Day 239 of 365

After hours upon hours riding the bus to and from the casino, the time at the casino where I talked to no one, and the day I spent with my daughter today, I know some things for sure.

I know for sure:

• I like gambling. I like the excitement, I like the distraction. I don't like the noise, the lights, the smoke. And I don't like losing. Having a set schedule where I knew I only had a limited amount of time to play made me become a more aggressive and panicky gambler. I didn't like that part either.
• Last week's flu re-set my need for food. Since then I've still had an upset stomach so I've been holding to a limited diet. Now I like an empty stomach and don't want to be overstuffed again.  Even yesterday when I went to the casino, I didn't use my free meals. I had half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the ride down and the other half on the ride back.
• I'll never eat a Hostess pie again. I love Hostess fruit pies. Grew up on them. The blackberry, the lemon - oh my! But last night when the bus stopped at the gas station for a restroom break, I picked up a lemon pie. (That peanut butter and jelly wound up not being all that filling after all.) After I ate the pie, I looked at the calorie count. I should have looked at it before eating it. 490 calories. I can't believe I ate those all the time as a kid. There are a lot of other things in a gas station at 10:00 at night to eat with fewer calories than that, so never again. 
•  I should never buy lottery tickets. A gal at work has been buying these $20 Idaho lottery tickets and has been winning big. At that same gas station stop, with some cash from the casino burning a hole in my purse, I decided to buy one. Got on the bus, scratched it. Nothing. $20 gone just like that.
• There are a lot of semis on the road late at night. And some of those truck drivers have interesting, bordering on dangerous, ways of keeping themselves awake/occupied. Like the drivers (yep, that's plural meaning we saw more than one of them) with a laptop in the front seat with a movie playing.

But the thing I learned today was the best. Watermelon bowling can be fun on an autumn day. The several days of hard freezes have taken out the entire vegetable garden. My daughter and I spent the afternoon cleaning everything out of there. We picked a load of watermelon, but some were just too small and had to be thrown away. So we did what any logical mother and adult child would do. We took the smallest four and made a bowling game out of them. I don't know who taught my daughter how to bowl with watermelons, but she kicked my behind. It didn't last long though, because I ruined the game when I missed and my watermelon busted open when it went careening into the corner of the planter box.

Today's picture is before the damage.

Day 238 of 365

This isn't working anymore.

I've been trying to use up some of my fabric scraps. I've been making block after block after block. As I was sewing a block the other night it occurred to me that it's not working anymore.

It's not that the scraps aren't going together properly, it's not that I can't keep a quarter inch seam, and it's not that I don't like what I'm creating.

It's that sewing isn't taking my mind off the pain like it used to. On Day 107 I had said, The only way I know to make it through each day is to try and keep myself busy with writing, taking pictures, and sewing and quilting for others. 

It's absolutely true. I wouldn't have gotten where I am now without those things, but...

It's getting harder. Harder to keep my mind off the pain. I don't know if the pain has become greater, making it harder to keep my mind focused or if it is something else. One of the reasons I enjoyed getting into the sewing so much is because it kept me from thinking about how bad I was feeling. It was a relaxing process, yet a process where I could focus on something else besides what I was feeling. But now, not so much. The temptation to take a pain pill is returning. A pain pill would provide relief, albeit temporary.

I'm pursuing my own form of temporary relief today. I'm taking a break from sewing for the first time in a while and heading down on the casino bus. Maybe a little getaway for the day will make me feel better. (I doubt it, but you never know!)

It does make me feel better having two more kids' quilts finished up before I head out, though.

Stockings for Soldiers Directions - Day 237 of 365, Tutorial Tuesday

I thought my work was done. The Stockings for Soldiers work, that is. I thought I was ending at 80 stockings. I made my contribution and that was plenty. I did my part.

Yet on Day 225 I took material over to my mom's place to have her help with sewing some additional stockings. She sewed up eight more.

But then another couple things happened.

First - sometimes my husband is around when I'm taking my picture of the day. He's seen me taking pictures of kid quilts and turtle pillows and Christmas stockings, and usually never asks questions. The other day we were talking about the stockings - who they were for, where they went, and how I only sewed stockings. How the organization had a list of items they need donated so they can fill the stockings. Items that I wasn't collecting. Things like like gum, toothbrushes, fly swatters, trail mix. My husband wanted more details and even wanted a printed list. (You can find the complete list here.)

My husband took that list with him to school. Shared it with some staff members, and now we have a high school club collecting items. I'll be picking them up here in a couple weeks. I'm not sure how much they're planning on collecting, but anything will be great!

Looking for sewing and crafting projects? 

Click here to see all my tutorials!

Then, number two happened.

I needed a tutorial for the week. I still had some Christmas fabric around, so it was natural for me to do a tutorial on how to make the stockings. (I wanted others to see how quick and easy they were to make.) I put the video up on YouTube and sent the link to the organization for them to use if they wanted. I got a very excited sounding e-mail back. Among other things, it read: Thank you very much for thinking of our Project and for creating such an excellent and perfect video that will help other volunteers to have a very clear understanding of what we do and what we need.

Take a look, and hopefully you too will be able to whip some up. 

Happy Sewing.

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

You can find the step-by-step how to video for making the Christmas stockings sewing project for the Stockings for Soldiers organization right here:

Day 236 of 365

Since this week (and every week) I'm knee-deep in sewing for charity, I thought I'd do a recap of all the organizations I'm providing support for. (My projects for all these groups can be found under "Charity/Donations" at the top of my page.) Hopefully it might inspire you to do some sewing, too!

If you are looking for projects where your sewing skills are greatly appreciated, here are my favorites:

Operation Kid Comfort needs people to help make pillows and quilts for kids of deployed military personnel. They send you pictures of the parent and child which have already been ironed onto fabric. You use those pictures along with your own fabrics to create one of a kind meaningful quilts.

Quilts of Valor needs quilters to help provide servicemembers and veterans with quilts of their own. You can make quilts, but they also have a need for presentation cases (like a pillowcase).

The Painted Turtle is one of the Paul Newman Hole in the Wall Camps for seriously ill kids. They are always looking for folks to sew quilts or crochet/knit afghans, or even sew turtle pillows. (They send all campers home with a big ole stuffed turtle pillow.)

Stockings for Soldiers needs people to sew up Christmas Stockings for our troops overseas. The quick and easy pattern can be printed off the internet. (My tutorial tomorrow will prove how quick and easy it is to make these.) They also have a list of items they are collecting to "stuff" the stockings with.

Quilts for Kids. You can request their free quilt kits. They contain a pattern, fabric for the top and a backing fabric. You supply the batting (and the labor). They ask you send along an additional quilt from your own fabric, if possible.
 
Today's picture is from my free fabric kit from Quilts for Kids. I sewed the top together on Day 229 and today I got it quilted.

Day 235 of 365

I have the entire week off from work and I'm ready to go. The flu is gone and I need to get myself moving. I need some goals for the week and I've got a good list started.

I have a mixture of household tasks and sewing tasks to be accomplished. This week I will:

• Quilt all my unfinished quilt tops.
• Do a tutorial for Stockings for Soldiers. On how to make the stockings, of course.
• Call to get roofing quotes. Yuck.
• Write up directions for the strip quilt for my school's Project Linus blankets.
• Put the electric blanket on the bed.
• Dust, dust, dust.
• Put new curtains up in the bedroom. Finally.
• Rake leaves. Rake leaves. Rake leaves.
• Take the casino bus for the day. Free food, $50 in free play. Yay!
• Make final payments on all the medical bills that have been dragging on for ages - physical therapy, MRI, and ultrasounds.
• If the hard freeze comes this week as predicted - pull up the pepper plants and pick the remaining pumpkins and watermelon.

One of the items has already been started. I finished up the quilt top I made yesterday. I added a fleece backing and tied it with some excess candlewicking thread I had. Unfortunately, the only matching piece of fleece I had was a bit smaller than it should be, so the quilt isn't perfect. (At least by my standards.) They'll be no picture taking of it, but I'll make another one (need the practice, ya know) with the correct size fleece.

A better picture was found outside today anyway. If that hard freeze shows up, these roses won't look nearly as pretty. But they sure are pretty right now.