Susie Klopp
Well Christmas, of course! When you love to give handmade gifts—like the Material Girls do—for the holidays, you had best start early. July is a great time if you don’t want to spend the month of December working 20 hours a day trying to finish those gifts you were sure wouldn’t take any time at all.
It doesn’t matter what your craft is, it all takes time. First you need an idea. Then you need a pattern for that idea. Be it a purchased one or a vision in your head. Next you need materials. In a sewer’s/quilter’s case, that includes the perfect materials and embellishments. Now you assemble your tools. Especially important—start. Without starting, a project just floats around in your brain until Christmas Eve when your head says, “Rats, that idea would have been the perfect gift!”
Like many of us, I am already gathering my ideas. Oh yes, that was ideas, plural. Be a realist with your gift list. Even starting in July, it would be ambitious to make a bed-size quilt for each of your 30 cousins in just short of six months. Some of us have trouble making one bed-size quilt in six months. But don’t be discouraged, just make a plan, and move forward. I for one have been known to wrap up a half-finished project and a note saying, “Please return for finishing.”
Summer here at the Ranch is a wonderful time to sit back and plan. No wait, you weren’t listening. Put that plan into action!
For our non-crafty residents, don’t forget the Craft Fair and the drawing for the raffle quilt in November. You too can give a one-of-a-kind handmade gift. Us crafty types can’t help making pretty things even when we don’t have 30 cousins waiting for gifts under the tree. Most of all, we are here to have fun. Happy Christmas in July!