Christmas has come and gone.... Happy New Year!

Christmas has come and gone, the decorations are down, my house is in some semblance of normalcy...  Craft room needs to be straightened back up or at least finished so I can start on projects.

My Christmas crafting turned into major disasters!  Gulp!  I had sewn homespun to make rag quilts for my grandsons...I washed and washed and washed and washed and dried and dried and dried and dried....  It was a twisted ugly mess with strings all over the place little rats nests here and there - a total disaster.  A friend suggested I do fray check so two small bottles later - still the same thing.  Then when I said I was going to salvage the embroidered names and then just throw the rest of it away she suggested that I try cutting it apart with my pinking rotary cutter.  So I tried that with just two pieces, washed and dried - still the same affect...  :(  So I decided ENOUGH!  I've put way too many hours into this to have them look so bad it and it was ruining my creative mind (hahahaha!)  So I salvaged the embroidred names, found fat quarters but needed to buy just about 3 more of each color and some border fabric to make two Crazy Eight quilts.  That's my plan and I'm stickin' to it!

My next craft disaster was these darling punch needle snowman faces ornaments.  I punched and punched (I made 15 all together), I added beeds for eyes and mouth....  Then I don't know why, I gues I had a major brain freeze, but I cut them all out really close to the edge of the punch needle without ever using glue or fray check or any thing.  I decided to make little pillows, cut some nice flannel to make little pillows that I was going to fill with my pine needle stuffing...  I sewed them onto the flannel - too cute.  Then I sewed the back flannel to the front.  When I was turning them inside out....they unraveled!!!!  So, okay deep breaths...   I threw them away as well.  Then I decided to try to make these little snowmen ornaments out of felt.  Cute but not what I wanted to make.  Those only went to a few people.  So this was the Christmas that my crafts went out the door - literally!

Next - my fudge.  My dad loves my peanut butter fudge and my chocolate fudge (he lives in Tennesseee - I live in Ohio).  Although he did tell me I needed to add pecans to the chocolate fudge!  I made the chocolate fudge - it was too dry.  Then I made the peanut butter fudge...  it was too soft.  So I made another batch of each.  I knew my dad would like the chocolate fudge - it was dry but melted in your mouth so he still got that.  The second batch I did not add pecans because those were for here and I knew some of the kids and grandkids wouldn't like the nuts in them.  Again too soft but at least hardened enough to be able to eat as candy instead of frosting for a cake!

I did have a nice Christmas.  Had some nice gifts made for me that mean the world to me and are my treasures.  So I'm sharing those with you!

 

This my granddaughter, Skylar who is 8, made at "Artist for a Day".  Love it!

 

Skylar also made this at Artist for a Day.  Too cute!

 

My friend, Gail, made this.  She's always telling my friend Sharon and I that she's just not good at crafting or sewing or cross stitch!  I think this is just adorable!  We'll make a crafter out of her yet!  LOL!

My friend, Sharon of Serendipity In Quilting & Other Stuff! , made this cute little mug rug!  I just love it!  But as I look at it I am envious of her stitching.  I know that I need work at my skills.  I want to make things that turn out this good!

 

My grandson, Liam aka Handsome Schmandsome, who is 6 made this in Kindergarten!  How sweet!

 

Liam also made this - this is it closed and....

...this is it opened!  I love it!

My daughter, Ginger, put my gifts in this bag.  So what's the big deal you ask?

Well, if you push on the red circle it has twinkling lights.  I loved the gifts in the bag but I really, really like the bag!  It's hanging in my craft room and when I need something to make me smile I just push the button.  My granddaughter, Karley, said she picked the bag out.  It's silly maybe but like I said - they got me bottles of wonderfully scented foam soap for my bathroom and kitchen but the bag sent it over the top!

 

So with all that said - I'm glad the holidays are over.  I'm not liking the bitter cold we're having here in Ohio right now but in a way I'm glad.  Hopefully in the next day or so I'll finish putting my craft room back together and get the boys quilt tops sewn.  My plan (and notice I didn't say resolution) this year is to slow down when I'm being creative, take the time to do it right so that I'm making things I can be proud of.  It's time for my annual - "Projects to finish or to make" list so that I can cross them off as I complete them. 

 

In addition to my list - my friend, Sharon, and I are going to start work on a "Loyal Union Sampler" quilt for Elm Creek Quilts by Jennifer Chiaverini.  We know it's not going to get finished in a year.  We're not making it as the big quilt.  I'm making mine to fit a space I have in my living room.  So we'll do a block here, a block there and maybe by the end of the year all the blocks we have chosen will be completed.  Then next year they'll get sewn together.  Or maybe we won't get all our block sewn in one year.  The point is we're taking our time and enjoying the process.

 

I've also started doing a lot of punch needle and want to get a couple of those finished.  I also hope to finish my Jane Harris sampler this year!  Hopefully by June!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  I can dream can't I!

 

I wish you all a Happy New Year full of crafting, relaxing, and taking time to smell the roses!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Char

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!