Quilted Table Tops

Here are a couple pictures of the table tops I've quilted for friends and family. Oh boy, I sure need to learn how to take better pictures! But I'm not redoing them, so I can see how far I've come (hopefully) in the near future of picture taking! (I write half facetiously and half crossing my fingers).

The problem is, the fabric is slightly darker than this. When I take the flash off the camera, it looks waaaaaay too dark. Hmmmm...not sure what to do. If I'm to start selling crafts, I need to have my pictures look as accurate as possible.



And I'll definitely have to iron them before taking pictures - lol! I had them folded up and ready to be sent out.

Dream and Do and Going to the Grocery Store

Chickens in the Road is a blog I've regularly followed for probably a year now. Suzanne McMinn wrote a very inspirational post entitled Dream and Do. The parts that are particularly motivational to me are:

"Believe–and make no mistake, believing means working. Dreaming AND doing.....There is no greater obstacle to your dreams than fear....Every day, no matter what, I wake up and tell myself I believe. And I do whatever it takes, all day. And I keep believing. I never stop believing. I am a believer...."

I think I'm going to have to read those words every day!

Anyhoo, today I got to the grocery store. Yee haw! I suppose most people don't consider it a big deal, but if you don't have a car and have to rely upon others, it IS a big deal. It's even more of a big deal if you live in a remote area, so it's not like you can just walk to the store. Unfortunately, our nearby grocery store is shutting its doors in a couple weeks. (Anybody wanna buy a store for $20,000?) The nearest store, after they close, will be 40 miles away. Not sure what I'll do then. Argh! Soooo, as you can see, I was very excited to go to the store today. Got stocked up as much as I could. Hopefully before the store closes, I can get another ride there.

Made some yummy pumpkin coconut bread the other day. I had always made the bread with chocolate chips, but I decided to dump in some shredded coconut instead. What a tasty idea! Even my son liked it, and he doesn't care for coconut.

I've been making a bunch of Christmas stockings the past couple days. A couple of them have turned out really nice. I think I'll sell those. Gotta set up my Etsy shop. Oh boy, do they have a lot of FAQs, rules, and terms of service to read, but I figure since so many talented artisans use Etsy, it must be a good place to "set up shop." And now we come full circle to dreaming and doing! I hope to make most, if not all, of my living doing crafts.

Sunny Day

After the days' long blizzard, we now have snow today. It's quite pretty outside. We're supposed to get up into the 40s and 50s in the next few days, so the snow will melt. I'm kind of glad, cuz I'm just not ready to have the land blanketed with snow for six months!

Tried my hand at a stocking last night - never having made one before. Oopsie - made some mistakes, so I'm going to rip it out today and do it better. I know what I'm doing now...I think!

I'm fortunate that my little town has a second hand store, so I often get a lot of items of clothing that are only 25 cents. The stocking I tried making last night is from a denim shirt that had a nice trim along the bottom. I'm putting the trim along the top of the stocking, and it looks pretty good. I can't wait to get it done and see how it turns out!

Finished up one of my quilted Christmas table tops that I'll be sending to a relative for the holidays. I might make one and try to sell it on Etsy. We'll see how much time I have. I just can't believe the holiday season is almost upon us! Where did the year go???!

OOAK Snowman Makedo Giveaway

The Rusty Thimble is giving away a one of a kind snowman makedo! As I mentioned previously, I LOVE snowmen. It's so adorable, isn't it?

With all the snow outside and cold weather, I'm really getting in the mood for the holidays, aren't you?

A Spooktacular Giveaway

Dixie Samplar Designs is having a spooktacular giveaway - just in time for the cold season and wanting to spend indoors stitching. It's not just Halloween stitching projects that are being given away, but a bunch of seasonal lovelies.

Blizzard Still Blowin'

It's been 48 hours since the constant winds (the kind that rattle the windows) began. The snow started falling yesterday afternoon, and now we have about six inches. It's hard to tell, though, since it's all blowing everywhere - lol!

Finished a couple quilting pieces yesterday. I need to get my digital camera ready to take pictures. I have to unload the memory stick first. It's filled with pictures and videos our puppy. She's a crazy clown! I'll probably download them all to a CD.

Last night I couldn't sleep because the ol' creative juices were flowing. I imagine that happens to a lot of creative people. Anyhoo, I have all these ideas for Christmas stockings, so those will be my next project. I at least have my gifts made for my family and friends. Hopefully I can sell some of them on Etsy.

I think I'll put some chili in the crockpot because chili sounds wonderful on a cold and blustery day.

Paxton Valley Folk Art Shop Giveaway

There's an adorable snowman candle holder giveaway on the Paxton Valley Folk Art Shop

I absolutely adore snowmen (and snowwomen and snowchildren, of course)! I wish I knew how to do pretty woodworking like she does. I'm more into the fabric kind of crafts, but perhaps one day I'll learn.

Welcome

Welcome to the Prairie Patch. I haven't had a blog on blogger before, though I had signed up a year or so ago. I finally decided to take the plunge and start blogging.

What will this blog be about? Oh, a little of this and that - much like you find other blogs. Don't know if anyone will find my slice of life interesting - lol!

As I write my first post, we're experiencing blizzard conditions here in the northwest corner of North Dakota. I'm not ready for winter just yet, though. Ugh! It'll probably mean 6 months of freezing and frigid weather, which can make you stir crazy after awhile. At least later in the week, the temps will be above freezing, so it will melt off the six inches of snow we're supposed to get. I hope so, so I can do some more washing and drying the laundry outside. I haven't had a washer or dryer for over two years now. It does get tricky washing bed linens and blankets in the winter without the outdoors to dry them!