And a little Crafty Action

Last but not least, some stuff I made. Here we have Strawberry Jam, in season, so this is most likely from last summer. Not sure why I got all the floating bits of fruit action in my jam. I don't remember having that in the past. The flavor, however, did not suffer at all for the layering effect. Still enjoying bits of summer flavor on our toast.



And hand-crafted Christmases mean that you need to plan ahead, at least a little. I made a prototype of a shopping bag that I thought would make a great gift. I'm glad I did and Kent had some great design ideas. After making some modifications, I whipped up a few of these (a couple dozen) in matched sets for folks. I tried to match the fabrics to the people I planned to give them to. I think they were mostly well-recieved. Maybe not everyone gets as excited as me about having reusable shopping bags.



So here is the bag rolled up and ready to take to the store. The pattern called for the ribbon closure but at Kent's suggestion, I instead used a tab with velcro, like an umbrella would have. I also make either a drawstring bag or a "wallet" to hold them in between shopping trips. A bag for 2 bags, a wallet for 4.

I like the effect of the contrasting but coordinating fabrics. I made them in opposite combos, too.

What a stylish way to carry home those groceries!