It's Over Already?

How is it possible that Christmas has come and gone? I had so many plans for fun things to make this month. A few (very few) of them were accomplished, and other items were added to the list at the last minute and took priority. And life . . . enjoying the season and not stressing over the little things . . . always takes the top priority. But honestly, I can't believe that it's over with already!

I needed a quick birthday gift for a friend and decided to raid my stash for cute fabric to make another gathered pouch. Love these - so easy and fast . . .

. . . and yet so useful. I actually need to whip out another one or two to hold some small things I got for Christmas. Good thing I'm now keeping a supply of perfectly sized zippers on hand just for these little bags. You gotta love these - I've made a million over the years. No-sew fleece blankets. When son #1 was born, a lady I work with gave me a no-sew flecce blanket with teddy bears on it. It is son #1's favorite blanket still to this day (we call it his teddy blankey). I must add that fleece has gotten so much cuter in the last few years. It used to be so blurry that it hurt your eyes to look at the print. Now I can hardly make it through a fabric store trip without picking up a yard or two of really cute fleece to make more blankets with. We decided to make a few to give away as presents this year, and of course, the boys each got yet another one as well (to keep them warm in daddy's truck in the mornings). These are really so easy - trim off the selvage edges. Then on the short edges (non-selvage) cut strips every inch all the way along the edge. I find that strips around 4 - 4 1/2 inches long work the best for me. And a quick shout out for rotary cutters and mats - what ever did we do without these amazing and wonderful tools!

Then take each strip and tie a knot at the top of each. Ta da - you're done! And so soft and warm. Unfortunately two of the most notable blankets we made didn't get into any pictures - one was out of University of Utah fleece (my favorite) and the other was a beautiful fleece that I found at Joann's that seriously looked like it was knitted. It was a beautiful blue and red and white with snowflakes all over it. I wish I would have picked up a few yards of that fleece to keep for myself. If I'm lucky, they'll still have some in stock.

Never fear, my list of projects to work on for Christmas will just get moved to 2011 and hopefully I'll get a few things done in the off-season. Happy Christmas!