We Had a Wonderful Christmas

We weren’t sure how we were going to manage to do Christmas this year living in our temporary housing, but it turned out wonderful in so many ways.

Our Christmas celebrations started on the 18^th with the decorating of the Christmas tree.

Earlier in the week, we found a tree stand at a thrift store for $5 and then Saturday, accompanied by our youngest son we went in search of our tree.  It’s been many years since we’ve had to shop for a tree in temperatures below 0 degrees Celcius (windchill minus 14) but we got lucky and found that “perfect” tree at the first lot we stopped.

Then it was back to the apartment to get it set up and allow the tree to thaw and the branches to relax.

Next was the little adventure of trying to find the box of Christmas decorations in our oldest daughter’s storage unit with only the light of a flashlight.

As well, that evening of the 17^th, our oldest daughter and her partner flew in from Shanghai where they both have teaching jobs.  They were picked up at the airport by his parents.   It was such a joy to get the call that they had arrived safely… tired from the long flight but safe.    And to also know that they were only a half hour drive away.

We made that drive on Sunday afternoon to pick them up and bring them back here to join in the fun of decorating the tree.

The angel on top was another thrift store find.  Our daughter has a tree topper that we brought back with us when we were posted to Germany many years ago, but for me a Christmas tree needs an angel on top.  If you look closely you may be able to spot the little house ornaments I made on FNSI with Sandra and Nancy.

The week before Christmas was a blur of the usual pre-Christmas grocery shopping and last minute gift shopping mixed in with searching for and applying for jobs.

We had to get creative while doing the Christmas baking.  This apartment came fully furnished but in amongst the dishes and pots we found only one bowl large enough to mix cookie dough in.  It was not, however, large enough to mix the dough for the Christmas rolls.  So I used the roaster insert from our roaster oven.

And was I ever glad that we decided at the last minute to bring the roaster oven with us.  This apartment’s oven has temperature control issues that made baking without burning things another challenge to be dealt with.   I was glad not to have that to contend with while cooking the turkey on Christmas Day.

As it was… I should probably have used the roaster oven to cook the lasagna for our Christmas Eve supper.   It took well over an hour to cook as I had to lower the temperature, raise the rack and check it every 15 minutes to make sure the bottom wasn’t burning.

Our oldest daughter and her partner and our son joined us on Christmas Eve for supper and exchanging gifts.  Our son also stayed overnight Christmas Eve.

Our middle daughter had a work function she had to attend on Christmas Eve but we picked her up from the GO station on Christmas morning to share a late breakfast with us and to open the rest of the gifts.

The turkey went into the oven around 1 pm and then it was just a matter of waiting for it to cook before we could have supper.

I even managed to short nap later in the afternoon while Dave, middle daughter and son watched a TV marathon of The Big Bang Theory.

While we were preparing the rest of supper, I got a call from our oldest.  The celebrations with her partner’s family were over a little earlier and they were on their way to spend the evening with us.

For me, that was the best Christmas gift of all… having all of us together.

The knowledge that we’d get to spend time with our children over the Christmas season was one of the bright spots that has kept me going through this time of transition.  But while I had hoped to have us all together at some point during Christmas week, now that our children are grown with partner’s families and other commitments, I hadn’t allow myself to get my hopes up that day would be the 25^th.

Later in the evening, our oldest and her partner returned to his parent’s place and our son went back to his apartment.  But our middle daughter decided to stay the night which allowed us to spend some rare one on one time with her on Boxing Day.

So, yes indeed, we had a wonderful Christmas.  The uncertainty of where our future is taking us was set aside for a time as Dave and I enjoyed the company of our children.

I hope that you, my readers, had as joyful and loving a Christmas as our family did.

And on that happy note, I have some news to share.  As we approach the New Year, you’ll be noticing some changes on my blog.

Our son, the Web Design and Internet Applications student will be updating and revamping my blog to give it a more current look.  It’s a change I’m looking forward to and one which I hope that you’ll like as well.

There are other changes coming but I’ll announce those when the time is right.

As we look to the future, my wish and hope for you all is for a Joyous and Prosperous 2012.  It’s going to be a great year!

Quilt-As-You-Go Christmas Stocking Tutorial – Part Two

Continued from Part One of the Quilt-As-You-Go Stocking Tutorial

To make the hanging loop:

Baste the interfacing onto the wrong side of the hanging loop.

Fold loop, right sides together and stitch along long edge using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

The photo shows a 3/8 inch seam allowance, but I ended up having to trim it down to 1/4 inch, so just use a 1/4 inch seam allowance to begin with.

To turn right side out, place safety pin in folded edge of one end of the loop.

Turn pin so that it’s inside the loop.

Push the pin through to the other end, pulling the loop right side out as you go.

Remove safety pin.  Press.

Turn quilted stocking right side out.   Pin the loop to the top back of the quilted stocking.  Baste in place.

Slip the quilted stocking inside the lining; right sides together, making sure that the seams match up.  Sew all the way around the top of the stocking using ½ inch seam allowance.

If you have a free arm sewing machine, sew on the outside.  But if you don’t, then it’s easiest to sew around the inside for this seam.

Turn stocking right side out through the opening in the lining.

Sew opening in lining closed using a blind stitch.

Push the lining down inside the quilted stocking.  Press upper edge.  Topstitch.

Admire the finished stocking.

I’ll be posting the giveaway for this stocking (filled with goodies) tomorrow.  So be sure to come back and leave a comment to be entered to win.

 

This post has been added to Sew Darn Crafty Party Week 42 over at Sew Many Ways

Quilt-As-You-Go Christmas Stocking Tutorial – Part One

Using your favourite stocking pattern, cut 2 stockings from a light weight, light coloured cotton fabric.

I used a print with a white background that was leftover from another project but if you are going to be using any light coloured fabric strips for the quilting, I would recommend a solid fabric for this.  Otherwise the print may show through.

Pin the stocking pieces to the batting and cut out; adding at least ½ inch all the way around.   Baste fabric to batting.  This forms the base on which you will quilt-as-you-go.

Make sure there are two mirror image stocking bases.  You wouldn’t want to do all the quilting only to discover that you have quilted one of the bases on the wrong side.

Also at this time, cut 2 stockings pieces from whatever fabric you wish to use for the lining.

For hanging loop, cut 1 piece 1.5 inches X 6 inches.  Cut 1 piece of light weight interfacing 1.5 X 6 inches.

Next go through your stash of Christmas fabric leftover from other projects and cut strips of varying widths and lengths.  The strips will need to be at least long enough to cover the fabric part of the stocking base.  For my stocking I needed strips that were 9 inches or longer.

Lay the first strip down right side facing up, matching one long edge with the top of the fabric part of the stocking base.   Baste across the top of stocking to hold that strip in place.

Lay the second strip down, with right side facing the right side of the first strip.  Sew along bottom of the strips using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Flip the second strip down.  Press.

I  recommend that you press each strip well after it’s sewn in place as that will make the strips lay nice a flat; ready for the next strip to be sewn in place.

Lay a third strip right side facing the second strip.  Sew across bottom of strips.  Continue in this manner until you have covered the entire fabric part of the stocking base.

Sometimes, I angled the top strip a bit before sewing it in place, just to give the finished quilting a more varied look.

As you get closer to the heel and toe, you may also want to lay some of the strips down on a bit more of an angle to make that turn at the heel.

Repeat the above steps for the second stocking base.

Place the paper pattern piece on top of the quilted stocking base; lining it up as best you can with the fabric base.  Pin pattern piece in place and cut out.

Repeat with second quilted stocking base.

Baste along the toe to hold the fabric in place.

Pin quilted stocking bases right sides together and sew using a ½ inch seam allowance.

Trim seam allowance to ¼ inch.

Notch outside curves and clip inside curves, as pictured.

Pin lining pieces together and sew using a ½ inch seam allowance, leaving a 4 inch opening along the back for turning.  Trim seam to ¼ inch.  Notch outside curves and clip inside curves, again as pictured.

Continue to Part Two of the Quilt-As-You-Go Christmas Stocking Tutorial.

 

This post has been added to Sew Darn Crafty Party Week 42 over at Sew Many Ways

Christmas on a Budget – Make Your Own Christmas Stockings

Have you seen the price of Christmas stockings?  Not the plain red ones with a bit of fake fur at the top (our kids had these when they were little) and can be picked up at the dollar store.   I’m talking about the really nice ones.  I’ve seen them priced anywhere from $20 on up.

You can make your own stockings that will last for years and not fall apart after a couple of years of use.   And you can do it for a fraction of the cost of the fancy ones you buy in the big box or department stores.

For example, these stockings that I made for the Stocking Drive run by Lyanna of Purple Panda Quilts cost about $6 each.

A few years ago, I decided it was time to replace our children’s little kid stockings with grown up stockings.  I waited for a really good sale on fashion fabrics and I purchased velvet and satin.

Oldest Daughter's Stocking

Middle daughter's stocking

Youngest Son's Stocking

I even made two new stockings for Dave and I.

Dave's stocking

My stocking

I know… you may be thinking velvet and satin are not cheap fabrics even on sale.  But the great thing about stockings is that each one takes just a little over ½ yard to make.  And if you’re making several stockings, you can mix and match, using scraps leftover from one stocking to trim another stocking.

For example, for Dave’s granddaughter’s first Christmas I made this stocking out of the scraps leftover from making the stockings I made for her father, mother and big brother a couple of years prior (I would have posted pictures of those stockings but I couldn’t find them in any of my files.)

And speaking of scraps, the stocking that I made for the 2011 Stocking Giveaway (link in my sidebar) was made from scraps and batting leftover from other projects.

All of the stockings pictured were made using Butterick pattern #5783.  I’m not sure if it’s still available, but each of the pattern companies will have patterns available (Hancock Fabrics has a sale running right now until the 30th… 99 cents on all McCall’s, Simplicity and Butterick patterns.)

You could also download any one of these patterns (or several others available on-line):

http://www.craftandfabriclinks.com/xmas_stocking/Christmas_stocking_pattern.html

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/christmas-ideas/christmas-stockings-craft

http://dsquilts.com/uploads/StockingInstructions.pdf

Or you can trace around a stocking you already have.

Once you’d found the basic stocking pattern that you like, print it out and come back Sunday when I’ll be posting the tutorial for how I made that Quilt As You Go (QAYG) stocking in the last photo.

 

This post has been added to Frugal Friday over at Life as Mom.

How to Make a One Hour Table Runner

This is my version of the 10 Minute Table Runner because as I mentioned in my FNSI post…

“…..I defy anyone to cut panels from two different fabrics, pin and sew those panels together, press the seams either open or to one side, turn right side out and press again; centering the narrower fabric over the wider fabric, pin and sew the ends, press that seam open, turn the end to form the point and then either sew that in place or sew on a button at each end to keep the point in place.  And do it all in 10 minutes.”

My version is also longer than the 10 minute table runner which is cut width of fabric; resulting in a finished table runner that is at most 40 inches long.

I like my table runners to be at least as long as the table but prefer them to hang over the end a little bit.   Here’s how I arrived at the measurements required to fit my table.

My table is 60 inches long.  I wanted an overhang of 4 inches on either end.  Add ½” seam allowance to each end.

60” + 8” + 1”= 69” long

To calculate how wide to cut the panels, I decided I wanted a 14” wide table runner, with two borders of 2 ½” and allowing for ¼” seam allowance (times 2 seams):

14” – 5” + ½” = 9 ½” width required for the feature fabric that runs down the center of the table runner.

14” + 5” + ½” = 19 ½” width required for the fabric that will form the backing and the borders of the table runner.

Most cotton fabrics come in 44/45” widths.  If I cut my fabric across the width of the fabric, I’d have to sew two pieces together to get a length of fabric long enough to make my table runners.

Instead, what I do is purchase 2 yards of fabric (72”.)   The extra inches are to allow for wonky cutting at the fabric store and any shrinkage that may occur when I pre-wash the fabric.

After the fabric is washed and pressed, measure and cut it to 69”.

Fold it in half lengthwise and then in half again.  Place it on the cutting mat and square up one side.

Make one cut 19 ½” wide and a second cut 9 ½” wide from each fabric.

This achieves two things.  First it maximizes the use of the fabric and second it provides enough panels to make two table runners with the feature fabric reversed.

Next mark the centers on the long edges of one 19 ½” wide panel and one 9 ½” panel.

Pin the panels together matching the centers and the ends and continue pinning along the entire length making sure the panels lie flat against each other.

Sew with ¼” seam allowance.

Repeat with other long side of each panel.

The result will be a tube of fabric.

Press the seams open.

Turn right side out.

Center the feature fabric over the backing fabric and pin in place.

Press.

Topstitch on either side of both long seams.

To form the point at the end of the table runner:

Fold the narrow end in half with the backing fabric to the inside.  Pin and sew with ½” seam allowance.

Clip inside corner as shown below and trim seam to ¼”.

Press seam open.

Turn point right side out.  Match the seam of the pointed end to the center of the feature fabric.  Pin in place.  Press.

Topstitch close to the edge.

If desired, a button can be added for decoration.

Repeat the above steps with the other two fabric panels.

Two completed table runners with the feature fabric reversed.

Now for a little confession… when I was taking photos for this tutorial, I missed taking ones of the steps to complete the points at the end of the table runners.   These table runners are so quick to make that it would have been easy to sew another one and take the required photos. However, I discovered that I only had about 15”X40” left of the green fabric and an 8”X72” strip of the red.  I’m still trying to figure out what I used the rest of the fabric for.

Anyway, I cut long enough pieces of what was left of each fabric and sewed them together so that I could then take pictures showing how to form the point on the table runner.

Once that was done… I was left with an odd little item that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with.  I hate wasting fabric but I also didn’t feel much like unpicking all those seams so that I could use the fabric in something else.

Then an idea occurred to me.  Why not sew another point on the unfinished end and turn it into a little mat to put candy dishes on.

It didn’t look too bad.  But it was still kind of an odd shaped little item.

Then another idea occurred to me.   I flipped it over and did a little origami style folding.

Some pinning and sewing and this is the result:

It’s even reversible.

Now I just need to decide whether to use it as a mug rug or a candle mat.

This post has been added to “Tute”-In Tuesday over at Oops, I Craft My Pants

Christmas on a Budget – One Hour Gifts to Sew

With just two months to go until Christmas Day, not only must we continue to carefully budget our dollars but if we are planning to complete handmade gifts for those on our list, we will also need to budget our time wisely.

Inspired by the one hour table runners I made during October’s Friday Night Sew In, I thought I’d share a few simple sewing projects that can be completed in approximately one hour.

One of my current favourite small gifts to give are these little sewing companions.

I've included the ruler to provide an idea of their size.

Each one takes me slightly less than an hour to complete including the time it takes to cut and fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the main fabric and to install the snap closure.

By filling the inside pockets with different things, you can personalize the sewing companion to suit the recipient.

Add a small pair of scissors and they make great little gifts to give to friends who sew, quilt or embroider.

With the addition of the items pictured below they are transformed into travel sewing kits that can be popped into a purse or suitcase.

An extra hour of sewing will yield this matching needle book and pin cushion.

Instructions for the sewing companion and needle book can be found here.

When making these, I try to choose colours and prints that I think the recipient will like.  And so far, each sewing companion, needle book and pin cushion that I’ve given has been well received.  This set is going into the Christmas Stocking I’m giving away at the end of November.  (click on the picture in my sidebar for more details)

This next project was one I made for our son last Christmas.  After living in the south for 4 years and Maui for 4 years before that, he had a bit of a hard time adjusting to the extended cold and damp of a Southern Ontario winter, so we bought him a hot water bottle and I made a fleece cover for it.

For the pattern, I simply traced around the hot water bottle and added a seam allowance.   Now a hot water bottle cover is a fairly generic gift, so to make it uniquely his, I cut his college logo out of felt and machine stitched it on.

The final project takes slightly more than an hour to complete but the result is a scarf so sweet and soft that I’m sure you won’t mind the extra minutes of sewing.

The patch work strip is sewn using 30 pieces of a Moda candy bar from the fabric line Lovely by Sandy Gervais.   The only cutting required is for the 13”X60” piece of fleece.    Change the colour of the fleece, use more masculine fabric for the patchwork and these would make great gifts for the men on your list.

Here are some more ideas from blogs I visit regularly:

Ric-Rac is one of my favourite bloggers.  I adore her stuffed toys and her quirky sense of humour.  And I especially love her Baxter and Ernst stories.  She shares this free 1-Hour Bag Tutorial and this One Hour Softie in the sidebar of her blog.

Just this morning, retro mama posted a tutorial for tiny house ornaments.  Once you get the basic pattern drawn, the ornament would be a quick sew project.   And if you did them in assembly line fashion, you could whip up a bunch of these in an afternoon to give as gifts.

A quick search on one hour sewing projects turned up lots more ideas.  I’ve listed a few of these fun and interesting projects below:

The One Hour Pencil Case Tutorial by Kat at Ripping Out Seams

And for a no-sew fabric project:  One Hour Fleece Blanket

If you’re just learning to sew, you might also like to check out one of my first tutorials How to Sew a Basic Throw Pillow.  The pillow itself, without any embellishments, would take less than an hour to sew.    I topstitched on a redwork embroidery but that could be replaced with something else; a vintage crocheted doily for example .  Or the pillow could be left plain; allowing the fabric to take center stage.

Tutorials for the one hour table runners and the patchwork scarf will be posted over the coming week.

I hope this has given you some fun ideas for quick and easy projects to add to your gift giving list.  And I hope too that you will join me next month for another Christmas on a Budget post and for the giveaway that goes with it.

Past Christmas on a Budget posts can be accessed by clicking on the following links:

Decorating the Tree

Building Traditions

Two No-Sew Christmas Ideas

Buy Christmas Fabric Only When On Sale

Christmas Fabrics Part 2

Gifts for Less Than $2

Homemade Gift Tags

Christmas on a Budget – Post #1

 

This post has been added to Frugal Friday at Life as Mom

Christmas on a Budget – Decorating the Tree

Last month, for my Christmas on a Budget Series, I wrote about Building Traditions by repeating memory building activities year after year.  One tradition that I started when our children were little was to make them a new Christmas ornament every year to hang on the tree.

The idea was that by the time they left home, they would each have a collection of handmade ornaments to hang on their first tree in their first apartment or house.  And then each Christmas after that, no matter where they were in the world or where Dave and I were; they would have those little pieces of Christmas past.

And even now that our two oldest have homes of their own and our youngest is attending college, I continue to make them a new ornament to add to their collection each year.

None of these ornaments were/are expensive to make.  In fact, many of them cost only pennies.

All that’s needed to make the crocheted ornaments pictured above and below is a pattern, some crochet cotton and a stiffening agent.  There are tons of free patterns available on the net.

I embroidered four of these two Christmases ago; one for each child and one for our own tree.

The top two oraments are done on 10 count plastic canvas with yarn while the bottom one is worked on a finer mesh plastic canvas using embroidery floss.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “But I don’t know how to crochet or embroider or cross stitch.”

For this next ornament I simply cut a yard of lace, folded over 1/3 lengthwise, ran a gathering stitch along the edge of the fold with needle and thread and then pulled the thread tight and knotted it.  The lace circle was then glued onto a circle cut from white cardstock.  You could also cut a circle from an old Christmas card.

I finished the center of the ornament by gluing on some loops of ribbon and the little bear. A short length of ribbon was glued between the lace and the card stock to hang the ornament.

And think of all the ornaments you can make with no more than a pair of scissors, some glue and squares of felt.

Transform a couple of pieces of felt into a dove or cardinal like the ones pictured below:

Templates for these birds can be found at: http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/flying-bird-ornaments-669408/

Remember the paper chains we made in grade school?   This would be a great project to do with your children or grandchildren.

Here’s a link to a how-to using old books.

http://oursuburbancottage.blogspot.com/2009/12/vintage-paper-chain.html

I’ve also seen paper chains made out of sheet music.

Don’t happen to have any old sheet music laying around the house?  Print some vintage sheet music courtesy of the Graphics Fairy.

And while you’re printing off sheet music to make paper chains print a few extra pages to make some small wreaths from this tutorial:

http://domesticali.typepad.com/domesticali/2008/11/origami-wreath-tutorial.html

Finally I’d like to share with you one more simple idea using no more than a few rolls of wired ribbon you can find at the dollar store and a bit of floral wire (or I must confess… the twist ties from bread.)

To make the bows, cut a 2 ft or 3 ft length of the wire ribbon depending on how long you want the tails to be.   Make two loops and wrap a piece of wire around the middle to form the bow.  Wire the bows to the tree.

For a few dollars you can make enough to cover the entire tree.

If you have a few more dollars, pick up some Christmas floral picks and add them in between the bows like this:

I hope I’ve  inspired you to make some Christmas ornaments this year; either for your own tree, for your children for their future trees or to give as gifts to family and friends.    Join me again next month for more Christmas on a Budget ideas.

Past Christmas on a Budget Series posts can be found by clicking on these links:

Building Traditions

Two No-Sew Christmas Ideas

Buy Christmas Fabric Only When On Sale

Christmas Fabric – Part 2

Gifts for Less than $2 Each

Homemade Gift Tags

Post #1

Grommet Bow Gift Bag Tutorial – Part 4 and the Giveaway

Cut a length of ribbon 50”.  Find the center of the length of ribbon and place a pin there.

To determine where to place the ribbon, measure down 7 inches from the center of the top edge of the bag and pin the center of the ribbon at that point.    Measure down 7 inched from center of each grommet and pin the ribbon at each of those points.

Sew the ribbon to the front of the bag, starting at the pin below one grommet and sew to the pin below the other grommet.

With the needle down, pivot, remove pin and sew across width of ribbon.

Needle down, pivot.  Sew back across second length of ribbon.  Needle down, pivot.  Sew across final width of ribbon.

Note:  Be careful not to catch ends of ribbon in the seam on the inside of bag (don’t ask me how I know)

To prevent the ribbon from fraying, trim ends either at an angle or a V.

Fold the back over the front 3 ½”.

Thread the ribbon through the grommets and tie into a bow.  Your gift bag is finished.

The other parts of this tutorial can be found by clicking on the links below.

Grommet Bow Gift Bag Tutorial – Part 1

Grommet Bow Gift Bag Tutorial – Part 2

Grommet Bow Gift Bag Tutorial – Part 3: Installing the Grommets

The Giveway is Now Closed

The winners will be announced tomorrow afternoon, Sunday September 11th.

Now we get to the giveaway and why I was making three gift bags.   The reindeer gift bag pictured above I’m keeping to add to our collection of Christmas gift bags.

But I’m giving away the other two.

The rules are simple.

1.  Comment on this post.  One comment per person.

2.  I don’t do facebook or twitter and I only want you to subscribe to my blog if you choose to but if you’d like an extra entry, blog about the giveaway and come back and leave a second comment.

3.  The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere in the world.

On Saturday, September 10th, I will draw two names from all the comments on this post and send one of the gift bags to each winner.    And of course, since it’s no fun giving away a gift bag without a gift inside, I will be slipping some surprizes into each bag, as well.

Grommet Bow Gift Bag Tutorial – Part 3 Installing the Grommets

Place a pin in the center of the front of the bag.  Measure 2 ½” from either side of the pin and mark a dot with a pencil.

Measure down  ½” from the top edge, place grommet piece against edge of ruler.   With the pencil, trace inside of grommet.

Using the punch that came with the grommet kit, punch hole through all layers of fabric.

The punch didn't cut all the way through the three layers of fabric so I used a scissors to finish the cuts.

Install grommets according to the directions on the package.

Position pieces of the grommets in the hole you just cut.

Position shaper over the grommet pieces.

Whack it with a hammer.

Now that the grommets are installed we’re ready to add the ribbon for the bow.

For the fourth and final part of this tutorial and the giveaway go here.

Grommet Bow Gift Bag Tutorial – Part 1

Grommet Bow Gift Bag Tutorial – Part 2

Grommet Bow Gift Bag Tutorial – Part 2

With right sides together, match bottom seam to side seam.  Pin and sew.  Repeat for other corner of bag.

Sew the bottom of the lining in the same way.  Trim seam to ¼”.

Turn the outside of the bag right side out.

Insert outside of bag into the lining.

Pin and sew around the top of the bag.

Gently pull the outside of the bag through the opening in the side of the lining.

Push the lining down into the bag.

Press the top edge.  Topstitch close to the top of the bag.

Go here for Grommet Bow Gift Bag Tutorial – Part 3: Installing the Grommets

Grommet Bow Gift Bag Tutorial – Part 1

Grommet Bow Gift Bag Tutorial – Part 4 and Giveaway