Holiday Bias Tape Table Runner and a Christmas rant

I have exactly no Christmas spirit. In fact, I might even qualify as a Christmas spirit vampire. Mr. Mallard's got a pretty firm grip on the other oar of the USS Grinch, so stepping into our house is like stepping out of the holiday season and into October. Or March.

I'm pretty sure I liked Christmas when I was a kid. Maybe it was working in retail. Maybe it was the restaurants. Maybe it's because I'm not a religious person. Maybe it's because we're mammals and the dead of winter is a time for hibernating. Traveling during the worst weather of the year on intentionally overbooked flights with jacked up prices, the mall, people being trampled to death, dutiful consumers spending money they don't have on things other people don't really need...can't we just mail each other some cards, eat a batch of sugar cookies, and watch some football? In our sweatpants? In our undecked halls? Fa-la-la-la-la-ti-stinkin-da.

Surprising then, isn't it, that I made this...

I was inspired.

Prudent Baby's Bias Tape Table Runner Tutorial was accompanied by the opportunity to win a Simplicity Bias Tape Maker.

I don't have a bias tape maker, so I followed the Carolina Fair Designs Fat Quarter Bias Tape Tutorial and made some of my own. Prudent Baby has a great Bias Tape Tutorial, as well, but I didn't need that much, so I opted for the Fat Quarter option, instead. It was pretty darn simple to do by hand. And way cuter than any store bought bias tape I could find in our neck of the woods.

At 1/4 inch apart, I sewed approximately one million little quilty lines across the runner. Fabulous practice, even if it took a few hours. Oh! I got fancy, too--I did red thread in the bobbin and a pale mint green in the needle. Who knew?! Now both sides have matching thread!

It turned out great.

So festive.

I didn't win the contest, but I did get two amazing things from the project. First, I realized I can do this. I can sew. I can make stuff and it might not be perfect, but I made it. It's more exhilarating than I ever would have imagined. Second, I began coming to terms with the idea of doing something other than baking myself out of my jeans again this holiday season. The Biggest Girl doesn't loathe the holidays and it's not really fair of me to pass on this disdain while she's still such a rookie. If she's really my daughter, she'll grow into it soon enough. In the meantime, I guess I owe it to her to deck a wall or two. Or at least the dining room table.