Holiday Sewing

What an absolute luxury. I’m away from work for the next 11 days. Yes, eleven … What am I going to do with all this time?

We tend to travel over the holidays, and lately we’ve been going on cruises over the Christmas break. This year, however, we are home and have pretty much nothing planned. Rather than waste that time, I’m going to set goals and make some plans. On or about January 2nd I’ll check in and report how I did.

Christmas – Check Mark!

Baby Gifts

My husband’s workplace adopted a family for Christmas and early in December he sprung on me asked me if I would make a quilt for the baby. Of course I would. My feeling is that every child deserves something of their own. The pattern used is the Six-Hour Quilt by Kaye Wood, and almost the entire quilt is constructed on the serger. 

I added the baby’s name on the center of the quilt with my embroidery machine, and used some fun aviation themed fabric in bright colours.

Since there was a deadline, dear husband was coerced into cutting the fabric for me which speeded the process along, All in, I likely spent 12 hours on the 6 hour quilt. A good hour of that was learning my embroidery machine. Regardless of the time required, it turned out well and I hope the little one enjoys it.

Work Gifts

In past years I’ve been caught unawares as coworkers drop gifts on my desk (yes, I work with a great group of people!) so this year I planned and schemed and was prepared.

I sleep with a sleep mask, and want to share my fabulous sleep experience with my friends so made up 12 sleep masks. This particular sleep mask is based on a “RTW’ mask and it’s a bit different from other patterns you can find online. In the New Year, I’ll post the instructions. This is a fun and easy project, and one of the recipients already raved about how well she slept with her mask!

I also made a Christmas gift for a family member, but it has not yet been unwrapped so … mum’s the word.

How much can I accomplish in eleven days?

I truly want to make the most of the eleven days in front of me, so am setting some goals and stating them publicly (so you can beat me up if I don’t get them all done!).

• Numero Uno: a top out of the pink jersey I bought in London in October. I’ll use either the Deer & Doe Plantain or Grainline Lark so it will be a fast make and instantly rewarding. The fabric is a bit heavier than some jerseys so it will be cosy on cooler days.
• Vest from quilted velvet. We have a short winter season so I need to jump on this or leave it for next year. Yes I’ll underline it and use a Hong Kong finish, but how much time can that make? (rolling eyes at myself here). The vest will work well with the pink jersey top.
• Pink wool parka. See vest comments above. The only real challenge with this one is matching plaids. Must cut early in the morning so Christmas cheer does not impact my ability to match the pattern 😉 The jacket, vest and top all go together! The tie that binds is pink.
• Ponder what I learned from the 2018 RTW Fast and how I can best use that knowledge in the future. This is more of a brain exercise, although I’ll be writing a blog post and possibly recording a YouTube video.
• Two things that are totally not sewing related, but they’re goals so I’ll mention them:
  • Commit 2% of each day to walking (that’s 30 minutes, folks)
  • Commit 2% of each day to studying for a certification exam for work
• If I get through all of these, make a handbag and enter it in the Pattern Review contest.

 

Not too onerous, right? We will have some time for a bit of fun but the husband and I are both ‘checkmark’ people. We like to accomplish things, and there’s nothing worse than realizing the night before you return to work that you did nada, bupkis, nothing …

Do you have goals or plans for the holidays? Are you sewing your way through the days?

Merry Christmas and best wishes for this joyous holiday season!

Thank you for reading my blog!