Egg-free potholders & other things

Well, I’ve been egg-free for a little more than 1 1/2 weeks and my eczema is starting to clear up.  3 cheers! Hip hip hooray!  That’s a pretty good Christmas gift I think.  So, in honor of this being a crappy season to have food allergies, I made these holly potholders for a friend who also has allergies and can’t eat most of the holiday goodies. The upside to not being able to eat all the goodies is that I’m not gaining the usual holiday pounds.

1. peppermint potholders, 2. Candy Cane Pot Holder, 3. Christmas potholders, 4. A modern Christmas – Jolly Pillow, 5. noel3, 6. IMG_6184-1, 7. Quilting Arts Gifts 2009, 8. For Paloma, 9. Close up of flower and quilting

The potholders were shamelessly copied from this inspiration board I made on Flickr with the Big Huge Labs’ mosaic maker. I really want to make Noel potholders too!  AND… the Christmas tree ones.  They are a free pattern over at Pink Chalk Fabrics.

I haven’t been doing much sewing this week. But I did finish these socks that had been languishing due to the fact that the foot on the second sock was knit too short and I had to rip it back to the heel.  It feels good to have those done!  The pattern is Pinked from Interweave Knits Winter 2010 issue. You can also buy the pattern in their online store. My fair isle knitting stinks. I really need to do more so that I get better at it!

And this was a secret project that was recently finished.  All of us at work made our boss a quilt and gave it to her last weekend! Each of us made a bunch of blocks and another quilted it and another sewed on the binding. The fabric is Christmas Candy by Riley Blake. And I made up the pattern in EQ to utilize a fat quarter tower (plus a little more fabric).  The back is pink minky dot. I wasn’t a huge fan of minky until one of my long-arm quilters brought into the shop her daughter’s quilt. Oh man was it cozy!  I think it might even be better than flannel! Seriously.

Can you believe that Christmas is just a little more than a week away?  This has been a slower-than-usual month for us this year. And I am really appreciating that!  I finally put the decorations on the tree today.  We had just put up the tree with lights after Thanksgiving and didn’t have the energy to do any more. Next week we are taking a “stay-cation.” Actually, just my hubby is taking off from work. But I only have to work one day next week, so essentially the rest of the week we are going to relax, sleep in, eat when we feel like it, nap when we feel like it, and generally do nothing unless we feel like it. A self-indulgent break.

Hope you all are enjoying the holidays!