Itchy Fingers

I hadn’t planned on threading my needle again until the grandkids came along. I’m still waiting on my future angels, but I’ve had itchy fingers. I needed to let my quilting self out. Let her create. Once I gave her permission, all $@^(&^$@ broke loose.

First, I set up my room. The fabric you see here is a fraction of what I dug out of hiding, and there are two more storage shelves on the left. It’s impossible to have too much. Besides, she who dies with the biggest pile wins. (Marlene, the race is still on.) Once I begin a project, the fam is on their own; I only leave this room when it’s absolutely necessary–I can survive on fumes from the kitchen below.

I began with small projects. I have two good friends with birthdays this time of year, so I decided on mug rugs. The fabric with the brown and white circles belonged to my grandmother.

The sage and dusty rose rug below went to my coffee buddy. The rest are rolled up in a small crock on my kitchen table, ready for Christmas.

Then, I saw a pattern for mittens. I could not get it out of my mind. I had to make some. I needed wool and I remembered where to look…

I’d recently found the ugly Christmas sweaters from our contest four years ago. It was meant to be. The only all wool sweater was the middle sweater on my middle child (sadly, the sweaters he and my husband are wearing used to belong to me). I began cutting.

For my first pair, I was happy with the result. But, no. I was not done. I’ve been wanting to make a stocking for my daughter-in-law. I decided this was the year. I texted her fabric choices for the body, and this is what she chose:

Here’s the finished stocking, with bells, a Thimbleberries pattern.

There’s another Thimbleberries pattern I’ve had my eye on for years. It’s a table runner made using star, tree, and house blocks. I could feel it in my bones. This was the year. I began with the trees.

…and then the house blocks.

I love using the scraps I’ve accumulated through the years. It’s my favorite type of quilt. That purple polka dot up there? It, too, was my grandma’s. The green in the bottom left block came from Brazil. The color options are endless and my creative juices left me aglow. I swear, it wasn’t the wine. But, I’m fighting the Christmas clock. I told myself this had to go on hold.

That was right up until I saw a pattern for a tote bag. A tote bag! I had to start on it immediately. It was required. It wasn’t an option. Of course there were no options…

“Dinner Schminner!” I yelled downstairs.

I began with the batik scraps my aunt gave me years ago. They are bright and cheery. I wish this photo did them justice.

They’d been in a box for so long that I decided to wash and iron them before I started cutting. No problem. I’m all for multi-tasking. I tossed in the batiks with a pile of my clothes. Good to go. No problem. I HAD to make the tote bag. Had to. And, I was fighting that clock…

The project started and ended beautifully. I arranged and rearranged.

I love the fabric so much that when I cut the first squares, I cut enough for two bags. I should have counted the scraps from my aunt. I thought I had more…

Meantime, because I received so many compliments on this bag, I decided to make a second using all one print. It won’t take that long. If I skip dinner, I have time to widen the zigzag stitch on the front and use a heavier grade batting.

Whew! One more project done.

I was pretty tired when I changed for bed last night. When I took off the pants I’d been wearing, something felt a little off.

Ah, here it is.

Yay! More fabric! I can start another project…..