On the magazine rack now! Quilting Arts Magazine Gifts - Holiday Issue

The new Holiday 2009 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine Gifts is now on the newsstands!

Making its third annual appearance, this one stands out amongst the rest of the other sewing/quilting/crafting holiday magazine issues. There are lots of very creative and new ideas for gifting (and keeping for yourself!).

• "Sugared" fruit
• Christmas tree hot pads (shown on the cover)
• No Bake "Cookies"
• Loopy wreath and garland
• Cool Cube ornaments
• Scarves - patchwork, scrappy leaf; just to highlight a few
• Fiber jewelry
• Name-tag purses - perfect for Quilt Festival!
• All kinds of cool cases for your gadgets

All in all, a packed issue with 20 gift projects and 14 seasonal decor ideas. Grab it when you see it!

Christmas in July?!

Hee-hee! I just hit the next song button on my iPod and it starting playing, "O Holy Night"! I guess the odds are pretty good, as I have several versions of it. It's my favorite Christmas carol/hymn - so powerful, gives me chills. Shouldn't we keep Christmas in our heart all year round anyways?!

First and last - Barnes and Noble haul - Part 1

The last issue of Domino and the first issue of Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Magazine. Also all of Barnes and Noble's Red Dot sticker items are only $1, today through tomorrow. We got three boxes of Christmas cards worth over $46 for less than $3.

FREE Amy Butler Patterns!

The current December/January Mary Engelbreit Home Companion issue has an article on Amy Butler and free patterns for the holiday projects featured. How nice of her to do that! It's never to early to start planning and sewing for Christmas 2009...

• Napkin rings and reversible napkins
• Gift box sashes
• Snow mum pillow (this caught my eye!)
• Felt stocking
• Tree skirt
• Tree forest
• Cards and signs
• Holiday gift tags

Click here for the link to download free!

---------

Lala is correct, Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazine is looking for a new publisher. Click to read the Press Release from October 13. Hopefully by now they have found one and a new issue will be on the stands soon!

---------

Update- February 28, 2010 - Apparently and unfortunately Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion and her website no longer exists.

However, as of today, here is a still-working link of several free and current Amy Butler patterns, available as a PDF download.

New link for free Amy Butler Patterns (here's my updated blog post with the list)

Thanks for searching and finding my blog! I hope you stick around and plan a return visit!

Headstart Christmas 2009

What I didn't have time to finish (OK, begin) for Christmas 2008, I now have a headstart for Christmas 2009! Before I repacked and reshuffled my Christmas fabric containers, I wanted to try these tiny stockings. After making these two, it would definitely be a production sewing-style project. Very cute for ornaments, garland, even gift cards (just make them a tad wider). They measure just under 6" tall. I thought the pinked edge was a nice touch and eliminated the extra step to turn inside out after sewing. And even easier - the heel and toe are fused to the stocking with paper-backed fusible web. The project is from Country Woman Christmas 1999, on page 92