Every Thanksgiving for the past (!) five, I've ridden down to Maryland to have Thanksgiving with Patrick's family. It only took me one hectic, nerve-racking, slightly-more-speedy-than-I'm-used-to trip to know what I needed. Confined to the passenger side of my level-headed though lead-footed and left-lane-loving husband's car, I found myself biting my nails, bracing a little as we zoomed up on the bumper of one pokey unsuspecting car after another, in pursuit of our destination.(Patrick is a good driver, really. I just grew up with a very conservative, careful, patient driver... and Patrick is, to put it mildly, more assertive.)
What I needed was to be stitching. I needed something to busy my hands and detach my mind, something to give me some purpose and delight. Thus began an annual series, of sorts.
As ALL of you surely know, I am a gift-maker. Ever since that first Thanksgiving ride, I've planned my Christmas making with one good, sink-your-teeth-into-it handwork project, to bring with me on the road to Maryland. Last year, it was my sister-in-law's quilt. The year before, a bag for my mom. This year, my friend Kat has purchased a house. By herself. This fact calls for celebration, and so, I am making her a table runner.
It was the first Christmas project I began, back here in this post. The first step was turning all those squares into patches, with fusible interfacing, and pressing them down. Then I spent the better part of a month blind-stitching all the edges. Now I'm ready to quilt it together, and ready for the ride to Maryland. It should keep my hands busy, and my mind elsewhere.
What Christmas preparations have you begun?
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1 comments:
It's looking really gorgeous, Kristina. Now for the cringing-when-anyone-puts-anything-on-it!!! :-)
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