Mystery Project: Revealed

I hope this little project has been delivered to it's intended recipient... if not, I might be ruining the surprise.  Let's hope not; was supposed to be given today.  The back story: our school guidance counselor, somewhere in the middle of moving homes, had all 3 Red & Green Christmas totes~ brim-filled with decorations & memories~ stolen from her shed. Her daughters' hand-made ornaments; gone.  Precious gifts from students; gone.  Every single item that signifies Christmas for her family's home- gone.  Thinking about it makes me ill.  We each have sentimental objects that bring the spirit of the holiday's to our homes, families, and visitors... they may not be worth a single penny, monitarily... but are indeed priceless in every other aspect. She shared with me that she went to Goodwill to pick up some decor to get through this holiday season & then they'll begin to re-built what was taken after. 

Well, our data entry heard of this-- and an email was sent to every single staff member at school, minus her!  The plea was for ornaments... And we all know I don't follow directions very well.  :o)

At first, I thought I'd whip up some pattern of my own creation... right. With not much time left until the start of our "Winter Break"...not such a smooth idea.  Plan B: search through patterns, both on the computer & in the bookcase.  Nothing jumped out at me.  Plan C: lament failure(s) of Plans A & B. Re-group.  Rummage though all Christmas/winter seasonal fabric.  Came up empty-handed.  Now, at this point, I'm thinking that an ornament doesn't sound half-bad.

Enter Plan D: look through kits that are sitting in the closet shelves waiting for attention.  Bonanza!!! Table runner pattern that I got on mad clearance (Connecting Threads~ good stuff.)  There was a choice to make either a fall-themed runner with flower applique, or.. ::cue eyebrows::  ...a snowman.  But, if you follow the directions to a perfect-T... you can make only one.  See 2nd paragraph: I don't follow directions.  There's enough fabric to get 2-- TWO-- runner tops out of it if you work it right.  So, out of the fabric kit, I pulled the red, green, & cream/browns for her snowman.  The (very) provencal yellows & blues are left for another day.

These were the fabrics that I chose... even though they're floral notes, it's still a holiday-esque grouping. 

And this would be the pattern to the kit that I half-followed... cuz that's how I roll... 

And so, with that selected & managed... I was off to the sewing!  Now mind you, I *heart* the triangle-y ends.  (cue sarcasm...)  They're great but they're seriously my least favorite thing in the world to BIND.  We'll get to that part of the story later. 

Here's the center part of the runner-- borders missing! 

With borders! The border fabric I already had cut into 2.5" strips in my stash... leftovers from another project. 

So I assemble the tops & then my aptitude for applique vanishes. Gone. Not in the mood to cut out applique, reverse patterns so that the snowman's face is looking in the other direction. Yada, yada, yada.  And, more to the point, it would take up fabric from the next table runner.  So now we're down to another Plan... and this time I remembered that I had some die-cuts... snowmen & Christmas trees. Thank you Keepsake Quilting! (The trees look like arrows; haven't used any yet. But very cute nonetheless.)  How to position them was my next bridge to cross. Should they face one direction... should they alternate... should I leave them plain or add accessories... Too many choices for 3 simple snowmen!!! 

So this, in the end, is what I decided.  Alternating & plain. If I got all fancy-schmancy, it would take away from the country charm that the fabric already had.  (And yes, it was less work.) I had fabric in the Holiday stash that was a perfect blend into this fabric medley... and I used up a piece of left-over batting. Great mini-stash-buster project. It was also best, IMHO, to keep the quilting to a bare minimum.  Let the fabric speak for itself.  A humble little project that~ thankfully~ stitched itself up fairly quickly! 

Ta-Da! Finished product.  Humble, but festive... :o) 

Now.  A word about binding.  I sincerely stink at this part of the project.  The pre-made bindings are all I've really ever used~ and I even stink at sewing those on.  Perhaps over break I can find some time to devote to self-binding-help uTube videos; preferably ones that avoid hand stitching. Holy time consuming!  If you look closely at the finished product picture, there were places where I had to do & re-do and re-re-do the binding. So.Annoying.  

But, the project is finished... and given away.  And, in doing something like this for a deserving person, my bucket gets filled.  This is why I do what I do & will never charge.  I hope this little runner has a place in their home & reminds them that while some Scroogey-McScrooge tried to steal their Christmas... there are so many more who work for the greater good in humanity.  It may just be in your small little corner of the world... like me... but kindness spreads.  And it's catching. 

Now that I'm on vacation... and all the papers to grade were left at school... my time needs to be devoted to my family & my poor fabric pile.  Two UFO's are gone.  Time to write the projected 2012 Project List!! Yay!!! 

With that... keep your loved ones close... and remember the Real reason for the Season; regardless of what holiday you celebrate.  

Happy Quilting!!! :o)