Busy Days

It's hard for me to believe that: a.) it's almost Christmas 

and 

b.) it's been close to a month since I've last blogged!

I'm not sure where the time has gone.  

I have been busy with some projects - 

I made these mittens using Jodi's pattern, found here.  I opted for the easy way out, and used a decorative stitch I had on my sewing machine, rather than hand embroider.  I do love the look of hand embroidery more, but I was pressed for time.  The mitten on the right went to my church's "Time and Talent" Auction.  The one on the left is still hanging on the peg - and will soon be joined by Christmas stockings.

These mug rugs, the mugs, and the hot cocoa mix all went to the "Time and Talent" Auction as well.

I started working on Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt.  I have a few of the week 1 blocks finished, a few more of the week 2 blocks finished, and none of week 3.  I will have more time after next weekend, so I should be able to get caught up.

I made some drawstring bags using Jeni's tutorial found here.  It's a great tutorial - I've made the bags before, too.  I donated these to use for toiletry items for the women's crisis center.  

 I got the "I'm a Wiener" back from the quilter - got the binding on, washed and dried it.  

It's on its way to my sister in Arizona.

I first talked about this one back here.

As you can see, I ended up piecing the backing - I didn't have one piece of anything that was big enough.  It's not a huge quilt - more of a throw size - I made it larger than the one in the book, as that was just a baby quilt.  I just added more borders around the dog.  

And finally - one more thing - 

A bag to hold my daughter-in-law's birthday gift.  It's made of recycled/repurposed materials - the polka dot fabric is a dishtowel, the pocket is a thrifted napkin/fingertip towel, and the handle is made from a belt.  I wasn't so sure on the belt (wondering if I should have just gone for white fabric handles), but she liked it this way.  I did offer to change the handles for her, if she ever decides she doesn't like it this way.  This bag is lined with plain white fabric.

So, anyhow, you can see that I have been keeping busy!