Trying My Stockings On for Size

It's been such a long while since I last posted, and I've missed connecting with everyone.  For me, the last quarter of this year seems to have put me into overdrive.  My new job is very fulfilling but it has taken me away from my sewing machine way more than I ever anticipated.  You see, in mid-August, I accepted a position as an activity coordinator at a senior center and thought that this would allow me to carry on as usual--teaching sewing and making quilts, etc.  But boy did I underestimate the personal time my new job demands--particularly during the holidays--from Halloween all the way through the end of the year.  Yeah, I'm close to the finish line!  For those who know me, know that I take pride in completing projects that I start but for the first time in a very, very long time I have quite a few uncompleted projects sitting in my studio.  All my creative energy has been redirected to the senior center.  I have been doing a lot of prep-work for crafts, organizing parties and activities, and decorating for one event after another, involving putting in a lot of extra hours.  While all of it is a lot of fun, I am also seeing that I am accomplishing very little at home.  I am truly looking forward to the new year, as it will bring about a slower pace so that I can focus again on my own projects.  Since I last posted, all I have been doing in my studio is teaching so anything that has been made, has been made by my students.  After Christmas, however, I was determined to squeeze in a small project and finish it!  I made Christmas stockings for my husband and me.  I made modified (functional) versions of the quilted stocking from the book, Pretty in Patchwork Holidays . . . 2012 by John Q Adams, incorporating the color scheme in my living room and used the scraps I had on hand, so here they are:

So even though Christmas is over, I'm trying my stockings on for size. They look great and since my husband and I have decided that for now on we'll just exchange gifts that will go into our stockings, they're just the right size for us--slightly over sized, and we will no longer need to wrap our gifts.  Another step toward living simply but still a long road to get there.  Good night!