Wait -- December is over??

Oh my, I got a little caught up in the holidays and haven't been checking in here at all. Which is okay, I suppose, since I haven't really been making anything either.

The holidays were incredibly busy -- with huge family gatherings at every opportunity -- but they were also a wonderful time of connecting and fun.

In many ways, I think I'm still recovering even though it seems like it's been over for quite a while. In other ways, it seems like everything wrapped up only a day or two ago.

I'm going to spend a couple days playing December catch up, but I hope to be living in January -- and working at the sewing machine -- again soon!

Happy 2015 everyone!

Glitter Bomb

Do kids in school still get to play with glitter during arts and crafts? Do kids these days even get to have an arts and crafts class? I grew up in a house with a lot of crafts -- but glitter was almost exclusive to school. Probably for mess reasons.

That's an attitude I've kept all my life -- until today.

Yes, today I brought home what I believe to be my first purchase of glitter. Not only that, I brought home 21 colors of glitter.

Okay, okay, they were small bags of glitter, not a massive indulgence. And they were purchased with a very specific plan in mind.

My original plan came from an image I came across on Pinterest: an image of what appears to be glitter in plain, glass ornaments. That seemed simple enough, right? Except instead of a single color, I knew I wanted a variety. So, a few messy minutes later I wound up with this:

I did use a hot glue gun to seal around the top, and so far no glitter has escaped when I shook them upside down. I hope that means the glitter is well contained.

I'm pretty happy with how these globes turned out -- but the real winning project is what I was able to do with those little bitty bottles I found -- by accident -- in the scrap booking area.

These ones turned out super cute. I think I'm going to have to go back for more, if I can find them. I'm not quite finished with these ones, as I think I'd better glue the corks in place if I can. My goal is to find a way to hang them up as tree decorations also.

And yes, I do have bats hanging around my kitchen. In December. They might just hang out with me all year long at this point.

Drawstring Bags Everywhere

I feel like I'm a drawstring bag making machine. The assembly is going pretty well -- though I need a little more white ribbon to finish the last of the black ones. I do wish I was a little better at determining sizes. I think I have small, large, and massive, with not much in the medium-this-will-hold-a-dvd size range. That's probably why most people use patterns instead of winging it off free tutorials...

At least Momo's enjoying the pile.

Christmas Table Runner

Since I had so much leftover fabric after the Christmas Quilt was pieced, I've been working on a couple coordinating things to accompany it. I don't think I'm going to manage to finish the other projects I started -- though I'm hopeful I can pull together 4 coasters before Christmas gets here -- I did finish a coordinating table runner.

I used the same blocks as in the Xs and Os Quilt that's been giving me such a hard time most of this year. I love the way the blocks look, and I know I'll be working with this block again in the years to come. It's so quick and easy, but the outcome is so charming.

See -- adorable. 

I even did a little bit of outline quilting, so the back has a hint of the xoxo pattern as well. I know hugs and kisses aren't really a Christmas theme, but I think they could be! 

All in all, I'm thrilled with how this came out -- and I can happily say that it came through the wash with no visible problems, which I cannot say for the Xs and Os Quilt -- which happened to get a second, equally disappointing wash, at the same time as this runner. More on that soon.

For today, I'm going to focus on the good.

Keys in Trees

I don't know what it is about the winter holidays that gets me in the mood to do something crafty, but it seems like I'm always more interested in little diy projects during November and December.

This year, one of the two major projects I wanted to accomplish was something a little like this:

I've been collecting interesting looking keys for about 5 years now, and I finally felt like I had enough keys to start on this project.

It doesn't look it from very far away, but there's a lot of variety going on. Fortunately, everything blends together into a fairly cohesive look, but it's still possible to glance through and pick out a few favorites.

Ugh, pardon the extreme blur, but this one shows some of the variety -- cut out scraps of lace detail in the center, metal wings on either edge.

Right now, they're doing a test hang on our little tree from last year, but if all goes as planned, there's a good chance they'll be moving over to our new and improved (larger) tree for the Christmas House this year. I'm looking forward to it -- I hope it works out in reality as well as it has in my mind.



The Christmas House isn't anything official (though I know there are groups that do official things under that name). For us, it's the place where my in-laws and we will be having Christmas. Right now, we're unofficially in charge -- being the ones nearest and most involved in the planning -- so we've been stocking up on decorations and other supplies for what I hope will be a magical holiday. Thanks to a little borrowing, a little scavenging, a little diy, and a little shopping, I think we've got an artificial tree for every room. We've also picked up a couple Bath and Bodyworks candles that will make up for the loss of real tree smell, some stocking stuffers, and a few treats to welcome everyone 'home' for the holiday.

Finishing up getting ready for the Christmas House is going to take up about a week of December, so I'm sure I'll be back with more -- and I'll be sharing photos of these flying keys in action with everything else.

It's the busiest, and happiest, time of the year!

Practice Tree

Since we have two houses to decorate this year, we splurged and went for a larger tree than the one we used last year. I know, every year I say I've found the one -- and I'm still not 100% convinced we've made the right choice, but for now, we're going to go with it. And next year, I refuse to purchase another one!

With two places to decorate, and me being a little bit of a control freak planner, I thought we should go ahead and assemble the new one, throw on a few decorations, and make sure we're really happy with how it all comes together.

I also used this as an opportunity to check how the gifts we've purchased so far fit in my expanded collection of drawstring bags. Conclusion: I need to make a few more, but I'm close to done.

I was happily surprised to learn that the lights, which in the store were blue, red, green, and yellow, can also shine in all white. That took swapping the red/yellow lights for clear right off the list. I might do it someday -- my goal is to have a blue and white light scheme -- but right now I'm pretty satisfied with the clear/white colors.

The tree is still looking a little scant, I know. We're not going too all out just yet -- in part because we'll be moving this larger tree to the other house in a couple weeks, but mostly because we are testing Momo. He's never been around a tree this large, nor has he ever really had the opportunity to mess with our decorations -- we usually put them well out of his reach just to avoid this test. So, we're skipping the breakable things for the moment.

I'd call it a successful practice. Can't wait to finish up all the details -- though I think I might keep this one fairly simple and leave all my favorite things at home this year. Minimizing damage to the important ornaments, probably a good step in Low Stress December!

December Goal

December Goals

Personal: 

Read 5+ Books
Average 11000+ steps per day

New Projects / Pinterest Challenge: 

1+ new recipe

My Projects:

Finish 1 quilt top: Random Reflections 2 of 2 
Quilt 1 quilt: Wonky Star Sampler
Finish at least 1 block for scrappy x plus block

Grown Up Junk:

Schedule next cat/vet appointment -- ugh, maybe there will be time in January?
Replacement windshield for the car
Christmas concert rehearsal -- do everything possible to actually make it this time!!

House Stuff: 

Continue sweeping every other day, cleaning bathrooms once a week
Purge: Office, Living Room
Bathroom project??

Plus - Holiday Stuff
Probably need a couple more wrapping options
New stocking hanger? (If there's time)
Finish decorating

Um...

December is difficult enough to stay on top of -- I'm officially giving myself permission to use this list of goals are more of a guideline than anything else. There are lots of things I want to get done, but I know I have 2.5 weeks of huge days at work, 2 weekends full of practices for the Christmas program, and a week of having family in from out of state -- so honestly, it'll be some kind of winter miracle if I manage to accomplish even a couple things on this list, much as I really want to.

I'm going to get done what I can, but I'm not going to stress myself over optional projects -- and I'm going to try very hard not to stress myself over the less optional ones!

Low stress December. I like the sound of that.

Christmas Star - Top Done

Sometimes I stop projects at the strangest places, convinced that I'm up against a massive step I don't want to face -- only to eventually realize that this step was nothing scary at all! That was completely the case for my Christmas Star quilt top. I had worked up adding a border in my mind until it seemed like it would be terribly challenging. When I finally set out to force myself to do it because I'm flat out running out of time if this doesn't work, it turns out that was incredibly easy. Hardly took any time -- and not an issue in sight.

Well -- not with attaching the border anyway...

Obviously the issue I see isn't that big a deal, since I didn't realize it until I was editing these photos today. And obviously, I am not going to fix it -- I do not want to spend that much time with a seam ripper for something so relatively unnoticeable. Do you see it?

I swapped the two sections in the bottom left! It should always be 3 points before the same color again, but there are only two points between the reds (or four, if you're going the long way). It does unbalance the quilt a little bit to have a red heavy side, especially since the red is so much stronger than the mixed piece it was swapped with -- but I am not going to fix it now. If I'd noticed before the border went on, I might have been able to talk myself into it, but at this point, I think it's that way to stay.

Mistakes small and large aside, I love the way this top has turned out. It's lovely - and I think it's going to be perfect. I had hoped to back this with something fun, a minky or other texture, but nothing seemed right when I was walking the store -- so I came home with another Christmas-y print that I think will work out for the backing. I do also have several more charm size pieces which I might use in the backing as well. If not, I'm toying with a table runner to coordinate with it... We'll see.

Now the challenge will be clearing enough room somewhere so I can baste it! I haven't basted something this large in a long time and I'm not sure I have this much floor space left in the house anymore. I may have to borrow someone else's floor!

Resistance? Not So Much...

I know as well as anyone that I ought to be working on the second top for our bedroom quilts. I even managed to get out the pieces last night - only to determine that with two computers still in my work space at the moment, I don't really have enough room to lay out all the pieces I need. It's a flimsy excuse - but in all honesty, despite the pressing (self imposed) deadline, I am also having a hard time buckling down and doing the same top I already did.

So, I'm giving myself a respite - while I finish up the last things before I can move back to a one computer work room - and started playing around with a Kate & Birdie Paper Co. 'Winter's Lane' layer cake I picked up after Christmas 2013. I guess all that 'Christmas in July' talk has gotten to me after all!

I'm still toying with whether I'm making a lap quilt or a tree skirt, but I've narrowed in on the design I'm working towards and started cutting the layer cake pieces (10x10) into 5x5 pieces. I've got a couple more cuts to make before I'm done, but it feels like progress -- especially considering I managed to get this done in 15 minutes while dinner was being cooked.

--

I didn't stop there though. I actually managed to turn on the sewing machine and whip up 8 nine patch blocks. They are badly in need of ironing, but I haven't managed that yet!

Winter's Lane fabrics don't quite come in four color stories, which is what I really ought to have had, so I'm working with a blue (above), a brown (below), a red/white, and a neutral - which is mainly the lighter toned pieces from the browns and blues. I'm not sure how it'll all work together yet, it might be a bit more unbalanced than I'd like - but we'll see.

I'm off to purchase a neutral low volume or solid to coordinate with this, and maybe by Monday I'll have a top done. Then again, maybe I'll work on Greg's quilt instead if I hurry up and get this older computer out of my own way...

My next quilt group meeting is coming up in a couple weeks and this would be an easier one to take to work on there than the massive bulk of our bedroom quilts. But... I may not be able to hold off that long!

A Little Holiday Decorating

Although we sometimes like to pretend to have a say in things, the hard truth is that Momo makes the vast majority of our decorating decisions. Things that exist in his house need to be sturdy - or out of his reach. Having a pretty good idea of his abilities for destruction - intentional or not - we've never found the idea of a traditional tree particularly reasonable. 

I've spent the last few years shopping around for something that seemed sturdy enough to serve Momo's attentions while being attractive enough to warrant bringing home. I've found a few things that look like they meet both criteria - only to realize they fail an even more important one: my budget. 

Last year we went with a Pyramid - which I loved using. My parents had a similar, one level, nativity themed pyramid that they would put on the dining table throughout most of December, and to me, the arrival of the pyramid always signified the beginning of Christmas. So I was thrilled when we were given one - and I absolutely loved using it as our 'tree' for the year. 

Although I liked it, and it worked well, we both wanted a chance to display the ornaments we've been collecting over the last few years (though neither of us have yet brought the ones from our parents' places). I'm still on the lookout for something larger and more likely to work in the long run, but when we found a 4 foot lighted tree on sale this year, I wanted to give it a try.  

Ultimately, I'm hoping to lose the square base and instead somehow wedge it - along with some serious weight - into the vase you can see sitting behind it. Thanks to the coldest weather we've had this year, I wasn't about to head out to look for a way to do that, but I was ready to start decorating. That might work out in my benefit - since that desired base will probably make the whole thing more difficult to store and my storage space is very, very limited.

In addition to needing - I think - some kind of glue and some weights or rocks, putting the base in the vase will require dealing with the tree's cord. I could just drape it out of the top of the vase, putty it to the exterior of the vase and cover that part of it in white tape, but it would be more ideal to put an 'exit' hole in the side/bottom area of the vase so the cord is more out of sight. That sounds like more work than I'm ready to take on this year - and maybe like I should make sure I have a back up vase on hand in case things go wrong! If I'm not going to get it into the vase this year, I think I may go ahead and whip up a little 'skirt' of some kind to cover the square base that came with the tree. It is not particularly attractive.

The branches vary in strength, though only of our ornaments is particularly heavy right now. It didn't get put up, since keeping some kind of balance - both in looks and actual weight - is important to keeping the tree from falling. Adjusting the branches isn't difficult, but I do wonder how many times I'll be able to rearrange them before the branches, or more likely the "bark" covering them, get too worn out to recover. I'm certain this isn't going to be a long term solution - but so far we're enjoying getting to see our little collection out on display.

It's been up nearly two weeks, and Momo has shown no interest in the entire process. Still, to be safe, we rigged it up with a jingle bell on nearly every branch. It's not fool proof, but it makes us feel a little better about the kitchen hosting such a huge temptation for his curiosity.

A Little Holiday Tradition

Both Greg and I grew up with the tradition of getting one new ornament each winter - which means that we both have rather eclectic collections to someday bring to the table (so far the collections are still with our folks, but we hope to have enough storage to remedy that in the next year or so).  When we got married, it only seemed like the obvious choice to continue buying one ornament per winter, whether something to indicate how the year went, where we spent our holidays, or simply one we thought was interesting.

Tags still on - never been put up. Soon to change!

Year 1 - the mermaid. California. Christmas Eve on the beach.
Year 2 - the owl. Colorado. The year of Harry Potter (I finished reading the series and we watched all the movies for the first time).
Year 3 - the cat. Colorado. Sure, it looks nothing like Momo, but it's all about him.
Year 4 - the angel. Colorado. Honestly, we walked past it and both stopped. It just felt right.

Since this year they are finally coming out of their tissue paper homes, I picked up a gold permanent marker and labeled each of them as discretely as possible with the year they represent. I would have loved to include more, but there wasn't always room. I should have looked for a finer tipped marker - or asked someone with better handwriting to handle that part of the project.

Still, I hope the writing is permanent enough to last - and legible enough to work. Someday that information probably won't be quite so easily recalled and I hope that at least a little information will help me remember all the things these little ornaments represent for each year.

Pinterest Challenge: Lace Trees

Whoops - this was supposed to get shared in November, but I went on vacation instead! Oh well, it makes more sense in December anyway! 

Ever since lace began taking over my house, I spend one hour a week looking through Pinterest (and the rest of the internet, just in case...) for ideas of what to do with it. It hasn't been particularly fruitful searching, but one of the ideas that turned up early on was a photo linking to this Lace Christmas Tree Forest tutorial at Mitzi's Miscellany.

Edit: Also, apparently I had pinned (and misplaced) these gorgeous trees, which look more like what I attempted than the picture I set out to use as inspiration. 

Inspired by the idea - though admittedly, not following the tutorial at all - I picked up three foam cones and went to town with some of my least favorite pieces of lace and trim, and some glue.

It took about two episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent* to end up with these three happy little trees:

Yes, two of the three are resting on other things while the glue sets up a little more - but I couldn't wait to take photos. And yes, I did use a combination of different cream/ecru tones with white. For the first few pieces I thought the combination of off-white with white wasn't going to work (just like the combination of matte vs. shiny), but I pushed through and in the end I really like the combination.

I think my favorite one is the larger of the three - mostly because I do like the largest single piece of trim passing around the center of it, the one with the long lines of 'droplets' hanging from it. The only reason it wound up in the 'craft/dislike' pile instead of the 'hang on/do like' pile is that this is the only piece I had - not enough to use in any of the usual ways like trimming an outfit, quilt, or bag. I think that sorting worked out though; it looks great on my biggest little tree.

For the moment, all three have little 'crowns' at the top - but after taking another look at the tutorial, I'm toying with finding a little something more to top them off. Two of the trees shown in the tutorial have silver balls at the top, and I really like that finishing touch. I haven't pulled out the rest of the holiday decorations yet, but when I do I am going to see if I still have some little silver bulbs or something else I could use to finish them off just a little more.

I'm going to give them a couple days to dry before I mess with them again (since I used a tacky kind of glue instead of hot glue). I suspect I'll want to come back and give them permanent bases (the canning jar lid is working well, I might just look for a few more spares of those) before calling them finished. I'm also searching the house for the perfect location - fortunately, I have several options to try and a few weeks before I'll be feeling obligated to get some more decor up around here and a couple more days to figure something out...




*The television in the living room gets one channel, so on the rare occasion we have it on, we watch whatever it shows - mostly reruns of lots of other detective/cop type shows. And the same four movies all weekend long, all year long. Not my favorite thing, but I was already gluey fingered before I thought to change over to a movie. Next time I'll be more prepared.

Happy Thanksgiving!

No, that's not Momo. Momo couldn't come with us to Thanksgiving Dinner - but this little cutie who happily wears a harness did!

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Before They Go Back in Storage

Just a few pictures of my fall/halloween decor before things move more towards fall/Thanksgiving and these mostly find their way back to storage.

A clearance find last year that I've been waiting all year to use. Filled with tea lights someone gave me. I think the scent is Halloween Night or something like that.

A quick very little mini I threw together from the few leftover blocks after finishing the holiday runner. I still have four more blocks to find something else to do with, but I wanted a quick item to hang on the fridge (where I almost always have something decorative hanging) and this was easy enough. Especially since I was able to use binding I had already made (and removed when that project needed reworked and then never used when I fixed that project). It's nothing much, but it matches the runner - which spends weekends over the back of the chair the cat likes to scratch - so there's some coordination throughout the house. (We're rarely in the living room unless we have people over, so that's the only time the cat attacks the chairs. That I know of.)

(I'm thinking that for next year I need to make one of these barn bat quilts - or possibly just because. Way too cute!)

The only cute spider I've ever seen.

Tomorrow, these are all going away in exchange for 'harvest' and Thanksgiving decor - even though harvest is long past...

And as cold as it is right now, I suspect the winter/Christmas decor might come out a little earlier than usual too...

Runner: Finished

Fresh from the wash - and two photos grabbed on the way out the door.

The places where I should have basted more do blend in a bit more now that everything has been washed and softened up a bit - which makes me happy.

And all in all, the whole thing makes me happy. I love both sides and would be hard pressed to choose which one I prefer. Yes, it's a little chaotic and intense in areas, and certainly imperfect in areas as well - but I think that pretty well sums up my life too!

I've already remade the bed - which I only do in the morning if I'm expecting company or changing the sheets - and placed it in a position of honor best use at the bottom. I guess tonight's the first test to see if Momo will sleep on it or spurn it. He loved sitting on the unfinished pieces, so I'm really hoping that continues now that it's done and ready for use.

Little Bags Toward Holidays

I am well aware that the holiday season is still months away - but yes, I  am joining the diy-ers who are getting a little jump on the holiday projects.

This little stack of fat quarters is joining the pile of 'wrapping' bags.

Not exactly traditional Christmas colors, but - that's kind of the thing around here. Our stockings are green/blue/brown (yes, the cat gets one), and most of our other between Thanksgiving and Valentine's decoration items are on a similar 'winter-ish' color scheme.

The collection of wrapping bags - in a variety of qualities as I get better at sewing - has been growing since I started sewing. I can't say it's been an inexpensive collection, or particularly cost saving yet - though that was the long term goal. At this point, I do it because it makes me happy, and because I hate seeing the waste of wrapping paper after presents are done...

I don't always take the time to line my wrapping bags, though I think that makes them look nicer and last longer. I expect that adding a line of zig-zag stitch or a trip through the overlock machine could lengthen the life of the unlined ones - and I probably should give that a try before the unlined ones start wearing too much... But so far my all time favorite way to make bags is to generally follow the In Color Order Lined Drawstring Bag tutorial.

I managed to pull together the majority of six bags in a little over an hour:

The bags themselves are completely lined and stitched, but I haven't yet made the drawstrings for any of them. I'm still toying between fabric drawstrings or going with ribbon instead.

I did go for a little bit of embellishment with the largest of this set. Initially I rejected the idea but the other two-fabric bag just felt like it needed a little something extra - and with a huge pile of laces and embellishments waiting to be used, there was really no reason not to give it a try! So far it's probably my favorite one, but the drawstrings might change that yet, depending what I do.

I used three different kinds of grey fabrics for the lining, simply because those were the other fat quarters and scraps I had lying around waiting for a use. The solid is a little darker than ideal - and now I'm wishing I'd saved it for other things - but I love the other two. I can't decide if I like the honeycombs better or the textured-look. I do have exterior fabric for at least one more (hopefully two more), but I ran out of easy choices for lining and turned my attention to practical matters (patching two pairs of jeans, one of which I need for work tomorrow) instead of searching through the stash for another appropriate lining.

Valentine

Inspired by a pin of Kelby Sews' little wall hanging, I did a little pre-Valentine's Day sewing/quilting.

The inspiration piece is fairly scrapy, with each letter of the word 'love' in a different color - which I loved. 

I didn't think about the idea of paper piecing - actually, I didn't even click through the pin to the source - I just grabbed a few favorite scraps in favorite colors, my scrap of remaining white material, and went to town improvising. 

I ought to practice this kind of sewing a little more. There were a few too many attempts at angles that turned out to be exactly backwards of what I wanted... That said, eventually I got it all pieced together more or less how I'd envisioned. 

Since it was the perfect size, I backed it with the third piece from my Aunt (here are the other two pieces from her), added a thick scrap batting, and did just a little bit of quilting. 

I debated doing a little more, but ultimately I liked the simplicity of outlining the letters. A little left over binding and it was ready to hang. 

I may have danced around the kitchen squeeing for the next hour or so. Fortunately, my husband (an artist) understands the happiness when it comes to finishing something that turned out 'right.' Unfortunately, Momo didn't quite appreciate my enthusiasm. 

This also signaled the end of my winter themed decorations - I put away the snow flakes and the snowmen, and the last of the Christmas decorations. February will be mostly hearts and love elements (no surprise there). After that I'll be pretending it's spring - although right now it already feels like it is! - with flowers and the like. 

2012 Holiday Digs

I dug out the winter decoration bin over the weekend and got to some decorating.

I'm still on the search for the tree I want. I was beginning to think it's the kind of thing that exists only in my mind - until I saw one last night at the hardware store. Unfortunately, it wasn't for sale (it was only a display for selling things) but at least I know it exists!

But, until I get my hands on the right kind of tree, I've got to be a bit more creative.

This is pretty much the center of our holiday decorations this year. Once upon a time - before my husband and I were engaged - we walked past a free desk outside someone's house. The desk was already split into two parts - one set of drawers, and one set of drawers with the top still attached. So we carried it the four blocks home, into the garage, and straight onto a tarp for painting. With the addition of two little legs and some cream colored paint, the part with the top went on to become a desk (usually called "Momo's Desk" and used either for a sleeping cat or any time I need to use the old Singer sewing machine). The smaller piece got a bold paint, some new handles, but has always been sitting around waiting for a top to be found for it.

I'm still looking for a top, but for the holidays, this cutting board is working fairly well.

On top of the cutting board sits a few ornaments (mostly serving as cat deterrent) and our major Christmas decoration.

With the exception of that large red bag, all the presents we have to give away fit inside the two drawers. Which keeps them out of sight, out of reach of most of the cat hair, and the little jingle bells on the handles keep us honest when it comes to snooping.

Sure, it doesn't give me a way to display our ornaments, but it's simple, fun, free, and I like keeping the bags and temptation out of sight. Whether I find a tree or not, I think I might continue to use this idea of drawers as a base.

It's Beginning to Look a Bit like Christmas...

Last year I was the person running out to get last minute things the night before Christmas. And the year before I was doing last moment shopping Christmas morning. And - well, you see the pattern.

So this year I started thinking about Christmas in July/August.

I held off on decorating until after Thanksgiving - of course - but this year I was earlier than usual in swapping from 'fall' to Christmas/winter-y decor. The stockings are hung (by the laundry machine with care, because that's where the empty coat hooks are), and the tiny tree we got in our college days has made an appearance:

But anything else has been slow to appear - partly because I'm still searching for the kind of tree I want. I have a fairly good idea what I'm after, but I've yet to find it in a size I want (I'm looking for between 22" and 36") for a price I'm willing to pay (sorry $120 version, and $75 version). I'm about to the point of breaking out a welder and trying to make my own. Or seeing if I can bribe my father into giving it a go.

Without a tree, I have to get a bit more creative about putting up lights and ornaments, so those items are still waiting on their reveal. I can do what I've done in the past - but I'm really hoping to have a tree so I can finally break out the ornaments we purchased our last two Christmases (first two as married people) instead of leaving them tissue wrapped for another year.

That said, I got a little bored over the weekend and whipped up something to add to the decor around here.

Starting with some greens and a brown dot from my rather large scrap pile (I love those brown dots, purchased for Baby C's Stacked Coin quilt. I don't know what I'll do when I run out), then adding a fat quarter of cream that came with my used sewing machine, and a little aqua binding left over from Half Square Quilt and ending up with this:

I suppose in the barest technical sense it's a tiny quilt. I went through the usual process, though the quilting a very minimal stitch around each tree block.

And yes, I realized after I put it all together that I should have put a little more thought into the placement of my trees. When I said that to my husband, he pointed out they were light, medium, dark. I had meant solid, stripes, patterns. Whoops!

It didn't turn out quite how I'd intended - and I lost two trees along the way due to sloppy stitching on my part - but it adds a bit more festiveness to the kitchen, and it's kind of nice to have a home made holiday decoration. It's my first one - well, first since the days of hot gluing candy canes during school art classes... So it seems about time for me to turn some of my crafty inclinations, and my scrap piles, toward home made decorations again.