How do I do it?

How, oh how, do I function in this mess? I did clean it up before the holiday, but still... I suppose it would go against the grain for me to take a picture of the straightened room, now wouldn't it? I have project on top of project- stacked to the ceiling- literally. And yet I wander around out there like I have nothing to do! Probably have too much to do and am simply overwhelmed. Or maybe underwhelmed. That's why there are so many options of what to do- I get bored rather quickly and starting projects seem to be my favorite thing. And hey! I like finishing, it's just the middle part that sometimes bores me. Time to make a list and start some finishing. Honestly, when projects have been stowed long enough, they regain their interesting qualities. Sometimes.

brother Craig
son Jacob
sis in law Lisa
nephew Ben, son Abe, daughters, Eve and Boo
nephew Jonathan
son John, nephew Josiah
son, Paul

For The Beauty of The Earth

by Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1864

---

For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies;
For the love which from our birth,
Over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.


For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child;
Friends on Earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

Have a lovely Thanksgiving...

Random Post...

Mondays... you know I love them because that is my sweet William's day off. I didn't get to see him as much as I would have liked as he is helping a friend build a woodshed. A deluxe model woodshed.

Then we went to the grocery store only to find that Walmart doesn't have any turkeys. ???!!! Is it Thanksgiving this week or not? Found some at Aldi and bought two smaller birds. Butterballs, no less. So I'm all ready for the baking/cooking/eating frenzy that is Thanksgiving on the Prairie. My younger brother and his family plan on coming. Always more fun with extended family to share the food...er... the joy of the season.

My sweet daughter-in-law just found out that her mother is now cancer free. It has been a long year. We are all extra thankful this year and praising God for His goodness and care.

A ferret got into my chicken tractor and summarily killed every last one of my chickens. The children were horrified and started to empathaize with that last chicken as she watched her sisters all get the bite... Well, that's one less chore to do this winter. Ya have to look on the bright side.

Not been sewing any. Figure I'll rectify that situation come the morrow. I have a quilt on the frame- a barter job. One quilt, quilted, for two yards of minkee and maybe a batting. Might work on those swirling stars some more. In between batches of fudge. Making batches of fudge, not eating them. Could always make a few more Wonder Wallets. Or get my four blocks for my block exchange doen. Oh! I forgot! I did sew up a little basket, this morning. It was a pattern from freecrafts.com and it called for sewing greeting cards together. Well, you know I am not going to do that much hand sewing, so I just stabilized some fabric and sewed it together on the sewing machine. Turned out right cute, if I do say so, myself.

What a day!!

Cleaning house... finally. And now I am all weary and tired to the bones. How do people clean houses all day long? Yuck. It's not a bad job with lots of little helpers. I can just think of several other things that I'd rather be doing. Ya know? It isn't altogether clean, but I don't want to be a hypocrite. Having a cleaner house does have it's perks. There is no longer that nervous feeling you get when you know there are some chemistry experiments going on in your own refrigerator. You realize that your light fixtures are clear and not amber. Cobwebs are no longer draping every surface above the 6 foot mark. All good things. Laundry is still piled up and there just does not remain enough time to get it all done. My sweet William suggested I put it in the garage. He sniggered and I rolled my eyes. Do you know how long it would take to get it all in the garage? really, the ignorance of some people. So I guess we will have to circumvent the laundry room. Maybe drape it all with a particularly lovely quilt... Did I forget to mention we are expecting around 50 house guests, tomorrow evening? Won't that be fun? I have my dining room cleared out and folding chairs all strategically set up. Hope everyone fits. We are having a potluck/pitchin/carryin and then we are gonna do a little singing. The acoustics should be good with the 12' ceiling, huh? Alas, the drywall still isn't finished. I had such high hopes... but and however, once the folding chairs are moved out, I figure drywalling will be a cinch. Right? (the beautiful quilt is a gift from our own sweet Darcie- www.quiltingbydarcie.blogspot.com. I have quilts hanging on every wall- wonder what the R value is? I think they distract nicely from the splatter of joint compound. Decorating in a construction zone. "What's your decorating style?" "Oh, I'm all for cottage industrial."

The wonderwallets are what I made while I was procrastinating. A friend wants to add them to her stockings for Xmas. I get cell phone bags in exchange.

The following quilt... well, thought it would be good for a giggle. Julie in the barn was lamenting original quilts in blogland. Thought I'd show her a "one of a kind!" It's a round robin of sorts that has grown into a monster. No, stop that. Tilting your head sideways doesn't make it look any better.

Tesselation frustrations...

Last week, my "friend" Sandy cleared out some of her stash and a bag of flannel found it's way into my stash. I was very excited about the acquistion- she had all the stars sewn, afterall. So I just jumped in with both feet. Realized the water was shallow, indeed. The directions were pretty sketchy, at best- with no directions to speak of once you got the stars all sewn up. Then I realize that every- and I mean every- seam is not only curved but inset... I called Sandy all kinds of names and accused her of being pure evil. Now I realize why it came to visit at my house. Should have sent it straight home. After laughing her head off at me, she suggested I make a table runner out of it and pass the remainder of the stars along. But who ever heard of a flannel tablerunner? So... I have been sewing- none, yes NONE of the points are matching up, but I keep trudging along bouyed by the hope that maybe- just out of shear coincidence- two points will eventually come together. You never know. It has been rather an adventure and the flannel is a forgiving medium, when all is said and done. The borders are a complete mystery. The picture that came with the "pattern" is all of 2x3"!!! I mean, would it have broken the bank to make a 4x6" picture? At least then you had hope of being able to figure just how to finish this thing off. Am I griping too much? I don't mean to. I'm actually having a good time cutting peices out with scissors again. Gasp! How long has it been since I did that? I am four rows done with just one more to go. And then insetting all of these weird shaped pieces to hopefully end up with a straight-edged quilt.

I have a house full of company coming this weekend and next. Don't you know I am sewing when I should be cleaning. Can't seem to help myself. Some kind of coping mechanism, no doubt. Works for me. The kids have opted to wait until the last day to clean house- so confident that we can get it done in one day. Ahh, naive little things. But I seem happy enough to go along with them. Have a great week!

Wayward Fabric Club...

meets today at 11am at Vera Mae's. That's on Walnut street. Free parking on Jackson. Sorry for the late notice. Hope to see you all there. Don't forget your trade blocks.

World Diabetes Awareness Day...

Hope you're wearing blue! This is my nephew Benjamin sitting on a stump with my Abe. He has been a type I diabetic since he was 5 years old. We so desperately need a cure! Insulin keeps us alive, but there are so many complication- even in everyday life. As Ben says, "Diabetes can be quite frustrating." I couldn't agree with him more. So take a minute and say a prayer that someone out there figures out a way to cure this terrible disease. Thanks!

"Orange" you glad...

it's autumn? The kids and I love this time of year. Even Bill loves the nipy air- seems to motivate him with building projects. Here is a little crafty for kids- that is so easy and fun. You just take a fat quarter of orange fabric and tuck it into a tube of bathroom tissue... oh alright, toilet paper! No sewing or pinning or anything like that. Just set the toilet paper roll in the center of the fat quarter and bring the side up and tuck the ends into the tube. Then you roll up a paper lunch bag and shove it into the tube. Add a little leaf and you have one adorable little pumpkin! When it's time to drag out the winter decorations, just snag that fat quarter off the roll and put everything back. Waste not want not! Hope everyone has a great day!

Getting ahead of the game...

the cooler air has me thinking about the winter months when a bit of color is always so cheerful. I had a fun time making these projects. The snowman(Pearl Louise Krush) is about 20x30" and the table runner(Terry Martin)...well, it's made with 12 blocks. The snowman's applique was a bit of a trial, because I grabbed the wrong roll of adhesive-the heavy instead of the light- and had to do the whole thing over again. Note to self- do not store them together. Originally I had it in hot pink and purple. Come on, it was cute. Plus I wanted it to be just wintery, not just Christmasy, ya know? But he's OK as is. The runner I made out of postcard fabric scraps and I love the brightness of it. It just makes me smile.

I miss my boys. Our oldest son is married and living in Alabama(450miles away.) I talked to him on the phone, yesterday, and he seems to be loving married life- and is thrilled with how much cheaper two can live together as compared with apart. Our second oldest son is living in West Virginia(400 miles away.) He is training to be an evangelist and is loving every moment of it. He was one of those crazy "kids" that camped outside a new Chick-fil-a and won a year's worth of free sandwiches! But I baked cookies today!!!!! And it just isn't the same without them! Daniel loves my lemon cookies with raspberry filling and I also made chocolate chip cookies. And honey ginger cookies and even four loaves of friendship bread. Oh, none of it will go to waste, but when I baked, the "boys" would walk through the door, smelling the air and professing that I truly must love them since I baked for them. Aw... Jacob(16y) just came in the door sniffing the air and being all appreciative. How sweet is that? I think I'm gonna have myself a little cry...