Catching up after the crazy season

As if the winter holiday season weren't crazy enough as is, everyone in my family aside from me decided to be born in January.  It's totally crazy-making.  So, after not finishing my overly-ambitious goal of making quilted holiday stockings for everyone I know (I know - crazy!), I went straight into holiday madness with a trip to D.C. for Christmas, then back home for New Years, my son's birthday, my husband's birthday, a combined birthday party for the kids involving around 50 lbs of homemade play dough, and then my daughter's actual birthday.  Whew.

Before all that hit, I managed to get some of the stockings done, if only a fraction of my intended.

Here we have my beginnings when I was still hopeful of making all 30 or so stockings.

 I ended up succeeding in making stockings for my immediate family and Petunia's teachers but that was about it, I think.  The top row is the front and back of the one I gave to the eldest of my two younger brothers and his wife.  It has a mini-stocking in it for their baby who was just born this month.  The second row is the one that I sent to my sister and bother in law.  I included a close-up of the detail on the hanger loop since I was proud of it.  Each was made especially for its stocking and no two were alike.

I sewed up these little packets out of inside-out grocery bags for the stockings that we gave to Petunia's two teachers and the director of the school.  I was pleased at how they turned out and the teachers were too.

After all that work, sometimes I just want to lay down on the floor like this...

and take a nap.

This stocking has a small hole in it and it never got fixed so it was never gifted to anyone.  

I told myself I'd keep working on these things even after Christmas so that I could have them for next yet but, of course, it's not happening.  I have other things I'm working on though, like a non-fiber art black and white photography show at a local gallery.  I'm hoping to get back to work on my photo/fiber installation project as soon as I get the regular photo show finished up.

 One of the other seasonal holidays is, of course, Hanukkah and I finished one of my intended projects for that holiday... but it still hasn't been shipped to its intended recipient.

Here is the top.  I paper pieced the letters in light purple from a pattern I found online.  The rest was sewn together on the fly without too much forethought.

Here it is quilted.

And a detail of the metallic thread I used for quilting.

The back side of the challah cover makes it obviously a Hanukkah item but it could be used year round and just flipped over for Hanukkah.

A detail of some of my favorite quilting down at the bottom.  I feel like it has a super-hero sort of feel to it, which is appropriate considering its intended recipients.  It's bound and finished now.  I need to take pictures so I can send it on its way... a very early Hanukkah gift for next year, perhaps?