Thanksgiving etc.

We had a nice Thanksgiving; we went  to my daughters house so there was no big cooking worries for me. I made 2 pumpkin pies and bought a cherry pie. It was also a birthday party for our great granddaughter. This is some of the family wearing the sunglasses my daughter bought for all the kids. She didn't know that we would all want to wear them.  That is me on the right  with one of the great grandsons

I finished 3 place mats and they are all different sizes but that won't matter as they are not going to be used together. The one on the  right is the back of the place mat. I sew a  seam down the center with an opening in the middle for turning and stitch all around the outside. It is a better finish on the edge than trying to make it invisible when I  do the hand finishing on an edge after I turn it. If I put a narrow border around the outside it gives the appearance of binding and it is a lot less work.  

These are 2 mug mats I made from some small leftover pieces from past years projects; I  thought this was a good use for them. I have seen on other peoples  blogs. The one on the left is just the top. I made the other one for my husband  but he thinks it is too pretty to use where he  might spill coffee on it. I figure oh well........ so what, it is after all free as it is entirely made from scraps. I have a few more of these and that is about the extent of my Christmas sewing. My family and I have about all of the Christmas quilts and quilted  things that we  have room for.