2010 Stocking Give A-Way

As I mentioned a bit ago I plan on having a stocking give a-way next month. I am going to make a stocking and fill it with goodies based on a theme. I thought it would be fun to have some other bloggers join in too. Everyone loves a give a-way right? It's fun to win but I also love to host give a-ways.

What I was thinking is that we do a give a-way towards the end of November. What I was wondering is how long we should hold it. One week or two? I put up a poll on the side bar so anyone interested can vote on the dates.

I tried several times to get the HTML for a button but it appears to be beyond my ability right now. At least I was able to make the picture with the writing on it :)

I also made a tab at the top of my blog to list everyone who is interested in participating. On the first day of the give away I will use Mr. Linky so everyone can link right up to their give away page.

Sound good? Did I forget anything? Oh, you need information about making stockings? I have a few links for you :)

http://www.craftandfabriclinks.com/xmas_stocking/Christmas_stocking_pattern.html  great if you have a panel type fabric

http://www.bomquilts.com/Free-Christmas-Stocking-Quilt-Patterns.php  lots of different styles

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art38705.asp   lots more

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/make-your-own-holiday-stockings-710640/  different shapes

http://www.sewingweb.com/Projects/Stocking/   strip piece stocking

http://sewing.about.com/od/freeprojects/ss/xmasstocking_2.htm   easy

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/crafts/christmas-stockings-craft  Victorian

http://parkcitygirl.blogspot.com/2009/11/christmas-stocking-tutorial.html  my favorite


http://www.connectingthreads.com/patterns/Homespun_Christmas_Stocking_Pattern__D991099.html


A Google search will give you lots of ideas.



Anything else? Oh yeah, your stocking can be store bought or hand made. Any size is fine. I have some stockings in my shop that you could purchase. Or, I am willing to exchange fabric for a stocking ;) You can give away an empty stocking if you wish but it would be more fun if you put something in it. Some themes you could use are Baby's First Christmas, Puppy or Kitty Love, sewing or quilting, food, kid's creativity, most anything goes. Just have fun.


Now, did I answer everyone's questions? If not, ask away and I will edit this post to include the questions and answers. OK, now go over to my sidebar and vote on the date you prefer. The date with the most votes wins.

Laptop sleeve #1

My daughter is graduating from Army Basic Training at the end of the month. Hubby, Robbie and I will be flying out there to see her. We will be gone for 4 days and leaving our oldest behind to take care of the dog and the house.

empty laptop sleeve

Of course we can't be gone for 4 days without taking some laptops along with us. Plus, my daughter will have been without any internet for over 10 weeks and I'm sure she will want to do a bit of surfing and catching up with her friends.

I figure it might be a good idea to make something to protect our laptops while we are flying. I found a fun pattern over at Amy a la mode to use on my first ever laptop sleeve.

closed with laptop inside (front)

I found this fabric at a thrift store awhile ago. It is a whole cloth all over design.

back with laptop inside

I like fabric that does all the hard work for me.

I also used the same fabric for the lining. Makes it easier that way. The pattern calls for the lining to be quilted but I think I prefer for the outside fabric to have the quilting. I like the quilted crinkly look the quilting gives the bag.

Now I need to make two more and I can check laptop sleeves off my travel list. I think I might just wing the next one. Once we get back home we probably won't use these sleeves very often so I don't mind winging one or two now that I can wrap my mind around the basics.

Witch-y women

I also made three of these witches to go with all the cats on the last post. The pattern is from here again. These patterns are not for beginners. I have been crocheting for many years and I had a hard time following the pattern. At least there were charts to help but even they weren't very helpful. I'm thrilled to help my customer by making these but I hope I never have to make any more lol.

Little things

I haven't been in the sewing room much lately. I have been busy crocheting little cats for a customer. Love the Turkey Cat. The patterns can be found on Ravelry or Cecinatrix's blog.