Twas the Night Blog Hop

Oh my! Would you look at all this yummy goodness.  I must say Jeanie from Gracie Oliver Arts sure spoiled me.  Everything was wrapped so beautifully.

Here is everything fresh out of the packaging. Jeanie has such wonderful craftsmanship and I am happy to be the recipient of all this wonderful goodness.

  She handcrafted me four wonderful items:

1. A Christmas themed Matryoshka Bin, filled with some wonderful sewing themed fat quarters.

2. A coffee Koozie, which will come in handy for that cup of hot Chocolate and Christmas Wassail.

3. Four festive fabric coasters.  I love these little beauties and my hubby has already claimed one for his computer desk.

4. A 10 minute Table Topper. She picked out the perfect fabrics!

Jeanie also added some extra goodies, I oohed and awwed for each package: A lovely little snowman ornament, wonderful scented hand soap, gingerbread buttons, a 2015 Calendar, and a wonderful Gooseberry tote to carry everything in. (It has a lovely snowman print and is folded up in the picture behind the soap).

  And to top everything off, she sent me printed instructions on  how to make each gift! That is a gift in itself.  Thank you so much Jeanie!  I am one lucky gal!

For my quick gifts I started with something for my knitting friends.

It is a Triangular knitting needle case and the pattern came from the book Sew Gifts! by Martingale.

This case is pretty long so it will hold your longest knitting needles.

Knitted dishcloths also make quick gifts.

Two of my favorite patterns are the Ball Band dishcloth and the Knitted Basketweave pattern.

For my young friends I made a Card and Key Wallet. Perfect for giving gift cards or cash. This pattern is also from the book Sew Gifts!  I don't usually buy books unless I like at least half of the patterns and this book didn't disappoint. There are several other small gifts on my "to do" list from this book.

For my adult friends who like to bargain shop I made some Loyalty Card Wallets. This was a free tutorial from Nancy's Couture.  I altered the pattern several ways by adding interfacing in the pocket sections, extending the width of the pieces by half an inch, using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, and adding a button/ponytail holder closure.  

I even made one of these for myself.  It holds all my loyalty cards and fits nicely in my purse.

No more rummaging through my stack of cards.  The fabric bowl can also be make pretty quick.  I made this one a long time ago from start to finish in a four hour class.

Next up is a gift for anyone who wants a unique way to charge and store their little devices.

I used the free tutorial at Positively Splendid.  She had a clever idea to use a command strip hook to hang the pocket on the wall next to the outlet.  I am going to do that too, that way I can use the charger holder for my android devices. Those chargers are too wide to fit through the grommet.

Last up is a small Christmas themed Cross Stitch. Right now I am deciding what I want to do with it. I have narrowed it down to either an ornament, the front of a Christmas pouch, or the focal point of a notepad holder.  I suppose I could make two more  trees and then I won't have to pick which project to use it with  ;)

  What was really helpful in stitching this tree was my new toy, the Beam and Read.  You can read all about it here.  I like how it gave me that little extra light to see my stitches better. It even came with a red or orange cover to give you a little different glow.  In the picture above I have it clicked on three light bulbs, but for my stitching I liked using all six.

Another thing the Beam and Read is good for is extra lighting for photo shoots.  Particularly when you play on the weekends and keep forgetting to take photos of your projects when the sun is shining so you have to take photos after you get off work in the evening when it is dark outside.
 

I turned on all the lights in the room and added an extra lamp, but I was still getting some shadows I didn't like. With the Beam and Read I was able to move the lighting where ever I needed it. Thus it saved my photos from being too dark and grainy.  I think I may take this light camping with me too. It's lightweight and super bright.

Make sure you head on over to Jane's Quilting to see what I sent her and check out the other hoppers as well to get inspired.

Thursday, Nov. 20

Quilted Delights - Me  :)

Jane's Quilting

Allthingz sewn

More Stars In Comanche

Pickles Quilting

Cate’s Linens

Thanks to Mdm Samm and Marlene for hosting a fun and inspiring hop!

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