The extent of my handmades.

I didn't make a lot of the gifts for this year. It just didn't fit with how I wanted to spend my days leading up to the holidays. Just a few and I'm thrilled with the results.

Sketch kits for the Littles for Christmas Eve.

Cashmere mittens for my niece. A special request from her.

A letter satchel for my nephew. He'll be overseas for a year and I wanted him to have something handmade from the heart to hold cards and letters.

Simple, easy, and lots of time for me to relax and enjoy this most wonderful of days. I feel good!

Feeling smug and proud.

Alex sent me a package from Taiwan a while ago that contained two Cotton Friend books. I love the books and the project offerings in spite of the fact that they’re in Chinese and I can’t read a word of what they say. Still, the abundance and clarity of the illustrations is amazing and with a bit of studying, I can figure out what to do. This particular project intrigued me right away, but at first glance, I thought it had to do with cutting away fabric and sewing another color to the backside. Thinking that sounded difficult, I put the book away until this past weekend when I got the urge to try out a new crafting technique. Oh, this is much cooler than I thought because the fabric isn’t cut away at all. Heather, you may be intrigued as well as I believe it was you who nearly painted everything in your house not too long ago. *grins*



You transfer any design you wish onto fabric… (I used the Cotton Friend pattern because I’m learning something new and I’m funny like that.)



And using a fabric marker, you color in different areas…



And then embroider around the lines of the design. Oh my gosh, that’s it? What was I afraid of? This is too stinkin’ easy and cool.



Well, now that I had this beautiful piece of embroidery, I simply had to make something with it and another letter satchel seemed like an appropriate showcase. The purple seersucker fabric comes from a 1980’s dress I rescued from a heap destined for the trash and the green is a cotton sheet found at Goodwill. Oh, I sewed the embroidery patch on fabric from an old sheet as well.



The idea of the letter satchel is from Amanda, but the design is from me falling in love with so many different projects that I’ve seen online. The offset button? Yeah, I knew I was doing that from the moment I decided to make this, but I’ll tell you something, figuring out the dimensions and curves and seams and visualizing the final product really taxes my brain. In the end, it’s still not quite right, but I think I’ve got that figured out for next time. And there will be a next time because this gave me so many new ideas for future projects.

So, what do you think? The button also came out of my stash so if the only thing I actually bought recently is the green sheet, for which I paid $3 and I only used a tiny portion, my guess is this project cost me, what, all of .25? I would say it's okay to feel both smug and proud of this project.
(Rubbing hands together) So, I wonder what my next new technique shall be.

Grab a cup of tea....

and get comfortable because we've got some catching up to do.

I've been to the beach with my new camera and I was so surprised at the colors of winter! Who would have thought?





I've also been doing a lot of sewing lately....

See those directions up there? The part where it talks about a 2" cushion? haha...oops! See, I have this wonderful rolling storage bench that I use when I'm sewing, but the hard top is not the least bit comfortable to sit on, which means I needed a cushion. So, I design this very simple seat cushion and off I go to the fabric store to buy a foam pad, but while I was there I decided 2" wasn't thick enough for my tush and I bought a 3" pad instead. Well, someone sort of forgot to change the sewing directions and then when I finished the cushion cover it didn't fit. (knucklehead!) But it turned out so well I simply had to buy the 2" foam to fit it. No way was I ripping out my marvelous sewing.



This is the close-up of my clever little zipper trick for getting the pad inside. Oh, it wasn't difficult to sew at all, but it sure taxed my brain as I was designing it. I have such a hard time visualizing how something will look.

And, yes, I still have the 3" foam, but I'll probably make a floor cushion out of that. It's a family thing that we sit on the floor alot. I don't know why....

Then there was this beautiful quilted fabric that just jumped into my arms as I walked about the store. I guess I'm cured of not being able to figure out how to use fabric because this one also had a definite purpose before I bought it. It's loosely based on Amanda Soule's letter satchel, but since the material was already quilted, I simply bound off the edges with bias tape. I so want to keep it, but I think it's going to my granddaughter instead. Hey, I want to be my granddaughter!

I intended to sew this up last night, but didn't have the right color thread. You gotta love a guy who automatically offers to take you to the fabric store for more thread. Right? Even better is when said guy is at the store, walks up, hands you a button and says, "this is perfect for your project."

And the button is perfect! How cool is that? This satchel was so quick and easy that I made it up before I went to work this morning. I have enough material to make another project but that one is still in the design stage. Again, it's for my granddaughter. Did I mention I want to be her?

You want another must make soup recipe? Another that will blow you away? Try this one.

Sorry about the half eaten soup picture, but at least I remembered before it was all gone. My girlfriend came up with this recipe first and all I said when I tasted it was, "mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm!"

Spicy Chicken Rice Soup
4 c vegetable broth (Imagine)
2 c cooked wild rice
1 chicken breast, cooked, diced
1 8oz can Mexican tomato sauce (El Pato)
1 8oz can water chestnuts, diced

Mix everything together in a pan, bring to boiling and add 2 big handfuls of spinach just before serving. Enjoy!

This has a bit of a bite to it (that's what the Leinie is for), but you won't believe how delicious it is. You'll soon be going "mmmm, mmmm, mmmm" too. I promise.

Alright, that's enough from me. I'm coming over to visit the rest of you for a while....and I'm bringing my tea with me. Save me a good spot, won't you?