Playing catch-up

It actually feels like Christmas outside this morning at my house - or at the very least, it feels like winter.  It's in the upper 40's (which for south Florida is mighty cold!) and gusty, almost blustery.  Cheesy as it is, this cold weather makes me smile, makes me feel a little more festive.  I'm really excited for the holidays this year.  I think this is going to be a really special Christmas this year.  The munchkin is three-going-on-four and Christmas is super magical to him this year, so I've spent a good chunk of time this last week or so having holiday fun with him and the husband.

We saw Santa over the weekend, enjoyed a holiday parade and tree lighting, and even went to see a Symphony in Lights (a humongous Christmas tree that lit up in time with holiday music).  The munchkin saw a local dance crew perform a few excerpts from The Nutcracker as well, which he enjoyed immensely.  It's so fun to see how excited he gets about all of these holiday festivities.

Now that Christmas is only another 16 days away (OMG!!!!!!!!), I'm starting to feel the usual holiday rush.  The holy-cow-how-am-I-going-to-get-all-these-presents wrapped rush.  The how-many-Christmas-cookies-am-I-making rush.  I'm trying to keep my cool, because that's not the only deadline fast approaching - I've still got a mountain of sewing to do before Betsy 2.0 goes in for her yearly cleaning (in just ten days, eek!).  I'm making progress, though, and I think I will be able able to wrap things up in time.  Knock on wood.  :)

I got my Secret Santa Swap package to the post office last week, and I'm just crossing my fingers that my partner will get it by Christmas!  I sent off some fabulous holiday candy along with a copy of Block Party and a little Half Moon Modern mini that I made.

I did finish making a successful pair of PJ pants for the munchkin, though I wrapped them before I thought to take a finished picture - this is a photo of the "secret" fitting I had with him.  Clearly, I made them large enough for a grown-up, by accident, but that was a lot easier to fix and adapt to the right size than when I made them too small.  Phew.  Glad that bit of sewing is done - my brain just doesn't work for garment sewing, it doesn't make sense to me!!

I'm shipping off a little gift to a special sewing friend today and I'm hoping it will brighten her day and make her laugh.  I felt super inspired last week to make something for her and just couldn't stop myself.  After she gets it, I'll show you the rest...

I officially finished the very last bit of my holiday sewing last night, finishing up a pair of potholders for all of my immediate family, and I think they turned out pretty well.  I used Keykalou's (love her!) Just a Pinch potholder pattern, which is super easy to follow.  Highly recommend it :)  Naturally, I only managed to take a picture of the pair I made for the munchkin's preschool and not the other 5 pairs of potholders, but I can assure you, they're all quite cute.

I also finished up the quilt top for my Charmed Prints Quilt Along-inspired quilt, though I did make a big oops when I was assembling the top.  I forgot to add the sashing between the rows, so rather than unpicking the rows, which made my stomach turn, I adjusted the sashing border around the blocks so the quilt would go back to being square.

My Bake Shop quilt is coming along relatively smoothly, although it feels super slow - I'm finishing up the blocks today and hope to finish it up this weekend if I can.  Now that my holiday sewing is done, I'm hoping I can turn up the heat on this quilt and get it done before I have to send my machine in!

 
And because I need another project much like I need another beagle mix dog who eats blinds and coloring books (remind me to tell that story another day!), I do indeed have another project, but it's the secret kind.  It does involve these yummy fabrics, though!

So, how are you doing?  I feel like I've been so out of the loop this last week, so if I haven't visited your blog, please forgive me, I'm trying to catch up now!  Are you feeling the holiday rush or taking things easy?  Have a wonderful day :)