Embroidering Christmas Ornaments

 I have been sewing since November 12, frantically trying to get the grandkids' Christmas ornaments made and to them before Thanksgiving. I missed that deadline, but they will go out tomorrow so they will still be able to enjoy them much of the holiday season.

I made a sort of "spread sheet" on the table as I made them - that helped me keep track of who I still had to sew for.

Sarah's family.

Jessica's family.

Kyle's family.

Lisa's ornament. She made the sign that quotes Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, "He uses his keys, his Santa Claus keys!"

Curt's family.

Cole's family. (The flamingo's legs are supposed to be ridiculously long.)

Some individual look at the ornaments ( mostly so I will have reference photos in the future):

The first practice one - I like it so much I'm going to hang it on my own tree!

I wasn't happy with the neon green when I made Addie's so I made a second one.

Kyle said he liked the darker one and I agreed with him.

So, Addie is getting that one.

I experimented with background color a lot on Baby Yoda.

The pattern called for the pink outline and the pink by the eyes but I did not like those and left them off.

Trying a charcoal felt for Baby Yoda's pram.

Since the blaze on the gingerbread pony looked a lot to me like a unicorn's horn, I made unicorns!

Experimenting with colors.

I am going to make this flamingo for Anne Field and Jennifer Buxton, my Flamingo Pond buddies.

I absolutely love this gingerbread owl.  It is from Memories in Stitches, a UK virtual store. 

Not an accurate photo of Julie's cat - lighting is WAY off.

See what I mean?

Some of these are for family while others are for the sisters I minister to as well as my ministering partner and the woman who ministers to me.

The kids' ornaments, all wrapped and ready to go.

Talk about a marathon stitching project!

Pandemic Sewing

I am staying at home during the pandemic as asked by Indiana's governor. But even though I am retired and home quite a bit already, I have felt restless. I like to sew, I like to serve, and so what better way to do something worthwhile than to sew masks?

I looked at several online patterns and tutorials before selecting the pattern I liked best.

I have lots and lots of fabric on hand, both in the form of scraps from other projects as well as fabrics that I have bought because I liked them and knew that I could find something to make with them. (Every sewist does that, and we pile up tubs and tubs of fabrics!)

 Small prints work best for the masks and I have plenty of that in the fabrics I use to sew quiet books.

Other past sewing projects have included Christmas stockings, pillowcases, tablecloths, and pot holders. Leftover fabrics from those work well.

 The adult masks aren't hard to make, but the children's masks are so tiny and more difficult. This set is for Jessica and her family in Utah.

Since people around the world are sewing masks, too, there is a real shortage of 1/4 inch elastic, and I have had to get creative since I ran out of my supply yesterday.

I had some colorful rolled elastic and tried that in the masks for Julie, Kate, and Susie in Nashville.

Their mama is getting this fabric (one of my favorite fabrics ever!) and I am still working on Cole's plain black one. He gets my last two pieces of elastic.

Lisa asked for orange fabric, and Craig requested argyle.

I still need to hear from Sarah, Kyle, and Curt if they need masks, too, and I need one as well. I will choose something horsey, of course.

I love all three of these and have enough to make pot holders, tablecloths, and aprons out of them, but I think I can spare an 8 x 14 inch rectangle to make my own mask.

Now I wait on more 1/4 inch elastic. Everywhere in town is sold out as are the online sewing places I shop. Amazon has it, but it comes from China and there is a two week to one month wait to get it here. I'll either have to use the rolled elastic for myself or keep digging and see if I can find another source.

In the meantime, it has felt good to use my sewing skills to help out my family. And if I am able to get more elastic, I'd like to make some for the two local hospitals as well.