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 mother-in-law is coming. She’s so amazing, 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 is to create holiday decorations I could use over and over and over. I started out by cutting a 40×40 inch square cloth to drape diagonally over my dining room table.
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 type 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, trim 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 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 work on each fall, gathering decoration Science
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’m 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 need to have a craft or sewing project underway, something to look forward to in my rare spare minutes. I loved doing something I wanted to do, instead on only things I have to do. Let’s face it, when you have kids, (I’m too nice to mention husbands) your toilet will always need cleaning. It’s 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?
What a fun and beautiful project. But I have to admit my favorite part was the grumpy cat with the thread hanging across its face!!!! LOL
Your cloths turned out beautifully! I think you get the Martha award yourself 🙂 Lately I've been working on a cross stitch project, a very small Christmas banner that says "Joy" and has an angel playing one of those long trumpets. I agree, it's so nice to have a few things in your day that you want to do, not just have to do. Happy crafting.
Oh how fun! I love what you did with it. That is a great idea…I may have to try something like it myself.I also believe in buying fabric at the end of the season…it is SO worth it! Great goodies that don't break my budget!Don't forget to relax and enjoy spending time with your family…your guests will love it. :DBlessings!Mary Joyvisiting from Moms the Word
Oh, it's beautiful! What a smart idea to buy at the end of season. I'll have to pick up some stuff after Thanksgiving this year for next year too.Is that leftover fabric pretty long? Maybe you could buy a long picture frame and put it in the frame (along with a matching matt).Then you could take vinyl or fabric letters or something and glue it over the fabric. You could write "family" or "harvest" or "fall" or something.As you can tell, I'm not very creative, lol! So just use it as the background of a family picture or something!I like a clean bathroom and try to keep it clean. I like to swish and swipe each day, and clean any messes I see.However, if I get busy doing something then it is easy for me to ignore it, lol!Thanks for linking up to Making Your Home Sing Monday!
How fun! I'm working on a birthday nightgown for my almost 2-year old. I gotta get moving!
May I just say, "AMEN" to the clean bathroom comment..and I only have 4 kids!
Oh how I wish I could sew!! It is just not my creative outlet though! Fantastic job on these, they look great and bring such a warm, cozy look to your home. Thank you for the encouragement to be creative and to plan for it! Have a blessed week.