Monday, November 16, 2015

Turkey Day Countdown

I love the holidays, but I also hate the holidays.  I love the cooking, and having family around, I hate when family turns it into drama.  I was kind of hoping that Thanksgiving could slip by when I was told by the MIL she was going to DH sister's house.  The youngest daughter was going to cook at her home, so I thought just maybe, DH and I could have a low key no hassle holiday.  I could sew, and do nothing for a few days.  Also I am a little worried about the holiday.  This will be my first holiday with being pre diabetic.  Many of the staples for Thanksgiving I cannot eat.  No rolls, punch, mashed potatoes, jello salads, dressing, and the one I am really going to miss--Pumpkin Pie!

Then the oldest daughter called and asked "What are you doing for Thanksgiving, and you are making dinner aren't you?  DH told her that he had to talk about it with me, and we would let them know. All I could think of is I have 10 days to get this under control!

This is the dining room table.  I have been using it to cut and trim fabric.  In front of the china cabinet is a sewing machine set up with a special foot, and portions of the drunkard's path blocks.  At the end of the table is a machine I use to machine quilt, and right now it is stacked with two quilts to work on.  The other side of the door is a featherweight machine in a featherweight table where I have been piecing.

One dining room chair has scraps piled on it, and draped over the back. 

Under the featherweight table is the Viking which I pull out to do some sewing and quilting using the walking foot.  Then there is my quilting frame, and the machine on it. There are two chairs with project boxes on them.  One the project is finished, and the remaining fabric needs to be put into my scraps system, or put away.  On the cross members of the quilt frame are the blocks I have been working on with an online group. 

My little kitchen table which has charity quilts, a mini ironing board, and a pan of corn which has been prepped for making corn bags. Underneath is my batting I use for small projects, and a tote with my cross stitch.   I need to get this all picked up and put away before Thanksgiving. 

And just look at the table top!  I am embarrassed at how bad it is. 
Templates, rulers, strips, patterns, pins, and fabric and a couple of totes with projects too!

Now I don't know about you, but I do know if I put this stuff away, it will take me forever to find it again.  Before I put everything away I was going to do my darnedest to get some of the scraps cut up.  Now normally as I cut I have piles sitting to the side.  Hexies, tumblers, squares, strips, and I knock them off the table, constantly.  I have my 2 1/2 inch squares, and 2 1/2 inch strip boxes sitting out, as well as my stings box, and a dog pillow which I fill with stuff that is too small to use.  But I needed to figure out how to keep the other stuff from getting lost in the shuffle.  I decided to use Dawn's idea from Sew You Quilt 2 that utilizes the plastic boxes that you get your veggies in.  Once my day of cutting was finished then I put the pieces in the appropriate boxes. 
I cut a bunch of tumblers.
Hexagons, and strips to be made into hexagons.


My box of 2 1/2 inch strips runneth over, as well as my strings box, which you can see under the table. I think that I may need to consider breaking those up into color families soon.  Which means I will need more boxes!   Yep there are more scraps to cut to the left there too, and you can see the dog pillow that I put the trimmings in that are too small to use.  
I put quite a dent in my scraps and started working on cleaning up the area.  I need to get things prepped so that I have projects to work on after everything is put away, and they are easy to "grab and go".  Oh the holidays!













10 comments:

  1. Is it wrong that I smiled when I saw the pic of your dining room and thought you were inviting me to come party with you? Sigh, a sew-in...who needs turkey and pie :)

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  2. Well geez! Just when you had everything just how you liked it and knew where everything was! Still hope you have a nice Thanksgiving with your family minus the drama.

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  3. I just shouldn't have smiled either--but, Rheema, this is just how my room looks--I know it's not my dining table, but there is stuff on that TOO!! And I agree--- putting things away --well, they get so lost!
    Maybe if you just take a spot and stack them with pieces of paper in between with what's underneath written in big letters so you can then unstack after it's all over and find them again??? Not Easy--
    You did a great job cutting--you must have very strong wrists and hands and shoulders...well, anyone who chops wood---need i say more??? good luck hugs, (keep the faith) Julierose

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  4. Looks like my dining before I moved to my quilting room, now looks like my quilting room

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  5. I too was gonna come over for some Thanksgiving sewing.......geesh! So far I "dodged" the family bullet and it is me and hubs and maybe neighbor. that means I dont need to get or make pie just cook the turkey lots of veggies and dressing (hubs wont indulge) and then hoping I can SEW while hubs watches football. I HAVE A PLAN. lol
    want me to call you out of the family thing so we can sew together? I will do that for you my friend... :-)

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  6. Oh yeah, just did all that!!! I had my kitchen totally messed up with cutting mat on counter and sewing machine on table and stuff EVERYWHERE!! I was hosting bunco last night and cleaning lady coming last Fri. I had to get that stuff put away (dumped in a bedroom!) first so she could clean then so we could play bunco!! Got it all done and bunco's over--now we'll see how long it takes me to find stuff. Then I'll hafta do it all again before Dec. 7 when I host game day! ARGH!!!

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  7. I have a sewing room, with the largest walk in closet in the house, but, I've also taken over the dining room table, too. I had to baste a quilt, and, it is done best on the dining room table. I'll also machine quilt it there (easier). My cutting table (upstairs, in my sewing room) is loaded with projects, and, also project boxes underneath. I have stuff stacked everywhere. Don't worry, this is normal.

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  8. Oh my goodness, you certainly have a lot of projects on the go. I so love that your room is filled with such treasures being made, but I can certainly understand how hosting a dinner in that room will mean a lot of extra work for you. I am so fortunate that I can hide in a spare bedroom so the sewing stuff always has a home. Good luck and I know it will all work out and the turkey, and your family, will be very happy!

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  9. I am laughing (with you, not at you) because my sewing area looks a lot like this sometimes. Quite often I am stepping over one pile-in-progress to work on another project. It's a wonder I don't break something with all the stepping over I do! Turkey dinner is at my daughter's house this year, so I don't have to clean up any sewing stuff. Whew! I'm sure you'll get all that fabric moved to appropriate spots so you can slave all day cooking a turkey. :O)

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  10. I am so relieved to see I am not the only one that needs to clean their crafty items out of the living areas before Thanksgiving. The past couple of years, Thanksgiving (and pretty much any event involving food) have been incredibly stressful for me. The Internet has been my best friend. I cannot eat anything with dairy, gluten or egg. I'm also supposed to avoid a ton of other foods including most grains, yeast, refined sugar, honey and the list goes on for ages. So, I feel for you! I was able to find a few recipes I could tweak enough to allow me to enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner. I hope you are able to find a few that will allow you to enjoy your Thanksgiving, too!

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