Holiday Crafts

Every year my hubby's office hosts a Holiday handmade gift fair, where employees (or their families) donate handmade gifts that are sold at the fair, and then all the proceeds are used to purchase Christmas gifts for the homeless or foster kids in need.

I had originally planned on just donating this winter table runner ...

... but when I came across Jennifer's (from That Girl, That Quilt) tutorial over at Stash Manicure for a Mug Rug with a tea pocket, I decided to give to make a couple of extra gifts to donate as well.

I've been seeing these "mug rugs" around blogland for awhile now, and after making two of them, I understand why they're so popular!  I mean, what's not to love about using those scraps from your favorite projects (that probably were too small to save for anything "practical" but were too beautiful to throw away) to make such cute little mini-quilt-coasters that can be completely finished in an hour flat!!  Plus, I'm finding that it's a great way to use batting scraps too!  I always feel so wasteful throwing away all my quilt sandwich trimmings, so I love having a new use for them.

Besides working on these three little holiday projects, not a whole lot of sewing has been going on in my little crafting room.  I did, however, take advantage of some crazy good "Black Friday" sales going on over at Connecting Threads and Burgundy Buttons.  I guess I went a little overboard ... as in 26 yards, plus a jelly roll, plus a layer cake ...

It's a beautiful sight to me, but hubby wanted to know if I actually was planning on using any of the fabric I already have.  I guess they just don't understand. :)  Needless to say, however, my stash for the year is WAY out of control.  I think it's best just to accept them and get ready to do much better in 2011!

Since I did have some small finishes this week, here is my current stash update:

Stash Update: November 4th - December 9th:
Used: 1.5 yards ... whoop-dee-doo.
Bought: 34.34 yards ... yikes!  (biggest purchase of the year, btw)
YTD: +93.9 yards