Christmas Quilting Projects

When will I take my own advice and start my quilting gifts in January?  Here it is December 22 and I have been churning out Christmas quilting projects like a maniac for the last three weeks.  I did fit in some cookie baking and more shopping both on-line and in-line.  Last night's 6 o-clock news featured the hectic shopping experience of people fighting for parking and last minute store-bought stuff.  I blurted out, "Hey, why not give them home made pot holders?"  You should have seen the look on my husband's face.  I got a dose of perspective.
So instead of my usual evening of finishing one more project late into the night, I sat down with my mother and watched the new, improved Sound Of Music.  The improvement was subtitles of all the words to all the songs.  Trust me, I don't need help.  I can sing every song in my sleep.  My rule has always been, if the Sound Of Music is on, nothing else matters.  Since I don't watch much tv, I thought that the commercial breaks would kill me.  I kept my iPad next to me so I could cruise Pinterest during the ads.
Here are a couple of items hot off the press and already in the hands of my giftees.

 This little wall hanging of wonky houses and pine trees went to a charity auction.  The pattern has been in my library for over twenty years and it has called to me more than once.  It was tons of fun to sew up but the cutting was mucho tedious.  Something like 80 or 90 different scraps.  Not sure that I will ever do it again but you never know.

My cousin's husband cuts quilting templates out of plexiglass…for a living.  How cool is that.  Scott knew that I have this little quilting obsession so he gave me several templates recently.  He is much more concerned with the engineering involved in laser cutting and all that precision but he doesn't get to see the results of his labors.  So I used his Tumbler template and made him a table runner.

Both of these projects were from my stash and neither one made a dent in it.  Now I'm making tons of the most adorable pot holders and bowl potholders for the microwave as gifts for friends and neighbors.  Maybe I should stand in line for some cheese logs to go with them.  Nope, don't think so!