. The snow was coming down hard. The photographs of people who had charged batteries (not me) turned out wonderful. The flash really showed the snow coming down.

Now I can put away all my gift making supplies, and do all the cleaning that has been postponed during Operation 10 Gifts, and have a clean house for the New Year. I've dubbed it International Cleaning Week, since it seems like people all around the world like to start the New Year with clean spaces.

I've added this post, and the others talking about my gifts to Amy Lou's Sew & Tell Secret Gift Edition. Click on the link to see what gifts others have made.

Merry Christmas

Have a Merry Christmas! Hope your entire Holiday Season is wonderful, and that the joy carries through throughout the New Year!

Gifts #9 of 10 and #10 of 10

When I went to pick up my daughter from school, I bought the remaining birthday presents. I also bought a shirt for Gift #9. I know it is cheating, but I wanted to be sure that I wouldn't leave anyone gift-less. I still can't think of what to make him. He likes electronic parts - like the innards of the computer, and without specifications, that is something I simply can't make or even buy. I gave him the gift of my time at the hospital, the doctor's office, and at stores, instead of away from him making stuff.

At the beginning of this project, I made written up my list of ideas on an index card. About halfway through the project, I lost said list. Getting ready for Thanksgiving, I had put away the sewing stuff that was in the living room into a suitcase. I sew in my living room, and to transform it from a studio to a living room, all the stuff has to be stored away. Suitcases are great for this! Why store them empty, when you can use the space.



The other day, I was looking in the suitcase, and I noticed the sashiko I had made. It was a kit that Tanya sent me. I had forgotten that I was going to do something with it for gift giving for recipient #10. I decided I didn't want a wall hanging, where it would be up for scrutiny, and the gift recipient doesn't use bags very much, so a pillow was the way to go. A quick run to the closest dollar store to get some "stuffing". I thought they might have some cheap ugly pillow I could use as a pillow form. They didn't have small pillows or pillow forms, but this was a great substitute. I like to watch the holiday rush from afar, and steer clear from shopping this close to Christmas. I have reminders of Tanya all throughout my house, and now another family member will have one too!


Did you notice the mitered corners? Four of them, and they went together easily. I have practiced so many different techniques this project - mitered corners, french seams, sashiko, bag making, apron making, stuffing pillows, etc.

I'm still not done. I want to see if I can finish making the gift bags, and there are ideas for additional gifts - the pie potholder, a notebook cover for recipient #1, and some coasters that were specifically requested at the last minute.

I hope your Christmas festivities are, well, festive. Merry Christmas.

Poor Gingerbread Man

My nephew came over yesterday to finish the second owl that he had started. He finished it, and wanted to make something for his cousins. He decided to make a gingerbread man. It took a while to make, and he was tickled with the results, so I think he is going to keep it. As you can tell, the gingerbread man has gone through a lot of abuse. I thought turning him inside out would be good since we used fabric instead of felt, but then we didn't leave much room for the seam allowance, so we abandoned that idea. Since he has been taking up so much of my sewing machine time, and since he wants to practice sewing on the machine, I had him make some gift bags for me. I've been meaning to make gift bags for a while - save money on wrapping paper, save the environment, convenience of bags vs. paper, and not have to worry about running out. He made three for me before he started talking about child labor. Fortunately for me, his parents have no problems with utilizing his labor.

My daughter moved out of her school this week. She's going to a different school next semester. Lots of trips up and down steps and through various hallways. I do believe a psychology professor must have designed the building to resemble a rat maze.

Eileen's Owls

On Friday, I invited my mother to go to a charity sew-in with me. They meet monthly to make quilts for cancer patients, and since I just received the newsletter, I was freshly reminded. She, my nephew and I went there. I thought the nephew would bring his homework, but he had been instructed to learn about the project. What a great idea, interview people, write a report. Actually I don't know if the interviewing and writing a report was part of the plan, but it sounds good to me! He was very excited about being able to use a sewing machine for the first time. It turns out that they had decided to take December off for the holidays. We went home dejected.

Yesterday, he came over while his parents went to a birthday party. I gave him a choice between several different options, making paper German stars, fabric owls, baking cookies, or watching a movie. He wanted whatever it is that requires sewing. I had found this cute owl tutorial on Eileen's blog and wanted to make it someday, but I thought I should focus on my gifts first. This was my perfect opportunity to work on it. He was really excited. This requires machine sewing as well as hand sewing, so he got practice doing both. He said, "sewing isn't just for girls." I told him there were many famous male quilters. The machine kept moving the fabric in a circle - which is good because the template is kinda circular - so he got a lot of practice with 1. put the needle down, 2. lift the presser foot, 3. move the fabric, 4. put the presser foot down, 5. sew. It is hard to remember those steps in order.



We used batting scraps for stuffing. Being a son of photographer(s), he is really good about freezing his pose when I was ready to photograph him. My daughter would have told me not to take pictures. He was surprised that I was taking a photo of batting scraps though, but seemed to understand when I told him it was for the blog. The eyes are made from batting scraps too.


Then while we ate dinner, we watched an Indian movie, "Chakde", which is about a has-been male field hockey player who coaches a bunch of women athletes from all over the country with dreams of winning the World Cup. I thought it would be a good tie-in for being willing to break the boundaries society puts on you. We were only going to watch it while we are eating dinner, and then go back and make another owl, but he really got into the movie. And I learned a lot about field hockey from him, since he plays soccer. And he learned more about Indian values: "First you play for your country, then you play for your team, and then if there is any time left, you play for yourself." I know a lot of sports teams in other countries have those values also, but it rarely translates outside to real life as well.

We started on the second owl, but he didn't get a chance to finish it. He's going to give the first one to his mother, because of the purple and green colors. Next time he comes over, maybe I'll ask him to make me one as well. He wants to make a pillow next, or something that lets him do machine sewing longer.

Quilt Ideas

Remember in my last post, the one that was published just a few hours ago, I said that I should just make some of the things I see, right then and there, instead of waiting until I was finished with something else.

I figured out why I don't do that. Here on just one post of Rayela's Fiber Focus, there are three quilts I want to make - African Sawtooth, Fiber of Slavery, and LaQuita Tummings. Well, not those exact quilts - don't have the pattern, but something inspired by each of those. And none of them are ones I can make quickly.

Gift #8 of 10 - grocery bag

I decided to make something practical for this gift recipient. It isn't what she wants or what she would ask for, but you can always use bags, right? She really likes shopping, and does attempt to be green. It doesn't have to be pretty, just useful, so some of the pressure is off. I used pretty fabric that she would like, and even the inside is pretty fabric. If I thought cutting two of the same shape for the aprons was hard, I got a chance to practice cutting four of the same shape, using a flimsy plastic bag as a template. At least I cut all four layers at the same time. I'm so glad I have the sharp scissors my mother gave me. I did my best with the sewing, although some of the top stitching isn't pretty (the part that goes over all four layers), but it's probably as good a quality as a store bought thing would be. We hardly ever look for flaws in store-bought things, even though we easily look for them in hand-made things. It took two years for me to notice a flaw in my bathroom rug.

I made a reusable grocery bag following the instructions at this website. It's a great bag, works just like the plastic ones you get at the store. The instructions are really good. The only advice I can give is to follow the instructions exactly, without thinking ahead. When it said, "sew the sides" I wasn't sure whether that meant just the straight sides, or the curved part of the handle on that side as well. The picture is closeup, and you can't see what has been done and what hasn't. And although I tried to read ahead to see when we were told to sew the curved part, I missed it and had to do some unsewing. Nothing major though. The bottom seam is the only one that is not hidden, but it is inside the bag where you wouldn't see it unless you looked really hard.



Overall, I don't think I would be excited to get a grocery bag as a gift, but I would certainly be able to use it. I'm happy with it. It may seem wonderful that I only have two gifts left, but I apparently left the hardest people for last. I generally have trouble figuring out what to get them every gift giving season. I am also short some birthday gifts - I have 2 out of the four purchased.

Even though I keep thinking about all my unfinished projects, and the ones I haven't even started, I am really enjoying this little break from normal sewing, and doing these things and learning stuff. I think in the future, instead of saying "I want to make that someday," maybe once in a while, I should just go ahead and do it right then and there. I think after I am finished with all these, I am going to try to keep up the momentum and make some ornaments / banners, something to make next year's decorating more festive. Of course, I should probably bring up the stuff I already have to see what I need.


It snowed last night - the first time this season that it stuck to the ground. It is a perfect snow, as you can see. Covers the ugly grass, and leaves the street and sidewalk free for use.