holiday

Success. Place mats for my parents. I spent a quiet, wonderful, peaceful Christmas afternoon finishing the hand sewing on the binding while Dad cooked dinner and we all relaxed.. So I left 8 finished mats in the hands of my parents.

Pieced with scraps. Carefully quilted. I have a new understanding and love of my walking foot.

The blues are surrounded by Kona Cotton- something gray.Then I bound them in two different blues. Four in the dark and four in the light.

This project made me feel like a real sewer. A real quilter. Rulers and rotary blades. Changing feet on the machine. Staying calm and enjoying the process as it came together. Even learning something- mostly about tension on my machine. (I clamped the tension down for some of my quilting without meaning to. REAL noticeable different in the quilting and the strain it put on the fabric on those few mats. But I refrained from pointing this all out as they were being given as gifts. I'm sure I will be the only one to ever notice it.)
Of course, we need some close ups. 

8 matching place mats for my parents. Next to making my table pretty with these... I can think of no place I would rather see them than on my parent's table. Merry Christmas.
Made with some inspiration from the tutorial here.

A new tradition

Sufganiyot are widely consumed in Israel in the weeks leading up to and including the Hanukkah holiday. At Hanukkah, Jews observe the custom of eating fried foods in commemoration of the miracle associated with the Temple oil.
 -wikipedia

My first soofganiyot (or sufganiyot, if you prefer).

Oh fried goodness. Oh delicious little sugared things.  Some with jelly, some without. These have officially become a holiday tradition in the Chandler house. Husband and I are having fun figuring out what the holiday season will mean to us and to the family we hope to have some day.

I used the recipe in 1,000 Jewish Recipes by Faye Levy.

 Hot and fresh- I've perfected the oil temperature.

A team effort in the house- frying and sugaring. A pleasant day in the busy month of December. Happy Hanukkah.

For the table

A child should always say what's true

And speak when he is spoken to,

And behave mannerly at the table;

At least as far as he is able.

A Child's Garden of Verses

Robert Louis Stevenson

 A funky, fun, and pretty napkin will always make sitting at the dinner table a whole lot nicer. This evening I literally whipped up four cloth napkins from the tutorial on purlbee.

Some Alexander Henry fabric went into this. Having built up a bit a a fabric stash I managed to make this without buying anything new.

Two styles- pretty fancy. And amazing. The silverware seems so happy to be a part of this party.

 

The napkins are lined with the contrasting fabric and then the bigger piece folds over to make the edges. So much fun.  And so easy. A nice combo.

A gathering of people

A Sunday afternoon of friends and crafting. Everything from knits hats and elephants to yarn wreaths to patched pants. Good soup and good times. I would do it again in a heart beat.
Felt ornaments ruled the day for me-
 It all started with a tree, nothing fancy, just getting a feel for the felt!

Then came a mitten (probably lost by some kittens!)

But the best of them all: (A real hoot)

 Oh yeah. That's my kind of holiday cheer. Thanks to a pattern at diversionmary.blogspot.com

 All the ornaments in all their holiday splendor:

So awesome. Another crafting afternoon can't be too far away. This one was too much fun.

From paper to quilt

 Here sits the start of a quilt:

And here sits the inspiration for this quilt:

 Yes. A wedding present long over due.

Here sits the inspiration in the middle of all the fabric that will turn inspiration into quilt:

 And here sit the first blocks:

... wonky 1/4" seams... but we'll get there.

A quilt.

"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning."
Louis L'Amour

This quilt must give a thank you to crazy mom quilts, who led the quilt-a-long that kept me motivated to the finish line. 

My quilt. Finished. My mind desperately races to begin the next project. Wait! Stop! I need to admire this beauty for a moment.
The front: Billions of squares going round and round and round and round....

The new machine my husband purchased for our one year anniversary worked like a dream. I threw the walking foot on and went for it when quilting time came. 

The Back: FLOATING SQUARES!! All 8 colors I used in the front. Booyah. I take full credit for this part of the design.  

 The only real issues I had came from not getting it quite flat when I basted it together. A few wrinkles in the quilting.  I'm still feeling pretty good. I think some of the shrinking and crinkleing during it's first machine wash will hide some of the flaws. (Who am I kidding... in my eyes, it's flawless. I love this quilt)

Close up of the front:  the very center square. Where it all started...

 Special thanks to the man behind the curtain. Also, this one shows my quilting pattern:

 I did a scrappy binding, it has all the quilt colors in it.

Another Helen Handcraft completed. Now... on to the next beginning.

the cat helping me sew...

Cats sleep anywhere
Any table, any chair
Top of piano, window ledge
In the middle, on the edge
Open drawer, empty shoe
Anybody's lap will do
Fitted in a cardboard box
In the cupboard with your frocks
They don't care
Cats sleep anywhere!

Eleanor Farjeon

Today, Tesla helped me baste my quilt. Which lay in the sun. Then Tesla forgot her job as official helper and fell asleep.

 Even so, I got this sucker pinned together.

 

Up the stairs I went to get it quilted. Tesla came as well. Ready and eager to start her duties as quilting helper.

 ...and she fell asleep on my fabric stash. Well, now I know why it takes costco packs of lint rollers to keep my projects cat fur free.

She expressed only slight annoyance that I had the audacity to disturb her with a picture.