I’ve been working on some convertible totes and nesting baskets, now I’ve got to write up the patterns. These are headed to be photographed tomorrow:

I’ve got to get the patterns written up this week, and I’m back teaching at the day job tomorrow, so I’ll be a bit scarce here this week!

One other commission I had to complete before Christmas was a convertible clutch. A family had visited me in my booth at a show this Fall and the Mom really loved my clutches, but they were a bit too short to fit an epi-pen she has to carry everywhere because the little boy is very allergic to nuts. So the Dad and his 2 kids came to my open studio and the kids picked out the colors and motif for the clutch, and I made one an inch wider than usual:

I got it finished just in time for him to give it to her for Christmas – I hope she liked it!

Now that all the presents have been safely given, I can show you what I made for my Candy Claus list!

I made a couple of botanical sketch pillows, one for my Mom (to complete the set of 3 of pillows I made for a Quilting Arts TV segment last summer, I gave them to her for her birthday) and the famous Debbie (my cleaning lady, the creator of 2 “Debbie days” every month, she loves lemon and lime colors).

My niece Kendyll really wanted a going green scribbler:

I used Erin Erickson’s tutorial to make these cute circle zip earbud pouches for all my nieces (and a step-grand-niece). These were quick to make and are really sturdy (I used fusible fleece, next time I’ll use a thinner batting.

And finally, my niece Madison wanted an over the shoulder tote that fitted a bunch of spiral notebooks that she uses in school. I made a version of this bag years ago, and have never got around to making another one. I knew she’d need lots of pockets to keep all sorts of stuff, so I thought this bag style would be perfect. I designed it with the handles attached between a seam on the side rather than the top; attaching them in the top seam is such an awkward way of doing it, I’ve never been happy making totes that way. There are pockets on the outside as well as the inside.

All the presents were happily received!

One of the things I finished for my upcoming shows is some more Going Green Totes. These are ready made cotton canvas totes I buy, dye and embellish with my “Free Motion Machine Sketching”. There’s not much profit in these, so I never get them listed for sale on my website, but if you’d like to buy one from these pix, just let me know and I would be happy to send you a bigger picture and/or a paypal invoice (they’re in the $22-$25 range).

Oh, and I’ve started the run up to my most awesome birthday ever, on 11-11-11 with 11% off everything in my shop, just enter “11-11-11″ at checkout!

I’m fast and furiously finishing things for my show that starts Friday night and runs all weekend! Here are 6 new convertible clutches:

I’ve got more things finished too…no time yet to process the pix – I’ve got labels and signs to make!

P.S. Today (Thursday) is the last day for my DVD pre-order special…thank you SO MUCH for your support!