Joy to the World...

...the countertops have come!

You might remember that we ripped out our kitchen way back in June. The week before Christmas our countertops were installed. And then a true Christmas miracle occured...our kitchen sink arrived four days early. Charlie stayed up until 4 a.m. Christmas Eve to install the sink and hook up the dishwasher. No more washing dishes in the bathtub!

Getting closer!

We had a merry holiday week with lots of family, friends, and food. I finished our stockings:


And a bag for my sister:


And finally, the picture from our Christmas card:


Wishing you a happy holiday season!

Deny Deny Deny

When someone asks you if you can sew your response should be an emphatic "No!" A woman I work with asked me that very question a few weeks ago. Her mother-in-law has reduced feeling in her hands and often burns herself on the handles of her pots and pans. She bought covers but they slip off too easily.

"That will be easy, right? You just have to sew a pocket?" Right.

The whole time I was finishing these up this week, I kept thinking, "I'm making something for someone else's mother-in-law and I haven't finished something for MY mother-in-law!"

*sigh*

Progress was made, though. Warning -- some bad flash photography ahead. Colors are not as they appear in real life!

The pot and pan handle covers:

I bound the bottom in ribbon and added a tab with velcro so she can tighten them as needed.

The three remaining bags for Jaxon's teachers (you can see bag #4 in the previous post):

From left to right: crayon drawings with red corduroy, flames with black twill, my favorite "bubbles" fabric with tan linen

And last night I finished this gift:


This is a pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's book "Simple Sewing." This went together a lot faster than the book said it would until I got to the top stitching. Apparently my machine didn't like all that denim. My last heavy duty needle broke trying to go over the front pocket. If I make this again (and I want one just like this one) I would leave the turning hole in the bottom of the lining and avoid the topstitching all together. Otherwise I love it. My variations include longer and wider handles and lining the pockets with my bright fabric. I hope the recipient likes it!

I have two more bags, a pillow for Jaxon to take to school and our stockings (WHAT?!?!) left to make. Before Monday. And clean the house before our guests arrive. SHEW!

Finally, look at this score! A co-worker just came back from Hawaii, and promised me some fabric for helping her with a project. She was much too generous! My favorite is the kid print -- wood paneled station wagons with monster truck wheels! So cute!

...or not quite recovered!

So I thought things were getting better after Jaxon's run in with a stomach bug, but I was wrong...Charlie and I BOTH got it. And poor Charlie had to suffer through on his birthday!

It seems we have all made it over the worst of it, but now I am a bit behind on my holiday preparations. I'm trying to stay in the "oh, well" mindset and not stress too much, but there is a lot I would like to get done, including Christmas cards and some baking along with my sewing projects. We'll see.

Here is what I have completed since I last posted:

The patchwork scarf is complete. It looks really good with my coat, too bad it isn't for me!

This bag (I haven't finished the lining) was meant for my grandma but it is much too big. I think I need to go back to the drawing board.

This is one of four bags I need to make for Jaxon's teachers. I know, what am I thinking?!?! Three to go, and I need to have them done by Wednesday. I do like the cowboys with the denim.

And while I was sick I went a little crazy with the furry trees. They are just so cute!

And this is what it looks like out our front windows today. Unfortunately it's not going to stay like this. It is supposed to warm up just enough for it to rain, and then freeze. *sigh*

And finally I leave you with some snapshots of Jaxon for possible Christmas cards (I know, I need to decide soon!!).

Recovered

Pattyfair was a week ago and I finally feel recovered. Not just because of the fair, but because of all the things I needed to catch up on this week.

Pattyfair was a success. I sold over half of my items, and I still have stuff to populate my Etsy store. If I ever get around to it.

Now it is time to ramp up on Christmas gifts. If I don't show the gifts for the people who visit the blog I won't have much to show, so I've decided to show what I am making but not tell who it is for. We'll see how that works out.

I've spent way too much money at JoAnn, and have yet to do anything but wash, iron, and cut. Here's what I started today:

This will be a patchwork scarf. The back is chocolate microsuede.

I needed to finish something to feel good about myself, so I whipped up a couple of these fur trees from the tutorial on Roxycraft.


I bought two styrofoam cones, one about 12", the other about 9". I was able to cover both of these with just one skein of eyelash yarn. I wasn't crazy about the pompom top on Roxy's tree so I just wrapped extra yarn around the top. You're going to be seeing a lot of these around my house.

In other recovery news, Jaxon was suffering from a stomach bug yesterday. It wasn't pretty. Every time he felt sick he wanted me to hold him. I've done quite a bit of laundry in the last 24 hours. He was back to chasing the pets tonight.

I am a sewing...machine

I have a few more things to tie up, but I did make a lot of progress on Pattyfair. Here is yesterday morning:

5 Baby Gift Sets, a custom order Baby Gift Set, and 12 additional Diapers and Wipes Wristlets

And my new favorite:

Western theme Christmas blanket...

...backed in plush pony minky

I'm making one of these for Jaxon next. He put his head on the back of this one and meowed.

I also have three other Christmas blankets (one more backed in minky and two backed in flannel).

So here is what I have left to do:

12 Diaper and Wipes wristlets: DONE!
5 Baby Gift Sets (Baby's Best Friend Blanket, Diaper and Wipes wristlet, 2 burp cloths): DONE!
4 Christmas blankets: 4 sewn, backed, and basted -- just need to add satin binding
2 Mama Bags: Not gonna happen!
1 Silent Auction Donation: Two stockings and a tree skirt cut, need to embellish and sew together

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Also, I drew the name for the Felt Ornament Tutorial Giveaway. And the winner is...


...Bonny! Congratulations, Bonny. Send your mailing address to modernjax [@] gmail.com and I will get that to the post office right away!

And finally, I realized I never posted the cool poster that Heidi made for Pattyfair!