December Recap

I forgot to take photos of the 9 patch potholders.

I had a busy month of making for Christmas. First Saturday's Fiber Review at the Fiberology lab I was able to show off my candy block potholder and mug rug, as well as a square Christmas potholder I had made. I had a pack of mini charms that was from a Christmas collection a few years ago. I don't even remember how I got the pack now, but I decided it was the best time to use them up. I made a 9 patch block for the front and a pocket for the back. By the end of the month, I had made 15 potholders total with the candy blocks and the Christmas 9 patches. I gave them out to family, friends, and co-workers for Christmas. I also gave away two table toppers I had made and a small quilt. Tis the season for giving and I enjoyed sharing my hard work.

I also worked a bit on a snowflake cross stitch along from Stitchonomy. I admit I haven't' finished that one, but I did have fun while I could work on it. I also still have the pattern to work on later. Cross stitching is one of my hobby's I don't do very often.

Another project I started working on was a block in a block quilt. It's not got a name yet. I've run out of my background fabric, so I'm waiting to get some more before I take a photo. It's got a bright turquoise solid fabric I got from Joann's as my background. Last time I went on black Friday the fabric line it came from was on sale, but they didn't have any of that color left. Once I finish it, I plan on writing a pattern for it. I think it came out beautifully, but I may be biased since I created it.

Speaking of Black Friday, I mostly hit fabric stores. I got some solids on sale at Joann's and my local quilt shop had a progressive sale going on. I picked up a panel and two accent fabrics from the same line. I also stopped at Ulta and picked up a few beauty steals. Most of those went into Christmas presents for the family. I only kept the blush and the mascara from the picture to the right.

Overall the month was fun and busy. I got to spend lots of quality time with the family and give several of them handcrafted goodies.

I'm going to break from my tea routine for this post and bring out the Spirits. My cousin was in town and we toured some distilleries in Sevierville and Pigeon Forge. I picked up some flavored moonshine and a spiced Christmas wine. I had the wine on Christmas day with my cousin and her family. The moonshine came from two distilleries. From Ole Smokey in the Island area of Pigeon Forge, I picked up a Chocolate Chili moonshine. It was part of the last batch, so they didn't have any open for tasting anymore. From Tennessee Legend Distillery I got a Fiery Mango Margarita Moonshine. It's a nice spicy-sweet blend that is worth drinking as shots. The wine was from Mountain Valley Winery. It's a limited edition Winterfest red. The winery is part of a wine trail, that I suggest visiting if you get a chance. When you visit all the wineries, you get a free glass.