Grateful for This & That

I tell you what. I have enjoyed this weekend. The Big Guy had Wednesday off and we went to work. We raked, mowed and cleaned up the beds crossing our fingers it may be the last for the season.

Thanksgiving was a lovely day spent with my inlaws. We ate mid afternoon. Perfect! We only had one meal with a sweet snack later in the night while we were preparing for a garage sale.

We only did a little shopping on Friday. I looked through all the ads and nothing knocked me over. Surprisingly, I spent the most moolah at Hancock's. We bought some of this and some of this. I am going to make a shower curtain for our guest bath. I have a vision in my head and hope I can come close. The fabric led to paint. We bought a Ralph Lauren paint from Home DePot in the color beachside raffia. We'll see how it turns out as we usually use Benjamin Moore historic colors. I am breaking open the paint can on Sunday.

Today we had our garage sale. The regulars told us we were the only ones having a sale. Who else has a sale on a cold dreary day? We did okay. The white bikes sold via Craigslist and we are showing the road bike tomorrow. Craigslist is a great thing and we loved the idea of working it in parallel with the garage sale. We took some stuff to Goodwill and put some up in the attic. We'll try one more sale before Pumpkin heads to DC in the spring.




I dug out some tshirts designated for the garage sale and made some caps for the Cap to Caps project. It was my first time sewing on jersey. I used the zigzag stitch as I don't have a serger. This is a wonderful initiative. I will get them in the mail to Amanda on Monday.

Tomorrow is church, painting, soccer, basketball, and preparing for a full week of school. We are contemplating pulling the Christmas decorations out. I think that will have to wait until next weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our turkey is ready (I got off easy on the cooking front) and we are off to my sister-in-law's.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

All Southwest 2008

Pumpkin had the opportunity to sing in the All Southwest Tennessee chorus this year. It is amazing what the conductors do with these kids. The music was fabulous and he enjoyed the experience. We carpooled from our school. I know he liked the odds of one boy to three girls!!

Dr. Jessica Napoles from the University of Utah was their conductor. She was very creative. They processed in singing Praise the Lord by Ralph Johnson. It was a wonderful way to use this repetitive piece. It was impressive. Pumpkin lined up right by us. Who knew? I bought the pants for him a few weeks ago. He tried them on and said they were good. What about the length? I did not see them on him until an hour before the show and it was too late to do anything about it. I guess these pants will be long enough for the spring honors chorus.

Here is the group after they sang. Again - this choir is an audition choir comprised of kids from all over Southwest TN.

If only I had a fancy smancy camera...I could have zoomed right in and taken a clear picture. I wonder if Santa is checking my blog.

Here he is on his way back to his seat to listen to the senior choir. That was impressive too!


We are grateful for his voice and for the opportunity to participate in this event. It opens his eyes to possibilities!

Turquoise Thread...

That beautiful turquoise thread appears again! Today is my last day for the CSA. I can't believe it has been ten weeks already. I made these coasters last night as a little thank you for Jill & Keith. I used a pattern in Bend the Rules by Amy Karol as a starting point. This is my first attempt at any quilting. I just wanted the coasters to have their own personality. I have to admit it was fun letting the machine stitch just about anywhere. I am not really interested in learning more about quilting, but had a blast playing with these. I hope they enjoy them. I bet you can guess there will be another post showing you all the veggies I get today. 'Til then...

Reading Pillow Birthday Present

Peanut was invited to a birthday party on Sunday. It was for a boy in his class. The theme of the party was tailgating. I thought that was very creative and easy for a bunch of 4th grade boys. The parents graduated from Ohio State. I tried to get some Buckeye fabric but they don't license any. Peanut picked out some football fabric thinking it would be good enough. I went to work on the reading pillow. I picked up a book by Mike Lupica at the friends of the library bookstore and off he went to the party.

I am making quite a few pillows these days. It is amazing the personality they take on - all based on the fabric. I need to whip up another one for a party this weekend. This boy loves Alabama and that fabric is easy to come by. I actually ordered online and and am crossing my fingers that it gets here in time. I am bracing myself for a late Friday night!

I made another simple tote from 16 squares I received from the quilt squares swap. It turned out pretty good and very soothing in the light colors. I used fusible interfacing inside and on the handles. I have so many other things I should have been working on. But, the beautiful turquoise thread was in the machine. I could not take it out. So, I chose squares and completed a project all around the thread. The tote will become one of may "happies" this holiday season.

We spent lots of the weekend purging drawers. All nooks and crannies in the house are up for inspection. We are going to have a garage sale. All the extra stuff needs to GO! I have a bit more to go through in the attic and two more closets. I mounded all the stuff up on one side of the garage. I need to buckle down and figure out how to organize it all. If I get my act together, I may just have the sale this Saturday.

In the process of cleaning the attic, I came across Thomasina Turkey. My mom made this for me years ago. She nestled right in on the mantle. Believe it or not, when I catch a glimpse of her it makes me stop and remember all that I have to be grateful for:)

One Simple Tote

Complete!


I was able to make the bag using one fat quarter. I had to grab a piece of something else to make the pocket. It was easy to make and did not take that much time. I was glad I had made some other bags as the directions weren't as clear as I'd like. I think it is just the 'geer in me that comes out when reading directions. I used flannel as recommended in the pattern. For the next one, I am going to use a fusible interfacing adding a bit to the long handle too. I am going to make a few more!

CSA #9 and Crayon Rolls

I picked up my ninth order from the farmer. This week I picked swiss chard as my selected greens. I wilted them in garlic, butter, and crushed red pepper. I added some diced fresh tomato on top. I can't say the chard was my favorite. The tomato was out of this world. The flavor in a tomato fresh off the vine. But, I digress. The Big Guy and I were able to eat all the swiss chard. We did not have as much luck with the broccoli rabe greens from last week. Yucky! Even so, I haven't given up. I am going to cook what I have left with some sausage. The fat may be needed for those kinds of greens. The rest of the veggies look great and will be eaten up!

I made a few more crayon rolls. One out of the fabric Peanut picked out. Bear with on the angle of these shots. I tried to play with it but iphoto is not recognizing the changes! I wised up and bought a package of pony tail holders at the dollar store. I am using those for the elastic to hold the roll closed. It is much easier than tying the ribbon around it.

I used some more of the fabric and made two more rolls for Peanut's ticket auction at school. I used more quilt squares in the "girlie" one. Peanut said they were a hit today at the auction. I am going to make some festive pencil rolls for the holidays so they can auction them at the next one before Christmas break.


I continue my production of reading pillows. Peanut has two more birthday parties to go to. I was able to pick up "used" hard bound books at the Friends of the Library store. I think it makes sense to give a book with the pillow allowing the recipient to see how it really works. This afternoon the desire to sew the simple tote from Amy Karol's Bending the Rules overcame me. I chose some of the lovely Anna Maria Horner fabric I ordered late in the summer. I hope to have pictures for you by the end of the weekend. I also hope to start these. I have some wool remnants that I want to use up. I really need a new pair of slippers but am going to find it hard to justify spending time on something for me as the holidays approach. I have the attic to clean out as we hope to have a garage sale on Saturday or some Saturday soon. I have another cowl to finish. I have some bibs to cross-stitch. When is it all going to happen? We'll see how much gets down. Happy, warm and productive weekends to all!