Handmade Holidays

So... it's officially November. Less than two months until Christmas which is making me freak out a little. I have decided to make myself a list of all the handmade gifts I hope to give this year and set a schedule of when I will make them. I am sticking with simple gifts. No one will be getting a quilt from me, I just don't have that kind of time. But I can make a wall hanging or two, and a few market bags!

In my family we only give gifts to the children. We decided awhile ago that if buying or making something for a grown-up will be a hindrance to buying or making something for one of the kids then we just shouldn't do it. Many folks are in the same boat that we are, and are struggling financially. Christmas can be more stress than fun, and it shouldn't be that way.

If you can sew, there are all kinds of things you can make that will be wonderful gifts that take very little time or money. Today, November 1st, is the first day of the 5th annual Handmade Holidays over on the Sew, Mama, Sew blog. All month long they will have new projects and tutorials of things that you can make as gifts for everyone in your family! Of course, not everyone appreciates a handmade gift, and to them I say "NO GIFT!!!" because I'm just mean like that.

I urge you to check out Handmade Holidays and challenge yourself to make a handmade gift for everyone on your list. Even something as simple as a coffee cozy to go along with that Starbucks gift card you give your co-worker every year, or whatever! It will be wonderful and you'll be amazed at how many people gasp and say "you made that?!?! How awesome!"

And because a blog post isn't complete without a photo, here is a totally unrelated picture of my kiddos all dressed up in their Halloween costumes last night:

Getting Back to Work

I was out of town this last weekend (Yes. Again. It's getting ridiculous, isn't it?). I was house sitting for my in-laws while they went to Canada. Really I was just playing gardener for a few days, which I didn't mind one bit. The weather was perfect and it was a really relaxing weekend. I have been so behind on my sewing so I decided to bring my machine along and a few projects to work on.

The first thing I needed to finish was my little stack of trees. These are for the latest swap for the Misfit Quilters group. I really love how they turned out. I can't wait to get my trees in the mail to put my little quilt together! I used one of my favorite fabrics from the Sunkissed line by Sweetwater fabrics, and Kona snow for the background.

The next project that was overdue was for my friend, Sharon. She needed some people to help out making some blocks for a Project Linus quilt. She designed her own blocks with a tutorial here. These turned out really cute. I'm excited to see the entire quilt top to see how all of the donated blocks come together. Sharon has a fun blog that I really enjoy reading. Go check out all that's going on over at Craizee Corners.

I have been working on a sample quilt for the shop using Tula Pink's newest line Prince Charming. I got the quilting finished over the weekend and got the binding done last night. This was the first quilt I made using my new Bernina. The BSR foot made quilting this so much easier! It was a bit difficult to get used to, and I'm still learning, but I love it.

It is also almost time for the kids to go back to school. September 1st is the big day over here. I don't get why they'd start the school year on the Thursday before Labor day. They go for two days and then have a 3-day weekend... Anyway, I like to send gifts for the teachers with my kids on the first day. Apples are the usual thing and I'm unsure where that tradition started. I think I'll have to find out about that. I decided that teachers are probably sick to death of getting apples so I chose to make something else. Our school mascot is the Scottie Dog. I have been making these little guys for the kids to bring. I hope they are original enough to not be tossed in a drawer and forgot about until it's time to clean the desks out next June.

I am feeling pretty accomplished these last couple days, despite several hours of car travel and having a day job. I have two new quilts to list in the Etsy shop tomorrow too! Yay me! Now if I could always be this productive...