Almost Thanksgiving. For some reason, even though grocery store circulars and recipe emails have been touting our national day of thanks for some time, mid November still surprises me. My intuitive calendar remains stuck somewhere in October. However, almost all our leaves our down, save this surprising flame bush, and the tree silhouettes outside the windows where I write are brown and spindly in contrast to the lush green foliage of the previous season. We are heading into winter's hibernation....sigh. I am not quite ready to do that.
But despite that weird internal calendar, I have been sewing a bit in preparation for Christmas. A few simple potholders--gifts for Alex's teacher, Jamie's daycare provider, and for whomever else I decide to give them too Easy and quick and fun to put together. Basically I cut:
one 4 1/2" h square for the center
two 2 1/4 x 4 1/2" strips
two 2 1/4" x 8" strips.
Sew the shorter strips on the top and bottom first and then sew the long strips to the side.
Cut the back and batting (about 8 1/2" squares) and quilt.
Sew on the binding with 1/4" seam allowance (One potholder takes about 40" of binding, I cut 2 1/4" strips) and finish either by machine or hand stitching. Ta dah!
Even though I drag my November heels, I confess to thinking about Christmas. This year, I want to stress less and celebrate more. I overhead wise counsel for women for the season of celebration--"be a host, not a martyr." Part of our family will be here for Thanksgiving and our whole family will gather for Christmas. The thought of that warms my heart, and I get excited with thoughts of preparations. This year, we are going to try something new with our big Campbell family time. With two now-growing families, my sister-in-law still seeking work in this challenging economy, and my husband and I who are trying to downsize our stash of stuff, we all decided to pick names for our gift exchange. We each will buy one gift (and Jim and I will fill stockings). The only exception will be for the children or a handmade gift. A true blessing of the season is simply being together. With our family spread up and down the East coast, those times when all the leaves expand the table are preciously few. Laughter, chatter, bodies bumping into each other in the kitchen, and toys strewn all over the house will be the best and most lasting gifts for all of us.
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