February 7, 2012

Ahead Of The Game...

I decided that this year, I'm going to have Christmas gifts finished by October at the latest! That means that I need to do a little each month throughout the year. I don't have that many gifts to make, but it always seems to end up a mad dash in December.

My friend, Krisann got me going to use cloth napkins last year. Less paper use/waste and a nice touch for the dinner table. I made all those napkins (here) for the camper and Handsome and I have really enjoyed using them.

With that in mind, I decided that sets of handmade dinner napkins might be a good gift to have on hand. I think they'll be appreciated, and I can select fabrics with certain people in mind. While the napkins I made for the Flying Cloud are slightly smaller (14 1/2"), I'm making sets of four 18" double-sided napkins for my gifts.

I actually finished two sets over the weekend (among other things), but apparently didn't take a photo of one of the sets. I guess I'll do that later and then save it for of future post showing more finished sets.
By the end of yesterday, I had also cut and prepared one more set. These are the fabrics I chose for the third set.  (Did I ever tell you that I adore paisley?) I can't wait to sew these and choose the fabrics for the next set! I'm actually getting good at assembly-line sewing the sets and they're working up pretty quickly now.

I'm really going to like being ahead for a change! Once I finish this set, I'll be back to working on the Scrappy Dresden Plates quilt and a Blissfull ATC Swap Group trading card this week. The theme for the artist trading card is "Alice in Wonderland". I'm going to enjoy making a card that reflects that theme.

Have a great day and remember to do something fun today!

10 comments:

  1. I love, love, love the napkins you are making. Where do you find these great fabrics? I also love paisley!

    Someday I'd like to get you to make me a set using purple and green. I have a gorgeous set of china that has handpainted violets on it.

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  2. Donna,
    Just beautiful. I am still in my knitting mode but started to cut a quilt. This weather has been gorgeous!

    Carol

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  3. Lovely! I especially like the addition of decorative stitching around the perimter. Great idea! Makes me want to try some of the built-in stitches on my machine, that I hardly ever use. Instead, I will be spending much of today sitting in the dentist's chair! At least, I can think and dream about sewing!

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  4. Good for you getting things done before Oct. I have a similar goal for the presents this year!! I love the Owl napkins, so cute! Owls are one of my favs!!

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  5. Excellent plan to work forward. Your napkin sets are indeed wondetful gifts everyone would cherish. Happy stitching dear...

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  6. I love nice linen and paisley too. The owl fabric is also very cute. You have a great eye for fabrics Donna.

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  7. Hi Donna, that paisley is very pretty. :)
    I also decided to try and make some gifts for Xmas early in the year. I did see a great tutorial for an apron made from charm squares and I would like to make a couple perhaps in Xmas fabrics, or one side of them as they are lined so I could make reversible ones. :)

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  8. Love the owl fabric, good for you getting a jump on Christmas.

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  9. These are too cute! I'm hoping to do the same this summer- finish things early!
    xo to you and little man,
    Tina

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  10. Good idea Donna about being ready in advance. I used to always be ready by August and then when it was time for the sales near Christmas I could just go for fun. I made it this past year by the skin of my teeth because I decided to make so many quilts. I won't ever take on that challenge again :)
    It will be fun seeing what you make. When you put a back on the napkins do you do any stitching to hold them together? Just curious :)
    Hugs
    Nancy

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Thank you so much for leaving a comment today. I'm using new settings on my comments so that I'll be able to respond to your messages to me. Be sure to come back to see my replies!

Blessings, Donna