Monday, December 31, 2012

It's the last day of 2012! and Christmas Placemats!

Today is the last day of 2012.  Can you believe it?  The years fly by so fast.

Snow day
We had snow on Christmas day - another unbelievable.
It started snowing around 4pm and snowed for several hours.  It had been in the 60's the day before but Texas weather changes at the drop of a hat.

Here's my son playing in the snow.
Placemats
Before Christmas I made some candy stripe placemats to match my new candy stripe table runner.  The placemats are reversible, though I only used the red and white striped side.  The red and white fabric came from the dissected table runner I mentioned in the previous post.  The other fabric is fabric from my stash.
Here is my mostly decorated table set for our Christmas meal.
 
 
 I got these cool square white plates at the Just a Dollar for $1 each.  Sweet!!

 Pics of the placemat backs.  Very festive!  Also, these could be used for several other holidays such as Valentine's Day, Independence Day, Memorial Day.  They are multiuse :)
 
 

I'm thinking about offering placemats in my etsy shop.  Maybe I'll start a whole kitchen theme since I already have aprons.

Have you been getting any crafting done during the holidays?  What have you been working on?

I hope everyone has a Happy New Years Eve and New Years Day!  Happy 2013!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all!


It's been a long time since I blogged but I'm going to try to catch up on my life in the coming weeks.  I don't like to ramble on and complain about life's crummy stuff but I wanted to share what's been going on in the hopes that someone who has or is experiencing the same thing might comment or give me some insight.

I've been having health problems for about the past 4 years.  However, the last year and a half, they have increased exponentially.  They have prevented me from blogging, sewing, cleaning my house, acting like a normal person, going outside, ----- you get the picture.  It's not been pretty.

But anyhoo, I've finally been diagnosed.  Fibromyalgia and Lupus.  Actually, my official diagnosis is Fibromyalgia and an unspecified connective tissue auto immune disease such as Lupus.  But since I'm being treated for Lupus, I'm just going to call it that.
It has made me feel craptacular 24/7 for the past year and a half.  But finally having a diagnosis and being able to learn about the diseases and read forum posts about what others are going through, makes me feel less alone.  It makes me feel less like I'm going crazy.  Less like I'm just a big ol'
 lazy slug who can't do anything.  Less like a burden.

I'm trying to keep a positive attitude although it's hard.  I'm trying to leave my house at least once a week to do something - even if it's just wander through Macy's or the mall.  I joined a sewing club at a local quilt shop.  Just anything to make me feel more normal.  I'm not to the point where I can start volunteering on a regular basis at my son's school again though, which makes me sad.

If anyone who is reading this blog has these same issues and would like to share with me how you cope or how someone you know copes, please email me or leave a comment.  I'd love to hear from you.

I have been able to do some crafting lately - due to some new meds that seem to be helping.  I have lots to share starting with a Christmas Candy Cane table runner that I've made.

It started with a red and white striped table runner that my MIL and I had done for a special thingy at her church.  I helped her decorate the table last year for it.  She didn't want to keep the runner and gave it to me.  I decided to dissect it and make a runner that was more to my liking.  So, I cut it up into pieces - enough for 6 striped placemats and a pieced runner.

 
 I added more cool fabrics pieces to make it a pieced runner.

 
I sewed the pieces together and ironed them flat and whatnot.

 
And voila', this is what it looked like before I quilted it.
 
 
I quilted it with some in-the-ditch decorative stitches that looked like snowflakes.  I'm still a newbie at quilting and boy is it harder than I thought - and I already thought it was hard!!
 
 
On my table, a red and white candy cane Christmas.
 
 
One of the mistakes I made was in using craft batting.  I thought I was out of cotton batting, so I used craft batting which is very fluffy, like fiberfill.  Then of course, I found my cotton batting.  I think the craft batting is going to go in the Goodwill box I've started.  I realllllllllly don't like the way it looks.
 
That's all for now.  I'm going to try to make more posts but keep them short - because I have a LOT to say. :)