Putting Creativity on My List

Remember this piece of fabric?

I bought it  just after our 16 year old daughter

cooked our amazing Thanksgiving feast last year,

in preparation for this year's celebration.

I had to start early.

My MIL is coming.

She could make Martha Stewart cringe in shame.

I blogged about my preparations when

 I had 216 days until Thanksgiving.

The countdown's getting lower every day.

I've been making a lot of mess.

My dream was to create those type of holiday decorations

that you just use over and over and over.

I started out by cutting

 a 40x40 inch square cloth to drape diagonally

over my  new green tablecloth from Target.

I used a decorative stitch and a 3/4 inch seam allowance.

Keep your needle down into the fabric wthile turning a corner.

Not every corner will look the same,

but it turns out fine.

This is easy, 'cuz you just sew all the way around,

then unravel.

Start with a full bobbin,

the decorative stitches take a lot of thread.

A rolled hem looks great,

but takes more ironing and precision.

This was a heavy material with large threads,

it worked perfectly for this time of edging.

Throw the threads on the floor.

It's more fun that way.

Watch out for the cat.

Not all the threads pulled straight to the end,

because I cut or sewed crooked,

so when it doesn't pull anymore,

I just trimmed it.

I loved how the scalloped pattern

complimented the curved pattern of the pine cones.

It will be layered over a tablecloth the same color
as the cloth napkin.

I also bought enough cloth napkins for the the table and for decorating.
They make great seasonal splashes of color around the house!

I had enough to make a cloth for a little table in the living room.

There was still enough to make one for the coffee table.

I made a long cloth for the fireplace mantle.

The "Science Shelf" is a fall school project Beka and I worked on.

This little scrap I have left?

I'm thinkin' this little table in the corner

of my dining room needs a table runner.

I'm thinkin' it needs dusting, too.

Now that I am almost done with creating my Thanksgiving ambiance,

maybe it's time to clean.

I said,

maybe.

This project brought back some creative joy into my life,

and I decided I always needed to have a craft

or sewing project underway,

something to look forward to,

in my rare spare minutes.

I loved having something

I wanted to do,

instead of always just having lists of

things I had to do.

let's face it,

when you have kids,

(I'm too nice to mention husbands)

your toilet will

always

need cleaning.

I think it is healthy to have a creative outlet,

something to work on

a few minutes a day or

a few hours each week.

Life is too short to always haven't a perfectly clean bathroom,

isn't it?

What are you working on,

instead of cleaning?

Share your creative joys!

Wanna see what I did next?

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Linkin' up!