The tissue holders will be stocking stuffers. I like to sneak something handmade into the stockings that I have access to on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This year this includes 15 stockings, so I had to choose wisely. I used the JCasa tutorial from Sew Mama Sew and wowie were they quick to put together! I had these cut and sewn within 2 hours! I highly recommend an assembly line if you’re going to tackle large quantities of the same product.
I love this Jay McCarroll fabric. I have a bunch of large scraps leftover and am thinking that they would work nicely on a child’s quilt for a local charity. Because I need to add another thing to my list!
I also finished a quilted tea cozy. This lovely cozy will be going to the host of our annual cookie exchange, who also happens to be my former viola teacher! She taught me from 3-12th grade and I’m so glad we are able to stay in touch. I used the Retro Mama pattern to assemble the cozy but I came up with the patchwork pattern on my own. She includes some great patchwork suggestions with the pattern but the size of my scraps just weren’t going to work. I took to Excel and came up with this simple design. This was my first try at designing my own patchwork pattern, and after the cozy was finished I realized that I should have accounted for the seam allowances as much of the red fabric on the top is cut off. Next time!
I am still pleased with how this turned out. I added an extra layer of insulation to make sure that the cozy is extra cozy. I had some drapery liner in my stash for reasons unknown (I think I picked it up for something out of the remnant bin at Joann), so I added that to the quilt sandwich, which included a layer of batting.
I have been in love with all of the horizontal quilting that I’ve seen lately, so that’s what I went with. And I love how it looks even if it did take quite a while to stitch all of those lines!
I highly recommend the Retro Mama pattern. It is really easy to understand and results in a sturdy and reversible tea cozy.
