There is is so much going on these days…thankfully all pleasant, and crafty. I am working on warm windows for our home. Think of a quilt that covers your window at night. There is a special quilted fabric to put back to back with your pretty decorator fabric, and then you hang it from your window casing and “stick” the sides of the quilt to your wall using magnets. It keeps the cold air out, and the warm air in. We are getting to need this here in northern Virginia.

I have two housewarmings and four birthdays coming up. For our friends who are moving in to new abodes, I am sewing for them linen dish cloth sets. For my father’s and my mother-in-law’s birthday I am creating my own sewn creations using printable fabric for the first time, so I can incorporate drawings the kids have made into placemats, table runners, and mouse pads. (I got these neat ideas from techniques I found in Handmade Home by Amanda Soule.) The other two birthdays are for twins; these little guys are the youngest of my husband’s first cousins, and yes, they are younger than our children. (It is so interesting to me when in big families the generational lines begin to blur. The twins’ father, my husband’s uncle, is only 6 years older than I am.) I have made plushie cashmere friends for the boys.

And then there is keeping up with all that we need at home. Tyler needs a new hat. Sydney needs mittens. We need some cloth napkins. The kids need footie pajamas, sweatpants, and reusable snack bags. I am also working on my own designs for a kid’s smock, holiday goodies, an around-the-town play mat, and patchwork cashmere quilted blankets.

You might think I have a lot up in the air, but I guess I like it like this. I keep a list of every project I dream up and then prioritize. I do knit, sew, and craft more than one project at a time. This way, I feel I keep my creative juices flowing, am always challenged, and when I sit down I can choose, which I feel like doing at the moment.

I am thankful for the ability to nurture my creative spirit. I am thankful for children who find it fascinating, and maybe a bit boring at the same time, that mommy can make a hat out of not much. And I am thankful for a husband who tolerates a dining room table with a fifth setting for my sewing machine, bags of fabric scraps here and there, and my many trips to the thrift store. I am thankful for time, and I am thankful for autumn inspirations.