Happy birthday to Alex!

I had two full days off — yesterday and today — between Christmas with my family in Fernandina and taking Alex somewhere (secret!) for his 30th birthday. Our flight takes off at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow, so we’ll be up and on the road very, very early. I don’t even want to think about how early we have to wake up.

Alex had to work today, so I had the entire day to myself to run errands, do laundry, finish up some projects and get ready for our trip. But I slept late, had a leisurely breakfast, and spent the morning watching HGTV and sipping coffee.

And then I noticed we only had two Christmas cookies left.  

Um…I mean one Christmas cookie.

Oh, who am I kidding. We now have zero Christmas cookies left. I’m actually quite shocked they lasted that long. My mom, sister and I made a large batch of them from an old recipe that came from my grandfather’s family. My mom has been making the cookies since she was a kid, and has made them every year since my sister and I were born, and I hope to pass the recipe on to my kids someday. The recipe is pretty simple, but baking them together is what makes it so special. And they’re amazingly delicious.

Around 11 a.m. today, I realized Alex would be home in just a few hours, and I had several big things that needed to be completed before he got home in order to keep the destination of our trip a surprise for as long as possible. That got me off the couch very, very quickly.

Among several secret birthday-related things, I also finished a gift that I’ve been working on using the fabrics I mentioned in a previous post. I love working with my new sewing machine. It’s a huge step up from my old machine, which would screw up stitches and jump from side to side for no apparent reason. It’s so nice not to have to worry about that anymore. 

Because this gift is for someone who hasn’t received it yet, I don’t want to give too much away. But I really love the fabric combination, and I’m very happy with how the whole thing turned out.

Alex and I will be out of town until Jan. 1, and I won’t be writing any posts until we get back. But when I write next, I’ll be able to tell you where we went!

Enjoy your last few days of 2007, and Happy New Year to everyone!

Sewing machines and pops of red

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I spent several relaxing days with my family in Fernandina. We opened gifts together on Christmas morning, and then I drove back to Tampa to celebrate Christmas that evening with Alex.

The gift I’m most excited about — because of all the possibilities it brings — is the sewing machine that my parents gave me. I’ve been sewing for years on a very basic machine that did the job, but with zero bells and whistles. It’s been a great little machine, but I knew it was time to move on to bigger and better. And, more importantly, sturdier.

This is my old machine sitting in front of the new one. The old one looks so tiny! I spent much of today sewing on the new machine, and I must say, I love it. It’s so smooth and easy to use.

Alex gave me three beautiful prints for Christmas that he purchased on Etsy from an artist named Elsita.

Her work is really amazing. The prints are even better in person. The colors are so rich.

I love the pops of red in each image.

Alex’s 30th birthday is on Dec. 28, and I have a big surprise trip planned for him. He knows we’re going somewhere, but he doesn’t know where. So far, he knows that we’re taking a plane, and that we’re going someplace colder than Tampa. (That last hint doesn’t eliminate too many places.) We’ll be flying home on Jan. 1. January?! 2008?! ALREADY?!?!?!  

I plan to update The Boutique in early January, after things have calmed down a little bit. I love making gifts for people, but I can’t wait to get back to making stuff “just because.”  

Christmas in Florida

Having grown up in Pennsylvania, I still find it strange that I can spend an afternoon in late December doing this.

I’m not supposed to be wearing a tank top and flip-flops in December! It’s supposed to be cold and windy and snowy. Don’t get me wrong — I love the weather here in Florida. But even after living here for years, it still feels weird to spend Christmas in shorts on the beach.

Let’s be real, though. What I really miss about living up north is having snow and wind and ice on Christmas. On that particular day, it’s cozy and fun and beautiful. Any other time, it’s just a huge pain. I remember skidding my way to work on icy mornings with everyone driving 20 miles an hour on the highway, except that one stupidly brave SUV who sprays dirty slush onto everyone’s windshield as it flies by. Not. Fun. At. All.

That’s the fabric combination for my final Christmas project, which unfortunately will go out a little late this year. More on that another time. Don’t want to give too much away just yet.

This time, it was Quinn, and not Nola, who had to get in on the action.

I’m sure Quinn’s thought process went something like this: “I’m just lying here in this sunbeam, minding my own business. But wait. Is that a pile of fabric? Are you taking a picture of FABRIC? Instead of ME? Well, we’ll see about that. We’ll just see about that.”

You’d think we ignore them based on the amount of attention they demand, but trust me, they’re the most spoiled cats in the world.

I leave today right after work for my parents’ house. I can’t wait to get the holidays started. I love Christmas. I love buying or making gifts for people who are special to me. I love wrapping paper and curly ribbon. I love Christmas trees and twinkly lights and watching movies with my family. It’s my favorite time of year. Yes, even in sunny Florida.

Happy and safe holidays everyone!

All Toby Toted out

I completed the final bag for Chellie’s special order last evening.

A brown Toby Tote lined in blue and white with dark red handles.

Feels great to be able to cross something off the list. Tonight, as soon as I’m done with this post, I’ll start (and hopefully finish) a Christmas gift for someone, and then another one tomorrow night. Thursday night is set aside for wrapping gifts, and it also gives me a bit of leeway in case I’m not able to finish everything tonight and tomorrow. Then Friday, right after work, I leave for my parents’ house, and that’s it! No sewing for at least a week!

I’m not panicking. I have plenty time to finish everything. But I’ll certainly be very busy the rest of this week.

Off to sew!

Living in the fabric store

As I’m typing, Nola is sprawled out on my lap. Every now and then, Alex will call her name, and she’ll jump up, walk across the table, and plop into his lap. Then I’ll call her name, and she’ll cross back over to my lap. I love, love, love how she always has to be involved in everything. Here’s a picture of her from yesterday’s TreeFall “photo shoot.”

She’s hiding behind the blue tissue paper like I won’t figure out that she’s there. Clever little thing, isn’t she?

One of my favorite steps in creating a new item for someone is picking out the fabric. It’s an exhilarating and integral part of the process, and I’ve spent hours poring over bolt after bolt of fabric. Sometimes I wish I could live there. Right in the Quilters Premium aisle.

Today, my goal was to find fabrics for a gift for Alex’s mother, so he came with me and joined in the process. And he actually enjoyed it. And having him there with me was wonderful. He likes that we’re making the gift personal by spending time picking out just the right fabrics, and that his mother is going to get a one-of-a-kind gift. I love having him so involved.

I finished Chellie’s ivory Toby Tote yesterday.

I worked with interfacing for the first time. I’d like to buy some heavier interfacing to incorporate into a larger, sturdy men’s messenger bag. That’s an after-the-holidays sort of project. No time these days!

Chellie’s tote is made of ivory corduroy and lined in green and cream with deep plum handles. There’s a removable fabric-covered plastic canvas base for extra support.

I have one bag left to make for Chellie’s order, and then I need to (quickly) move on to Christmas gifts. I’m thrilled to get to hand-make so many gifts this year, but it certainly is time-consuming. However, I think it’s worth it, and I hope the recipients think so too.