Christmas table runners

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We celebrated small here at our house.  It was good...it was our first Thanksgiving without Baba (my grandma) and so it was nice to stay intimate and low key.  I did miss the craziness of lots of people, but it all worked out.  After the holiday our good friends made a stop over for the weekend...it was so awesome to see them....my soul needed it!

Before Thanksgiving I worked on some Christmas table runners.  I gifted one and so now I can share!  These are so fun to make.  Choosing all the different fabrics is so much fun.  I used holiday fabrics but I think they would be fun in winter fabrics too....guess I'll have to find time to try one of those for after Christmas.

I cut out 15 strips each 2 1/2 by 11 inches.  I sewed them together in a pleasing pattern without being too repetitive or symmetrical and after pressing all the seams, I ironed some fusible batting to the back of the strips.  After that, I created a frame with four strips of fabric that I wanted to look like binding.  From that point on, it's merely sewing it together like you'd do to make a pillow.

Once everything is turned right side out, I press really well and then stitch in the ditch on the inside of the frame.  Stitching in the ditch is when you stitch right in the crevice that the seam leaves.  This doesn't really show up, but it does do a nice job of anchoring the front to the back.

As soon as the table was cleared from Thanksgiving I had mine out!  It looks really pretty with an old black tray, some greenery and a jar candle.  Tis the Season!!!  Stay Jolly and enjoy all of your days!

MIA

I've been missing in action around these parts....for multiple reasons, but I've missed being here, so I'm hopeful to be back here more regularly.  Here's a quick peek at what's been going on via my instagram photos.  I haven't taken any pictures with my 'real' camera lately, but I am sure that will be changing soon because basketball season has started and my girls have their first game tomorrow.

For book club last month, we read The Great Gatsby and came dressed for the discussion.   I think the book was chosen merely for the costume factor.  Most of us found the book lacking in positive role models.  We came away feeling sorry for the characters and their hollow, self centered lives.  What we decided is that they really needed to get involved in some kind of charity work and get outside themselves!  Anyways, this is my mom and I with our glamorous cigarettes....mom kept losing hers in the egg casserole!  Isn't she adorable!?

We made it through Hurricane Sandy with very minor damage...it was so good to wake up the next morning and see all our trees still standing!  This one is right outside our front door.  We were praising the Lord for His protection.

We don't celebrate Halloween but we couldn't resist getting dressed up for $2 burritos from Chipotle.  We met our friends (along with about 100 other people) and brought dinner back to the house.  It was a fun night of catching up with dear friends.  (John who was taking this photo was dressed up as a coach....how original!)

 My two sweet girls hacked my instagram with their ever expressive faces.... they are such jewels!

 We got to go over to Morgantown, WV for a football game.  There was snow on the way over and we had every blanket and jacket we owned with us!  We tailgated before the game with my aunt and uncle and 850 other fans.  My uncle tailgates before every home game in a tent bigger than my house.  He and about 15 other guys cook and serve the best food right outside the stadium.  They've been doing it for years...and it was great to be a part of it again.  They know how to tailgate....we're talking flat screen tvs, heaters, tables with tablecloths, and a completely themed gourmet meal!

 The Mountaineers ended up losing the game in overtime...but we had such a great time we didn't even seem to mind the loss...or else we were so numb we didn't know what we were doing...our feet and noses were frozen...it was cold!

 I got another cold and this time I ended up at the doctor's with a sinus infection.  On my way home from the doctor's I stopped for a bit of medicine at Joann's....isn't this the cutest fabric!  No idea what I'm going to do with it, but I couldn't resist.

 Maggie finished all of her applications for college a while ago and the acceptance letters have been arriving. It's been very exciting.  We've been thanking the Lord all along the way.  The final school that she has yet to hear from, won't send theirs until mid-December, but they did interview her via skype the other day.  She wore her glasses (they make her look scholarly) and she did a fabulous job.  I kept peeking in and listening.  I'm so proud of her and the hard work she's put in, but I'm more proud of how she keeps turning to the Lord for wisdom and direction.  She's right where she needs to be...waiting on the Lord!

 I found this scripture in one of my notebooks and it was just what I needed that particular day.  I've been fighting some type of cold/allergy/sinus thing for about a month and I was just so sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.  It was a timely reminder to me that His mercies are new every morning....and that's a good thing, because I've been using more than my share of those mercies every day (along with the tissues and the decongestant)!

I did get a bit of sewing in that I'll be able to share in the next week or so.  We're going to be on break this coming week...we all need a chance to breathe and with all of our classes taking a break for Thanksgiving, we decided to do the same.  I'm planning on doing some decorating for the holidays and catching up on some reading and scrapbooking!  Hopefully it won't be a month before I'm back here...but in case it's not before Thursday - Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!