And the gifts keep coming

I returned from Christmas travels with grand plans of doing some selfish sewing, but somehow, as so often happens, other projects kept creeping in. First up, my mom asked if I'd make her a basket to use for storage in her car. She originally asked for one like the 123 baskets I made for Christmas, but I steered her toward a one-hour basket instead because it's a bit bigger and has more functional handles.

I've made two of the baskets before, and Kelly's free pattern really is great. They go together so easily and are the perfect size for organizing. My mom requested purple and cream, and I mostly pulled from my stash to put it all together (fudging just a bit with the creamy gray I used on the interior).

Then, a good friend had a big birthday this week, and I wanted to give her a little something that I hoped would make her smile (it did). She's a big cat lover and a birder, so I combined the two using some great Cotton + Steel prints in a fun little coaster set.

The first fabric is Stack O Cats in Teal from Sarah Watts's Cat Lady collection.

For the backing, I used Colibri in Citron from Sarah's Honeymoon collection. They play so nicely together. I used the Coaster Set pattern from I Love Patchwork by Rashida Coleman-Hale, making just one modification to cut the tray a half inch larger originally, which leaves just a bit more wiggle room for the coasters in the end.

Pretty cute, huh? Maybe now I'll finish up one of those "me" projects? We'll see.