My Productivity Has Dramatically Dropped

I went back to work on Sept 8th after having been off for 7 months - it hasn't been great on many fronts. I love my job and I'm enjoying my new teaching assignment. Unfortunately, I went back to work with a sinus infection (that I thought was cleared up, but it wasn't) that went from bad to worse. I was off half the week last week, back in today, but I maybe shouldn't have been. I've been on antibiotics for 3 weeks or so and have another 9 days to go (not that I'm counting or anything). I am feeling better, but this thing has kicked my ass.

I did manage to make myself a new pencil case. I have to move around a lot this year and was suffering for an organizational solution. I remembered the sew together bag that a friend has and I got busy.

I used Tula Pink's new fabric line Eden and I love my new pencil case. I have 1 progress shot:

And one shot of it full of my stuff. It holds a lot:

My sister might like one for make up brushes - I'm hoping she does then I can cross one thing off my Xmas list.

p.s. I used this tutorial to help - has a lot more photos than the pattern and helps it all make sense.

Xmas Update

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Last week, on Aug 26th, someone said to me - "you know, 4 months today is Boxing Day". I shuddered a little.

I enjoy Christmas and getting ready for it. I usually spread my preparations out over Nov and Dec. Some years I'm really ready and some years I'm not. Last year I put up a tree, put lights on it, but didn't get any decorations on it. I'll be better prepared this year.

My friend Button's Quilts has a friend who needed some crafting done. (I should mention that Button's sends a LOT of business my way, which I really appreciate!). The friend's mother started making these fancy Christmas stockings for her grandkids, daughter, and son-in-law, and has been unable to finish them. So, I've been hired to finish. The daughter wanted a few things customized and I said I could do that as well.

I finished the first stocking this week:

One of the customizations is a pleated back - so that the stocking can hold more goodies. The backing looks like this

To make it, I traced the stocking front onto pattern paper, then drew some registration lines, then cut it apart and expanded the pattern. Then I re-folded it and cut the bottom out - around the heel of the stocking is a funny shape. Here's what my pattern for the back looked like

It looks pretty strange, but once it was pleated, everything lined up and it fit great.

The final Christmas prep this week has been cutting and doing a rolled hem on some table napkins. A different friend hired me to do these as a gift for her mother.

These are 100% cotton and measure 13" x 13".

This should be it for the really Christmas-y stuff for a bit. I'm heading back to school shortly and I'm trying to get some of my loose ends tidied up before then.