Quilty Little Christmas

I am loving Lori Holt's Have Yourself a Quilty Little Christmas quilt along on Instagram.  Most of the blocks are in Lori's book Quilty Fun, but she shares some new ones, too.   This has got to be one of the cutest Christmas quilts available.  It is a small quilt, but I found the size didn't matter when it came to how long it took me to finish a block.  Or maybe I'm just not that fast.  Anyway, it's been a lot of fun to piece.  Check out Lori's blog at http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com 

I wasn't able to start this until Christmas Day, but that was fine with me.  Because of everyone's crazy schedules this year, we celebrated on Christmas Eve.  Christmas Day was very quiet, just the hubby and me.  The perfect time to begin a new project.

All I need now is to finish the snowman for the back and the embellishments for my wreaths and Gingerbread Man block. 

Christmas Eve Festivities

This year we are getting together and opening gifts on Christmas Eve. Dinner is going to be easy-to-fix lasagna and French bread.  I will probably make a strawberry cake for dessert, but nothing fancy.  Still, just to liven it up a little, I decided to try my hand at making napkins for the place settings.

My local fabric shop was giving out this pattern, so I thought I would make a sample to see if I liked it.  It's really easy.  You cut 2 18" circles from 2 different fabrics, cut the circles in half, and sew wrong sides together (leaving a 4" opening), then turn inside out and stitch closed.  The 18" circles will make 2 napkins.  There are several patterns like this on Pinterest.  The hardest part is folding the napkin to resemble a tree.  I think mine looks pretty close.

I still have a couple of more presents to wrap, but at least I got all the baking done and packed, ready to give to special friends. 

Every year I say I am not going to do any gift baking because it is SO expensive, but every year I get the bug to bake and off I go.  One of my New Year's Resolutions needs to be to read last year's notes on the subject.

Hope everyone has a 

Wondrous Holiday Season!

Big Wind

Another storm rolled into California, this one with a lot of wind.  It's been foggy for the last few days and I was glad to see the wind because it would blow out some of the fog, but I never expected winds of 50+ mph!  Our fence became a casualty!  Ouch!  Insurance called and is taking care of the problem. 

It's a nasty day outside, wet and cold, so it's perfect day to wrap presents!

Shopping in the Rain and a Little Stitching

At last California is getting some much needed rain!  So today I went shopping in the rain at Target and a few other places.  I love their festive decorations.

 

Then home in time to do a little sewing.  

This little table topper is from Kimberbell.  She has the cutest designs and they are all easy and quick projects that can be completed in a weekend.

I found some cute buttons in my stash and embellished the top hats with them.  If this doesn't put you in the holiday spirit, nothing will!  Fa La La La La

 

The Countdown Begins

On the First Day of Christmas I . . .

. . .  decorated the tree

 . . . and made a Santa Trinket Bag from an old pattern I bought at a yard sale.

This little bag is only big enough to hold a tiny gift.  The bag itself measures only about 3-1/2" x 4".  This pattern came from Creative Makings by Martie and was published in 1978.  His eyes are black beads, his mouth is embroidered, and his cheeks and nose are felt.  Santa's boots and gloves are felt, too.  I had some old Christmas ribbon and used it to accent his suit and hat.  I think he looks a little Scandinavian or Danish.  It's really a cute little bag but I doubt that I will make more than just one because I just don't have many tiny presents to give.

 

Aloha!

Just as our weather was cooling down, we got on a plane and went to Hawaii.  The temp was usually 84 degrees with 55+ humidity, but hey, it's Hawaii.  It truly is Paradise, and what made it even more heavenly was that we had our family with us.  

We stayed at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort, a very nice hotel.  Our first day my husband and I took a guided tour of the island, and yes, we got to see to see the volcano, but not close.  I thought it would hot anywhere near an active volcano, but it was actually cold.  We also got to stick our faces in steam vents coming from the volcano.  Great facial!  I was sure it would stink of sulfur, but it has very little odor.  So much for what I thought!
  

As a family we took a dinner cruise and it was great!  Probably my favorite event.  There were about 20 guest aboard a catamaran.  They fed us a delicious dinner with drinks and sailed us away.  It was a little cloudy, but the sunset was still breathtaking.

Our last night we went to a luau.  We have to been to luaus before and usually the entertainment was better than the food, but this time the food was delicious.  The show was great, too, and they even got one of my sons on stage to hula with the girls.  What a hoot!

It's fun to go, but it's always nice to get back, too.  (To tell the truth, I miss my dog.)  This is a shot of LA from the plane window.  Home Sweet Home.  

Aloha  . . .  until next time. 

BOOgie Fever Table Runner

Some of you asked for the pattern for the BOOgie Fever Fiends.  There is no real "pattern," but here are the fiends that you can copy and cut out for your own use. This is not a quick project and it helps if you're an organized person.  I am not.  I lost pieces every time I turned around and had bits and pieces of fabric shavings and paper shards all over my craft room.  You will definitely need to sweep when you finish.  Take your time when cutting out the shapes, and most of all have fun!

Here are the drawings for the fiends on the BOOgie Fever Table Fever.  They can be copied onto 8.5"x11" paper then enlarged by 25%.  Finished sizes are approximately 12" tall.

To make the fiends, it was easiest for me to trace the shapes onto the paper side of fusible web, cut and iron pieces to appropriate colored fabric, then cut out shapes.  I then positioned them on their background fabric (9.5"x14.5"), peeled off the backing, and ironed them down. 

For the women's mouths I fused a white (teeth) fabric piece on top of a slightly larger red fabric piece (lips), then fused it to the face.

Details like the eyes, Mummy's bandages, Wolfie's nose, and Frank's and his bride's stitches were drawn on with a permanent black marker.