Holiday for the worktable

 I'm sure this doesn't look like much to most people but the candle ring is from my sister in law,the fabric was from my Mom and the imari pattern china is from the very first set of dishes I ever picked out back in the 1970's. Of course guys don't generally like to use tiny teacups so the mug is from our product line at Zazzle. The image on it is from a Christmas stocking I made about 20 years ago. These are the things that make it special to us.

I was surprised to discover that almost all of the thread I have left around here is heavy hand quilting thread so the sewing machine wasn't an option which of course explains why I was only able to hem the table topper in time for Christmas. In the background you can see that there's a LOT more of this fabric I can do things with for next year. I think it's time to ask Mom "what were you thinking?" and see if she'd still like to have any of the things she wanted to make. I'll do that today before I make any plans for the rest of it.

As you can see, most of my projects didn't go very far but it helped to make that list and set some priorities for them so I'll tackle the most important ones first when I get back to work
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In the meantime I plan to enjoy things, how about you?

Still Raining at Mid-Morning

I shot both of these photos from the front door.

It looks like a while before I can get out in the garden today so I'll be working on an archival project for a local Senior Center. We're scanning an old, fragile and damaged scrapbook and trying to restore the images with the computer and make new copies of the most important photos and articles. It's a big project so it's just as well that we've got some extra time to work on it today.

Pin up kitty

 The purrfect place to Display, keep or use your favorite pins, badges and buttons

The back is plain because it's not likely to be seen and because I had a few pieces of felt large enough to back them with. I'm still embroidering around the edges of the other 3 but that wraps this project up and I'll be finishing them up in between other projects.

Shadowboxing

I put these together about 20 years ago and am wondering what's new in supplies and methods so I think I'll do a little research and shopping before deciding whether to re-arrange and combine the items I have here or create something totally new from items I've collected since then. Either way the subject has just become new and exciting again and it will be interesting to see what becomes of it all.

All Together Now

It's fun when you can combine a bit of everything (patchwork, charms, embroidery buttons and pins) as I did in these Christmas Stockings for my husband and I. Some of the fabrics were a gift from a Cousin on her return from Hawaii, some fabrics were from my sister the decorator and I combined those with a stick pin embroidered by one sister, buttons from another and of course a few buttons from my cousin as well. So many things come together here including my husbands pins from his years at the Post Office. They make us smile every year and we're STILL adding things.

Heart Felt Ornaments

Everyone's a little sentimental at Christmas so I find that all of the little odds and ends a person tends to keep can shine at this time of year when you attach them to felt ornaments. You can cut holiday shapes freehand from felt or just trace a cookie cutter.
Cut 2 pieces of felt for each ornament, You'll be pinning or sewing your collection to one of them and when you've finished that you'll slip a piece of ribbon between the two layers as a hangar, tack that in place with a few stitches and then do a blanket stitch around the edges to attach both pieces and give the ornament a nice finish. For the photo ornament just fold one of your shapes in half and cut a half circle for the picture to show through (yes, you slip the photo between the layers). It's a project with endless possibilities depending on the colors or themes you want to use to display your treasures. Trace around the bottom of a glass for a ball shape to display your kids sports memorabilia...there are as many different design ideas as there are people to enjoy them.